Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, March 21
By Huseyn Hasanov - Trend:
Turkmenistan is today celebrating the spring holiday Novruz. The celebrations will continue on March 22.
Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, the country's president, addressed the people of Turkmenistan on the occasion of the Novruz holiday.
"The international Novruz day, which has been included to the UNESCO list of world's intangible cultural heritage, incorporates high spiritual and moral values, and distinctive historical and cultural traditions of the world's peoples, including the Turkmen people," said the president in his address.
Novruz was given an international holiday status in 2010 at the 64th Session of the UN General Assembly in line with a resolution proposed by Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Turkey, Iran and the Central Asian countries.
Novruz is widely celebrated as a holiday strengthening amicable relations between countries and popularizing the historical and cultural traditions of the peoples living in an area from Central Asia to the Balkans and Middle East.