President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov on Thursday took part in a ceremony of laying flowers at the monuments of the Memorial Complex Halk Hakydasy (People's Memory) in Ashgabat on the occasion of the Memorial Day, the country’s official media reports.
The Memorial Day is timed to coincide with the date of October 6, when a powerful earthquake hit the capital of Turkmenistan in 1948, which claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.
Every year on October 6, Turkmen people also pay tribute to the defenders of the Goktepe fortress and those who lost lives on the battlefields of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
The head of the Mejlis (parliament), deputy chairmen of the Cabinet of Ministers, heads of military and law enforcement agencies, deputies of the national parliament, heads of diplomatic missions accredited in Turkmenistan and representatives of international organisations, as well as representatives of political parties, public institutions, ministries, governmental departments, elders and students laid flowers at the monuments Ruhy Tagzym, Milletiň Ogullary and Baky Şöhrat.
According to the report, memorial prayers and sadaqah were given in the capital and in all provinces of the country.