Baku, Azerbaijan, March 27
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Iranian president Hassan Rouhani has called for regional unity during a speech at the Nowruz festival in Afghanistan, Iran's IRNA news agency reported on March 27.
Commenting on the Nowruz celebrations, Rouhani said that the region can further this cultural unity by adding to it comprehensive political and economic unity based on their nations' development and improve the quality of life in the region.
President Rouhani also described Nowruz as an ancient historical tradition will never be worn-out.
"Today we are commemorating Nowruz in a land, which at some points in its history was the victim of ignorance, anger and extremism," he said.
Rouhani went on to say that Afghanistan has been occupied twice by foreign countries which brought violence and extremism to the country.
The Iranian president also wished success to Afghanistan in its upcoming election, calling for establishment of tranquillity and development for the country.
The international ceremony for celebrating Nowruz started in Kabul on March 27. Presidents of Turkmenistan, Iran, Tajikistan and high-ranking officials of the countries marking Nowruz are participating in the events.
On Feb.23, 2010, at the initiative of Azerbaijan, the UN General Assembly adopted a decision to declare March 21 the International Day of Nowruz. The first international ceremony of celebrating Nowruz was held in Iran in 2011. The following celebrations were organized in Dushanbe (capital of Tajikistan) in 2012 and in Ashgabat (capital of Turkmenistan) in 2013.
Edited by C.N.