The holiday of Turkmen-Uzbek friendship was held in Tashkent. The event organizers, the Embassy of Turkmenistan in Uzbekistan and the Republican Turkmen Cultural Center, dedicated it to the 30th anniversary of the independence of Turkmenistan.
The meeting, which took place at the Committee on Interethnic Relations and Friendly Ties with Foreign Countries, was attended by representatives of the Turkmen diaspora in Uzbekistan, national cultural centers, students and their teachers, journalists.
Speaking at the conference opening, Ambassador of Turkmenistan to Uzbekistan Yazguly Mammedov noted the active cooperation of the two countries in all areas of social, political and humanitarian life. Cooperation between the cultural communities is promoted successfully, who traditionally jointly celebrate the anniversary dates of poet Magtymguly, the classic of Turkmen literature.
Ambassador Mammedov also thanked the Government of Uzbekistan for the conditions created for Turkmen students to study at universities of the Republic.
An exhibition of decorative and applied art works was organized for the guests that showed Turkmen carpets and rugs, national jewelry, traditional clothes, musical instruments, etc. The holiday of friendship was continued with the performances of artists. And tasting Turkmen cuisine was its mouth-watering addition.
Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are linked by centuries-old good-neighborly relations. The culture, traditions and customs of the two peoples share common historical past. As Committee on Interethnic Relations and Friendly Ties Chairman Rustambek Kurbanov pointed out, ethnic cultural centers have a significant role in preserving interethnic harmony.
For 20 years, the Republican Turkmen Cultural Center, established in 2001, has been carrying out cultural and educational activities in Uzbekistan. To date, it includes regional offices in Bukhara, Kashkadarya, Surkhandarya and Tashkent regions, as well as the Turkmen National Cultural Center of the Republic of Karakalpakstan.
The Turkmen language is studied in more than 40 Uzbek schools, a faculty of Turkmen philology operates at the Karakalpak State University, and about 2600 students from Turkmenistan study at educational institutions and universities of the friendly country.
Newspapers and books are published and TV-radio broadcasts in the Turkmen language are on the air of the national television of Uzbekistan, which contributes to development of Turkmen-Uzbek relations.
In 2017, a bas-relief of the great Turkmen thinker was opened on Magtymguly Pyragy Street in Tashkent, whose works have been repeatedly translated into Uzbek. The Ashgabat Park is very popular among Tashkent residents. At the same time, one of the streets in the capital city of Turkmenistan is named after outstanding poet and writer Alisher Navoi.