On March 25, a special event dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Turkmen poet and philosopher Magtymguly Fragi was held at the UN headquarters in New York, organized by the Permanent Mission of Turkmenistan to the United Nations in cooperation with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization culture (UNESCO) and the International Organization of Turkic Culture (TURKSOY).
The event was held under the motto “300 years of following the path of peace and trust of Magtymguly Fragi” and dedicated to World Poetry Day.
The event was attended by the heads of the UNESCO Representative Office in New York, the TURKSOY, Permanent Representatives of the UN Member States, participants from diplomatic missions and UN system entities.
During the event, the significance of the adoption in 2023 of the decision of the UNESCO Executive Board on the international celebration of the 300th anniversary of the birth of Magtymguly Fragi, as well as the proclamation of 2024 as the Year of Magtymguly Fragi within the framework of TURKSOY, was noted.
Permanent Representative of Turkmenistan, Ambassador Aksoltan Ataeva, emphasized that Fragi’s works transcended borders and languages, influencing poets and thinkers across the Turkic world and beyond.
Magtymguly Fragi’s manuscripts, included in the UNESCO International Memory of the World Register, were distributed over a large geographical area, in places visited by the poet, in the territory of what is now Central Asia, Afghanistan, Iran, Russia, the Middle East and other regions of the world. This left an imprint on his worldview and became the core of his approaches based on respect for other peoples and cultures, good neighborliness, friendship and mutual understanding.
At the same time, while in other parts of the world, Magtymguly brought knowledge about his homeland, traditions and customs, acting as an Ambassador of the Turkmen people, promoting the dialogue of civilizations.
It was especially noted that today the foreign policy of Turkmenistan is a continuation of the ideas of the great poet, his ideas about the world, and the role of the Turkmen people in it. Permanent neutrality, peacefulness, equal and respectful cooperation, and strengthening global peace and trust became one of the main priorities of Turkmenistan’s national policy.
In this regard, the significance and symbolism of the adoption in the anniversary year of Magtymguly Fragi on March 21, 2024, at the initiative of Turkmenistan, of the resolution by the UN General Assembly declaring 2025 the International Year of Peace and Trust was emphasized.
During the event, special attention was paid to the role of poetry in promoting a culture of peace in today’s world. Poems were read from the works of Magtymguly Fragi and other outstanding poets and philosophers from various countries, whose anniversary is also celebrated this year, in particular the 100th anniversary of the active life of Parvin E’tesami (1907-1941, Iran), 100th anniversary of Berdibek Sokpakbaev (1924-1991, Kazakhstan), 150th anniversary of the death of Ibn Ruzaiq (Oman), 100th anniversary of the birth of Zbigniew Herbert (1924-1998, Poland), 500th anniversary of the birth of Luís Vaz de Camões (1524-1580, Portugal), 150th anniversary of the birth of Jozef Gregor Tajovský (1874-1940, Slovakia), 200th anniversary of the birth of Azhiniyaz Kosybay Uly (1824-1878, Uzbekistan).
During the event, video documentary about the life and work of Magtymguly Fragi were also shown.
The participants were presented with collections of poems by the Turkmen poet in English and rumpled gifts dedicated to the Year of Magtymguly Fragi and the city of Anau as the cultural capital of the Turkic world in 2024.