Eskisehir becomes cultural capital of Turkic world for 2013

Astana (Kazakhstan) has passed its status of the cultural capital of the Turkic world to Eskisehir, a city in the north-western part of Turkey, RIA Novosti reports.

Gulnara Murtazaoglu coordinating the Eskisehir-2013 project said that $220 million had been granted for the festival. Governor Kadir Kocdemir will attend the festival. Over 20 cultural events were planned for the year, starting on March 23. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to arrive for the opening.

The Summit of the Union of Turkic States met in Istanbul in 2010 and decided to elect cultural capitals of the Turkic world annually. Kazan will be the capital next year.