On September 17, 2016, an international conference dedicated to great Iranian and Azerbaijani poet Mahammadhuseyn Shahriyar was held in the city of Tabriz in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The conference was hosted by the University of Tabriz.

Five countries were represented at the conference: the Islamic Republic of Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Six scholars from these countries were selected to receive the 2016 Shahriyar Medal.

Two scholars from the Azerbaijan Republic who received the medal were Professor Hamlet Isaxanli, the founder of Khazar University and Chairman of its Board of Directors and Trustees, and Professor Vasim Mammadaliyev, Dean of the School of Theology at Baku State University. They each made brief speeches about Shahriyar. 

Text of Shahriyar Cultural Medal:

Second International Shahriyar Cultural Medal

Awarded to Professor Hamlet Isaxanli, the founder of Khazar University and Chairman of its Board of Directors and Trustees

 The relationships among people and nations are among those inevitable relationships in the world that connect ideas, thoughts, feelings and emotions in the flow of life; roar like a waterfall through valleys and rivers; and overflow into the pure nature of humanity, which is under the authority of God, the almighty creator of all that exists, by finding inspiration in the faith, promises and responsibility of great people.

Now this respected intellectual has been selected by the Second International Shahriyar Cultural Medal Committee to receive the cultural medal and pin.

By bestowing upon you this pin and certificate, Tabriz University commends your unforgettable efforts.

We hope that we will achieve lasting success in the creation of a union that will attract the attention of Islamic culture and of our countries.