The ASEAN Secretariat and embassies of seven member countries of the
Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) on March 25 jointly celebrated
the Nowruz festival in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The
3,000-year-old Nowruz festival salutes the first day of spring and the
official beginning of the New Year by people in the Middle East ,
Central and South Asian regions.
The event in Jakarta
entailed a photo and handicraft exhibition, folk musical performances
and variety of national cuisines from ECO countries, particularly the
seven participating countries — Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran,
Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan.
Opening the festival, Azerbaijan Ambassador Tamerlan Karayev made a
brief explanation of the meaning of Nowruz, which upholds the feeling of
togetherness in one big family, and the Persian traditions regarding
the celebration.
He also appreciated ASEAN guests’ presence at
the event and hoped that ASEAN and ECO will continue organising Nowruz
festival as their tradition.
Deputy Secretary-General
for ASEAN Political-Security Community Nyan Lynn, on behalf of the ASEAN
Secretary General, highlighted the Nowruz significance of strengthening
the ties among people based on mutual respect and the culture of peace
and good neighbourliness.
Lynn said the organisation
of the festival at the ASEAN Secretariat headquarters would enable the
Secretariat to contribute to further promoting the awareness, mutual
understanding and cooperation among the peoples of ASEAN member states
and ECO.
He hoped that the close ties between the two sides would grow stronger in the future.-VNA