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Seven countries to celebrate Nowruz festival in Jakarta
Spring joy: Afghans shop at an open air market a day before the celebration of Nowruz in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Wednesday
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span class="caption" style="width: 510px;">Spring joy: Afghans shop at an open air market a day before the celebration of Nowruz in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Wednesday. Nowruz marks the first day of spring and the beginning of the year on the Iranian calendar. For the first time, seven Muslim countries will jointly celebrate the Nowruz Festival in Jakarta today. (AP/Ali Hamed Haghdoust)
For the first time, seven member countries of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), in cooperation with ASEAN, will jointly celebrate the Nowruz Festival at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta today.
Nowruz, which means “New Day”, marks the first day of spring and is celebrated on the day of the astronomical vernal equinox, which usually falls on March 21 every year.
“Nowruz is celebrated as the beginning of the new year by more than 300 million people around the world and it has been celebrated for over 3,000 years in Central Asia, Caucasus, Balkans, Black Sea Basin, Middle East and other regions,” ECO members said in a statement sent to The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
“Nowruz plays a significant role in strengthening ties among people based on mutual respect and the ideals of peace and good neighborliness”.
In 2010, the United Nations General Assembly declared March 21 as the International Day of Nowruz.
“Nowruz is a day for family and friends, for festive meals, for dancing and singing. It is a day to celebrate the value of mutual respect and the aspiration for harmony in all societies,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in his message.
Though Nowruz is mostly celebrated in Muslim majority countries, non-Muslims also celebrate this festival joyfully with feasts and dances.
Many countries have declared holidays to observe Nowruz. For example, Azerbaijan declared March 20 to March 26 as holidays.
ECO is an inter-governmental regional organization like ASEAN that promotes economic, technical and cultural cooperation among member states.
It was established in 1985 and its current members are Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
ASEAN Secretary-General Le Luong Minh and the ambassadors of Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Pakistan Turkey and Uzbekistan will participate in the Nowruz celebrations.
