Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The bust of the great poet, statesman and thinker Alisher Navoi, who lived in the 15th century, was opened today in a square on Sverdlov Street in Minsk.

The opening ceremony was held within the I Forum of the Regions of Belarus and Uzbekistan held in the Belarusian capital with the participation of officials of both countries - Deputy Chairman of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus Marianna Shchetkina and First Deputy Chairman of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan Sadyk Safayev. Before that, both parliamentarians visited the grand exhibition “Made in Uzbekistan” that opened this morning. The monument is a bust created by the sketch design of a young sculptor Maxim Makarevich.

Speaking at a solemn ceremony, Marianna Shchetkina noted that the name of Navoi and his works do not lose their meaning in our time:

- With his deep philosophy and diversity of images, he still attracts many people to his works. It is safe to say that this is the heritage of all mankind. In his work, he managed to display the problems that a person faces throughout his life ... Today we can say that we love the culture of Belarus and respect the culture of Uzbekistan.

Sadyk Safaev expressed his sincere gratitude in his speech:

- It is a great honor for our delegation to be here, the opening of the monument to Alisher Navoi in the capital of fraternal Belarus is a truly memorable event. We express our sincere gratitude to President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, the mayoralty of Minsk, and the public for showing respect to the memory of our ancestor. Alisher Navoi was the first to discover the colorful Uzbek language to the world.

Alisher Navoi is a significant figure not only for Uzbekistan. The works of Navoi were included in the curricula of all schools and madrasas of Central Asia in the 16th - early 20th centuries. The city and the region, libraries, theaters, museums, avenues and streets, as well as the metro station in Tashkent are named after Navoi in Uzbekistan. Monuments to Alisher Navoi have been erected outside Uzbekistan - in Ashgabat, Baku, Moscow, Tokyo, Shanghai. From now on, Minsk is among such cities.