Call of the blood: Turkmen of the world meet in Ashgabat
On September 23, the capital of Turkmenistan hosted the XXII conference of the Humanitarian Association of the Turkmen of the World (HATW).
The forum on the eve of the 28th anniversary of the independence of Turkmenistan gathered many representatives of the Turkmen Diasporas from around the world.
Communities united by the culture and traditions of the Turkmen people has formed in many parts of the world, including Russia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Ukraine. In addition, delegates from all regions of Turkmenistan attended the meeting.
The meeting participants considered the outcomes of 2019, further development and improvement of the activity of Association and many other issues. The preservation of historical heritage, culture and customs, folk mentality both in Turkmenistan and beyond would always remain the most important topics.
Kurban Aitovich Aitov, Professor of Irkutsk State Medical Universit,y was one of forum’s speakers. On behalf of the Siberian Turkmen, he conveyed warm congratulations to the people of Turkmenistan on the occasion of the upcoming Independence Day, noting the achievements of Turkmenistan in all areas of activity: industry, agriculture, medicine, etc.
“Today, I am here as the Chairman of the Siberian-Turkmen national-cultural center “Baikal”. There is a small diaspora of Turkmen in Siberia. But the number of students is gradually increasing, about 800 foreign students are studying at our university, while 160 are Turkmen,” says Kurban Aitov.
Also, this morning, participants of the conference of the Humanitarian Association of the Turkmen of the World visited the Exhibition of Economic Achievements of Turkmenistan, which opened at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the country.
Sharing their impressions, ethnic Turkmens of Kazakhstan especially highlighted the quality of Turkmen carpet-making art and the distinctive style of national jewelry, some of which they will take with themself as the memory of their historical homeland along with the fondest memories.
For many participants of the HATW conference, this edition is not the first attendance. Such meetings are becoming a good tradition. It addresses issues of humanitarian, business, economic and cultural cooperation.
Another the forum’s delegates, Orazmurat Gurbanov, Chairman of the Republican Ethnic Cultural Center in Uzbekistan, spoke about the close cooperation of the two countries in the field of education:
“There are 43 Turkmen schools in Uzbekistan; pedagogical and medical colleges are opened for Turkmen living in Uzbekistan. There is a faculty of Turkmen philology in the Karakalpak State University named after Berdah.”
For a long time, Turkmenistan has good relations with the ethnic diaspora of Turkmen in the Astrakhan region of the Russian Federation. Recently, a school built by the Turkmen side in the Volga region received a Turkmen language teacher who arrived from Turkmenistan and the first students enrolled in this new school year. Now local children from the Turkmen community can study their native language as a part of the school curriculum.
The Humanitarian Association of the Turkmen of the World has done a great job. The organization, established in 1991, is expanding and gaining popularity, and the potential of future projects to strengthen ties is growing. After all, what is the Fatherland? This is the sum of the economic, legal, political facts and ideas given to us by a will of our ancestors.
Moreover, the Homeland is the place where you want to come back always, where you understand that here you finally can have a home that you always missed in a foreign country.
