Kyrgyz Culture Day in Lakitelek, Hungary: the Manas epic is recited and Osmonov's poems appear in Hungarian

A Kyrgyz Culture Day was held at Hungarikum Liget in Lakitelek, Hungary. The Lakitelek Foundation hosted it, TÜRKSOY coordinated it and the Kyrgyz National Manas Theatre supported it.

In his opening speech, TÜRKSOY Secretary General Sultan Raev stressed the importance of translating poems by the Kyrgyz poet Alykul Osmonov into Hungarian. Marking the 110th anniversary of the poet's birth, the collection "Tó hulláma" has been published in Kyrgyz and Hungarian, translated by Dávid Somfai Kara and edited by Aida Somfai Pamirbek. Habib Kohi's book "Tales of the Silk Road" was presented too.

The programme featured epic recitations by Kyrgyz bards (akyns) and a passage from the Manas epic, performed by Nurbek Talantbekov, director of the Kyrgyz National Manas Theatre, manaschi Beksultan Imashov and epic narrator Mariyam Tobokelova. A photo exhibition by Sándor Ujvári, drawn from a trip to Kyrgyzstan with students of the Ármin Vámbéry Camp, also opened.

Guests included Kyrgyzstan's ambassador to Hungary Erlan Abdyldaev, Sándor Lezsák, chairman of the Lakitelek Foundation's board of trustees, and representatives of the Kazakh, Azerbaijani and Turkish embassies. At the end Raev presented TÜRKSOY Medals to Gabriela Lezsák and Dr. Judit Kisfaludi-Bak for keeping Hungary's ties with Turkic culture alive.