UNESCO celebrates Nauryz holiday
The delegations of Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, India, Iraq, Iran, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Turkey held the joint event at UNESCO Headquarters. The guests of the reception included over 200 prominent representatives of the diplomatic corps, political and business circles, people of art, science, and education, who live in France and belong to the diasporas of the countries celebrating Nauryz.
Speaking at the presentation, UNESCO's Deputy Director-General Getachew Engida warmly congratulated the attendees on the upcoming holiday and recalled that, at the request of 12 states of the world, Nauryz holiday was included in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2016. In this regard, he stressed that the bright holiday of spring renewal reflects the values of peace, the brotherhood of people, harmony with nature, which exist from time immemorial.
During the event, the Kazakh delegation presented the performance of dombyra kui (instrumental composition) which was included in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2014.
In addition, each delegation presented its national dishes. At the Kazakh table, the guests could taste such traditional meals as Nauryz kozhe, kazy, zhaya, manti, samsa, bawyrsak, kurt, zhent, and irimshik.
Many participants of the event maintained that the joint celebration of Nauryz at the headquarters of the main international organization of culture, science, and education in the heart of the world's cultural capital gave another opportunity to popularize the rich spiritual heritage of Kazakhstan and other countries celebrating this remarkable holiday of spring and spiritual renewal.
