Nevruz spring festival celebrated in Geneva

By Bayram Altug

GENEVA (AA) - Nevruz spring festival was celebrated here Thursday at the headquarters of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

The permanent representatives to the UN offices of Turkey, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have jointly carried out a celebration with the attendance of ambassadors, diplomats, journalists and representatives of non-governmental organizations from a number of countries.

Turkey's Permanent Representative to the UN office in Geneva, Sadik Arslan, along with other countries ambassadors stressed in speeches on the meaning and importance of Nevruz celebrations, and gave messages of peace and brotherhood.

The celebration was accompanied with the traditional cuisine of host countries.

The Nevruz festival, which also symbolizes brotherhood and peace, is celebrated mainly in Iran, Afghanistan, India, Turkic republics such as Azerbaijan, across the Caucasus and in Albania and Macedonia.

Also accepted as a UN-recognized international cultural day, Nevruz marks the start of a New Year and is considered as a forerunner of spring.

* Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev