The second poetry night to celebrate winter, titled "Atash dar Chelleh 2", was held on January 27, 2016 at ECI Headquarters.
The event, organized by the ECO Cultural Institute in cooperation with the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, was attended by Iftikhar Husain Arif, President of ECO Cultural Institute, H.E. Naseer Ahmad Noor, Ambassador and Mohammad Afsar Rahbeen, Cultural Attaché of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in Iran, Alireza Ghazveh, Director of the office for Literary Creations and a number of poets from the ECO countries.
At the outset, Mohammad Afsar Rahbeen, Cultural Attaché of the Islamic Republic of appreciated ECI for organizing the event and made a proposal for foundation of ECO Poets Association to be realized in cooperation with the Institute.
Pointing out the importance of poetry in literature, Iftikhar Husain Arif said:"Poetry is a valuable aspect of commonalty among the peoples of the ECO region. It has always served as a medium for developing peace and friendship in the region and promoting shared understanding and respecting cultural differences. The living flames of poetry in the dead cold of winter could fill our hearts with the warmness of immense divinity and leave with us a sense of spiritual unity."
"Hence, ECI holds such events like "Atash dar Cheleh" to appreciate the rich language and literature of the member states as our most precious national wealth through which the existing sense of nationhood and belonging is strengthened among the peoples of ECO region and beyond". He added.
H.E. Naseer Ahmad Noor, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, was the next lecturer of the event. He extended his gratitude to the ECO Cultural for the efforts made to arrange the event and said: in long ago of past, Persian language had been spoken in most parts of the ECO region. Nations of the region share a common history, most of which could be found in Persian in the remained books.
"In the realm of ECO, which includes ten countries, we have an excellent potential for cultural activities. If the potential is well utilized, it would develop more potentials in different fields to further expand cooperation among the ECO nations." He added.
Later at the event, poets from Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and India recited their poems on celebration of cold winter nights, well received by the enthusiasts. The list of the participatin poets was as follows: Aman Mirzaee, Zahra Hossein zadeh, Ali madad Rezvani, Mohsen Saeedi, Toktam Hoseeini, Zahra Zahedi, Kobra Hosseini, Mohammad Sarvar Rajaee, Mohammad Sadegh Dehghan, Mohammad Afsar Rahbeen, Alireza Ghazveh, Jabbar Kakaee, Hadi Kiasari, Ahmad Fayyaz, Aziz Nezafat, Iftikhar Husain Arif, Shoh Mansoor Khojaev, Shahram Sarmadi, Mohammad Asef Javadi, Seyed Abdollah Hosseini