TURKSOY countries meet in IV Conference in Mary

/By AzerNews/

By Laman Sadigova

Mary is the historical successor to the ancient Merv, and now in 2015, is widely regarded as the cultural capital of the Turkic world.

The Kemine Mary State Drama Theatre welcomed the IV Conference of masters of the scene of TURKSOY and featured the performances by theater groups from these countries.

Theater critics, playwrights, directors, actors and artists from Turkey, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and the Republics of Altai, Tatarstan and Bashkortostan of the Russian Federation were among the participants. Turkmenistan is represented by critics, scientists and the leading theater companies.

Greeting the participants, Azerbaijan’s representative to TÜRKSOY, Elchin Gafarli, noted that the main purpose of event is to establish cooperation between Turkic peoples.

He also stressed that modern theater in Turkic-speaking countries is an important way to preserve and develop Turkic languages and to translate cultural and historical heritage to future generations.

At the end of the solemn opening ceremony, local and foreign theater collectives presented the audience a creative "bouquet" of performances in various genres.

In the afternoon, participants continued the breakout sessions held in the Mary Library and in the Historical museum. During these meetings, they discussed the issue of preserving the identity of the theatrical art of the Turkic peoples, as well as its further development in the context of global trends in this area.

In the evening, forum participants once again met under the arches of the National Drama Theatre Kemin and watched one of the event’s brightest performances dedicated to the legendary destiny of the Seljuk sultan.

Within the cultural program of the forum, the participants also got acquainted with the monuments of the Ancient Merv State Historical and Cultural Reserve.