DUSHANBE, March 25, 2012, Asia-Plus – The Third International Navrouz Celebrations were held in Dushanbe on March 25.
The event was held in the presence of the Presidents of Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. At the beginning of the Navrouz festival, the presidents stressed deepening of their friendship.
Addressing the meeting, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, in particular, noted that Navrouz has returned to its forgotten position and that the world nations respect this international day.
President Rahmon noted that the Navrouz festival plays effective role in familiarizing various world nations with the cultures of the Persian-speaking countries.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad noted that holding the Navrouz celebrations is an effective step to ensure peace and security in the world and strengthen cultural ties among the nations, Iranian news agency IRNA reported on March 25.
President Ahmadinejad reportedly said the Navrouz festival is an opportunity for taking steps towards regional tranquility.
Navrouz invites the world people to friendship and justice and encourages them to stand against injustice, the Iranian president noted, reiterating that that Navrouz carries the message of solidarity to the world nations.
The event resulted in adoption of the Dushanbe declaration. The event participants agreed that the next Fourth International Navrouz Celebrations will be held in 2013 in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Afghan President Hamid Karzai arrived in Dushanbe on Saturday, March 24.
According to IRNA, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, Vice-President for Executive Affairs Hamid Baghaei, senior aide to president Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi, chief of staff of the president”s office Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, Minister of Energy Majid Namjoo and head of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization Hassan Mousavi are accompanying Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The Express Tribune reports Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Senator Abbas Afridi are accompanying Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.
Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul, Commerce Minister Anwar-ul-haq Ahadi and National Security Advisor Rangin Dadfar Spanta are accompanying Afghan President Hamid Karzai on his visit to Tajikistan.
Besides, Azeri Vice-Premier Elchin Ilyas-Ogly Efendiyev, Turkmen Vice-Premier Baymurat Khojamuhammedov, Kyrgyz Minister of Transport Communications Kalybek Sultanov and Indian Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on Afghanistan and Pakistan Satindera Kumar Lambah arrived in Dushanbe to attend the International Navrouz Celebrations.
The first and second international celebrations on Navrouz were held in Tehran in the past two years.
We will recall that the United Nations General Assembly recognized the International Day of Nowruz (In Tajik Navrouz), a spring festival of Persian origin, on March 23, 2010.
According to the preamble of the resolution on the International Day, Nowruz, which means new day, is celebrated on 21 March, the day of the vernal equinox, by more than 300 million people worldwide as the beginning of the new year. It has been celebrated for over 3,000 years in the Balkans, the Black Sea Basin, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Middle East and other regions.
The Assembly called on Member States that celebrate the festival to study its history and traditions with a view to disseminating that knowledge among the international community and organizing annual commemoration events.
Welcoming the inclusion of Navrouz into the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on September 30, 2009, the text notes the festival’s “affirmation of life in harmony with nature, the awareness of the inseparable link between constructive labor and natural cycles of renewal and the solicitous and respectful attitude towards natural sources of life.”
