MOSCOW, August 27 (RIA Novosti) - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and Unesco Director General Koichiro Matsuura congratulated Tatarstan's capital Kazan on its 1,000th anniversary, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Yakovenko said Saturday.
Throughout its rich history, Kazan has served as a crossroads of civilizations, a place where nations of different cultures and traditions dealt with trade and exchanged ideas, Annan's message reads. This long-standing knowledge and the experience of global diversity are an important advantage in a world that is becoming more and more mutually dependent, the UN secretary general said.
Yakovenko said Matsuura noted in his message that the jubilee meant the international recognition of Kazan's historical role throughout its 1,000th history.
The Unesco director general said Kazan had made a great contribution to the world civilization as a large center of culture, science, trade and industry, Yakovenko concluded.
