Astana, Sep 7 (EFE).- Nine journalists from different countries have won the international “Kazakhstan Through the Eyes of Foreign Media” competition, organized by the Kazakh government.
Elena Kosolapova (Azerbaijan), Milton Atanazio (Brazil), Fatma Badawy (Egypt), Yolanda Garcia (Spain), Daniela Bricca (Italy), Ermek Aktanov (Kyrgyzstan), Ravichandran Rajamanickam (Malaysia), Alexandr Gasyuk (Russia), and Katsuhiro Asagiri (Japan) shared the award.
“The number of applications participating in the contest significantly increased compared to previous years,” Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister Roman Vassilenko said during the award ceremony.
He added that this year around 80 journalists from about thirty countries participated in the foreign media contest.
The competition winners are to attend the opening of the 5th World Nomad Games in the Central Asian country, which start on Sunday.
The foreign journalists are to also visit the country’s largest city, Almaty, and Aktau, on the banks of the Caspian.
“For us, the Nomad Games are as important as the Olympic Games for the world. Since they were first held in 2014, they represent the rich cultural heritage not only of Kazakhstan but of the entire nomadic community,” Vassilenko said on the eve of the opening of the event in which nearly 4,000 athletes from more than one hundred countries are to attend.
“The Gathering of the Great Steppe” is the motto of the games, which expects to attract more than 100,000 tourists from September 8 to 13, according to the organizers.
Over the next six days, athletes will take part in 21 competitions, including falconry, archery on foot and horseback, wrestling, martial arts, tug of war, the game of Jacks, and Mangala (a Turkish board game) with 97 medals to be won.
In addition, there are several events with horses, very popular in Central Asia, such as kokpar and buzkashi, which includes the use of a goat’s body.
EFE