TEHRAN -- Iran and Turkey plan to organize a series of joint sessions to discuss works of designers who created architectural masterpieces in both countries during the Ottoman Empire (c. 1300-1918) and the Safavid dynasty (1501–1736).

The sessions will be organized based on a memorandum of understanding previously signed by the Iranian National Committee for ICOM (the International Council of Museums), Iran’s Research Institute for Cultural Heritage and Tourism (RICHT), and Turkey's Yunus Emre Cultural Center in Tehran, the RICHT announced in a press release on Monday.

“Historical cultural affinities between the two countries prepared the ground for organizing the program,” the RICHT) said.

The first session, which was held at the RICHT on Monday, was dedicated to Mimar Sinan, who is considered the greatest architect of the Ottoman Empire’s architectural heritage, and Ali-Akbar Esfahani, the architect of the Imam Mosque, also known as the Shah Mosque, in Isfahan.

Suphi Saatçi of Istanbul’s Fatih Sultan Mehmet Waqf University, Selçuk Mülayim of the Art History Department of the Marmara University, Iranian scholars Mehdi Golchin-Arefi and Negar Sabuhi delivered speeches at the session.

Some Turkish diplomats and Iranian officials also attended the meeting.

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