Tashkent celebrated the 181st anniversary of the great Kazakh poet Abai Kunanbayev.
August 10th is celebrated as Abai Day in Kazakhstan. Commemorative events are held throughout the country. The Kazakh Embassy in Uzbekistan also marked the occasion at the Abai monument near the embassy in Tashkent. Representatives of the Kazakh Cultural Center and several other organizations in Tashkent and the Tashkent region came to celebrate the birthday and pay their respects to the great poet Abai Kunanbayev. In Uzbekistan, […]
Tashkent honored the memory of the great Kazakh poet Abai Kunanbayev, marking the 181st anniversary of his birth.
On August 10, Abai Day, celebrated annually in Kazakhstan, the Embassy of Kazakhstan in Uzbekistan organized a commemorative event at the Abai monument located next to the embassy in Tashkent.
Representatives of the Kazakh Cultural Center, as well as various organizations from Tashkent and the Tashkent region, gathered for the flower-laying ceremony and commemoration of the poet.
Abai's legacy is deeply respected in Uzbekistan. The monument in Tashkent was unveiled in 2013. Permission was recently granted to install a bust of Abai Kunanbayev in the Abai mahalla, and a similar bust is planned for the mahalla of the same name in the Bektemir district.
Last year, to commemorate Abai's 180th anniversary, Tashkent hosted a major international conference and concerts at the Hamza Theater.
Sirajiddin Said, Chairman of the Writers' Union, Senator, and People's Poet, noted: "I think that coming here to honor Abai's memory is like honoring the memory of the entire Kazakh people. The monument to our esteemed ancestor Abai, erected in one of the squares of our Tashkent, serves as an example of this."
He emphasized the deep connection between the Uzbek and Kazakh peoples, united by a common language, religion, blood, and history. This connection is strengthened by the collaboration of thinkers and poets such as Navoi and Abai, their followers, including Gafur and Sabit Mukanov, Gafur Gulam, Aibek and Mukhtar Auezov, Mirtemir and Abdulla Tajibayev, Abdulla Aripov and Olzhas Suleimenov, as well as their sincere friendship and kinship.
The words of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, on the importance of studying and popularizing the creative legacy of Abai Kunanbayev were also mentioned: "In our days, when relations of friendship and cooperation between the states of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are reaching a new level, the immortal legacy of such great scholars as Abai Kunanbayev has significant significance and meaning for our peoples."
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan, Yeral Tugzhanov, noted in his speech: "It is no exaggeration to say that monuments to Abai today exist throughout the world." You know this well. Abai's monument stands in London, Moscow, Cairo, and many European countries. Of course, today it shines brightly in the brotherly country of Uzbekistan, and we have gathered here to mark this momentous occasion."
The ambassador also emphasized the shared historical traditions, customs, continuity, and spiritual affinity between peoples with related languages.
"If the names of Abai and Alisher Navoi are mentioned together, then the names of Kazakhs and Uzbeks will always be mentioned together. Our Abai-ata has the words: 'Love all humanity as a brother.' 'Love all humanity as a kin.' If we build on such principles, if we respect and value each other, then we can live happily only in unity, only in friendship between our two countries."
The ceremony concluded with diplomats and representatives of Kazakh communities and organizations laying flowers at the monument to Abai Kunanbayev.
M. DZHANGIROV, photo by the author