The ceremony, which was aired live on Radio Farhang, was held to review the common cultural and social capacities, become familiar with the heritage of civilization and cultural dignitaries, study the Persian and Tajik languages and literature, and introduce common traditions between Iran and Tajikistan, iranpress.com wrote.
Special guests of the ceremony were Marufjon Abdurahmonov, first secretary of the Tajikistan Embassy in Tehran, Sarvar Bakhti, director of the ECO Cultural Institute in Tehran, Bahram Soleimani, Iran’s cultural attaché in Dushanbe, and Alireza Habibi, director of Radio Farhang.
During the program, a number of clips from both countries’ anthems were played, a few books related to the cultural commonalities between the two countries were unveiled, and cultural officials and participants gave their speeches, according to IRNA.
During the ceremony, Bakhti said, “The ECO Cultural Institute was established 30 years ago with the aim of displaying the cultural, artistic, scientific and literary commonalities to expand the atmosphere of friendship and interaction. Over the past decade, the international body has made great attempts to display cultures of member states.”
Speaking about cultural commonalities, Abdurahmonov said, “Our Iranian friends always ask us how we know Persian. I must tell them that Tajik people open the magnum opus of Persian poet Ferdowsi, ‘Shahnameh’ (Book of Kings), to choose our children’s names and we recite poems of Sa’di and Hafez to make our children sleep.”
Abdurahmonov said, “Today we are approaching the 30th anniversary of Iran-Tajikistan relations. In these 30 years, 170 joint documents have been signed, on the basis of which several collaborations have taken place.”
Habibi said that Radio Farhang is planning to sign a sisterhood agreement with one of the Tajik radio stations soon.
He added that Iran and Tajikistan are two great countries, with the same language and roots, which can play important roles in today’s world.
Source: Iran Daily