Abdel Dayem: The choice of Cairo as the capital of Islamic culture confirms the civilization status of Egypt and works to establish a dialogue between the nations.

Dr. Enas Abdel Dayem, Minister of Culture, announced that Egypt would receive the flame of the inauguration of the ceremonies of choosing Cairo as the capital of Islamic culture, 2020 to precede  the Tunisian capital. A celebration will be held on this occasion by the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) in Tunisia, where the representatives of the Minister of Culture:- Hisham Azmy, Secretary General of the Supreme Council For Culture, Dr. Ahmed Awwad, head of the General organization of Cultural Palaces , will receive the Flame from Dr. Mohamed Zine El Abidine, Minister of Cultural Affairs in Tunisia.

Abdel Dayem said that the program of “The capitals of Islamic culture” aims to :- consolidate the bonds of relations between peoples ,  establish a creative dialogue between them , promote the intellectual communication between the citizens of the Islamic nations , work to highlight the contents of the rich heritage calling for tolerance and coexistence and present a true image of the ancient Islamic civilization. She added that choosing Cairo as the capital of Islamic culture in 2020 confirms Egypt's position in the heart of the Islamic world as a crossroads of cultures, adding that a diversified program of activities has been prepared to celebrate this occasion, all organizations and sectors will participate in it, and it includes many activities that reflect the aspect of the unique Egyptian culture personality.

It is noteworthy that the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) adopted the program of “ the Capital of Islamic Culture “ to come along with the program launched by the Arab Organization for Education, Culture and Science (ALESCO) for choosing a capital of Arab culture to be held annually the flame will be given to three ancient Islamic cities representing the Islamic regions in each part of the world- Arabic, African and Asian. in addition to the capital that hosts the Islamic Conference of Culture Ministers, which is held  every two years. The  Celebrations continue during the whole year. In  2001 an agreement was signed to hold this celebration and was adopted  in the fourth  Islamic Conference of the Ministers of Culture, which was held in Algeria in 2004.

 It is worthy of note that  Mecca was given the first flame  in 2005 and afterwards it was given to many other Islamic cities :-  Aleppo (Syria), Fez (Morocco), Alexandria (Egypt), Kairouan (Tunisia), Tarim (Yemen), Tlemcen (Algeria), Najaf (Iraq), Medina (Saudi Arabia), Sharjah (UAE), Nizwa (Sultanate Oman), Kuwait (Kuwait), Oman (Jordan), Manama (Bahrain), Tunisia (Tunisia) - until it  arrived to Cairo in 2020. In addition , ISESCO chose the Uzbek capital, Bukhara, as the Islamic culture capital in the Asian region and Bamako in the Republic of Mali in African region .