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Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan mark army day to honor servicemen

Xinhua, February 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan on Monday celebrated a military-themed holiday to honor their men and women in uniform.

"We pay tribute to those who in the most difficult times bravely defended their homeland," Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev said in a message on the Defender of the Fatherland Day.

The day, observed every Feb. 23 and also marked in Russia, Belarus and some other former Soviet republics, traces back to the date in 1918 during the Russian Civil War, when the first mass draft into the Red Army took place.

Originally known as the Red Army Day, it was renamed several times before the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991. In 2002, the holiday was given its current name by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Bearing the same significance, the holiday is known as the Tajik National Army Day in Tajikistan.

Speaking at a ceremonial meeting dedicated to the 22nd anniversary of the Tajik Armed Forces, President Emomali Rahmon set new tasks on strengthening his country's defense capacity. Endi