I would like to offer my congratulations to you on the official opening of a Culture Week in Balkan velayat and wish you good health, family wellbeing, every success in your creative work, President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said in his Welcoming Address. Major efforts are being made to continuously develop Turkmen culture and art. Today, we have employed new methods, increasingly relying on digitization, electronic and Internet services in the sector, and actively encouraging cultural workers’ professional growth. The government is heavily investing in the modernization of libraries, museums and other cultural-educational institutions, the Address says. The Turkmen nation boasts the many-thousand-year history and rich national heritage. Our key aim is to thoroughly explore and promote it. Our country regularly plays host to various cultural events, international conferences on culture, exhibitions, and festivals. Events organized as part of the Culture Week will play an instrumental role in the context of worldwide popularization of national achievements in music, singing, opera, theater, cinema, fine arts, decorative and applied arts. The Culture Week-2019 in Balkan velayat has special importance. Like in the other parts of the country, massive projects and programs are successfully carried out in Balkan velayat; social and cultural facilities are constructed and opened in the cities and etraps. Magtymguly etrap, the birthplace and beloved home of the poet and thinker Magtymguly Pyragy, is one of the well-known sites in our country, noted for its dramatic natural scenery and glorious history. The etrap is home to the Sumbar and Aydere Valleys, the Chendir and Syunt Hasardag mountains. Its places of scenic beauty captivate the imagination of tourists coming here. In 2015, Magtymguly etrap saw the opening of a modern building of the Magtymguly Pyragy Museum and a gallery of monuments to our great poets: Magtymguly Pyragy, Gurbanaly Magrupy, Mammetveli Kemine, Mollanepes, Gurbandurdy Zelili, Seyitnazar Seydi, and Annagylych Myataji. The museum and sculptural ensemble, which have become an important spiritual center, have enormous significance in the context of patriotic education of the younger generation. The Culture Week in Balkan velayat will give impetus to the enrichment of national culture, art and literature with new modern literary treasures. That is why all the events organized during the Week should occupy a special place in the country’s contemporary history, the President stated in his Address.