ASHGABAT (Dispatches) -- An Iranian delegation headed by chairman of the Islamic Culture and Relations Organization of Iran Mehdi Imanipour attended a commemoration ceremony for prominent Iranian-Turkmen poet Magtymguly Pyragy (Makhtum-Qoli Faraghi) here. 
Addressing the ceremony, Imanipour appreciated the character of Pyragy and pointed to considerable cultural and historical commonalities between Iran and Turkmenistan.
Ashgabat opened a park and unveiled a statue of the poet, while a commemoration ceremony was held near the poet’s mausoleum in Aq Tuqai village in Iran’s Gulestan province. 
In Ashgabat, the Central Asian state unveiled an 80-meter high bronze statue, one of the tallest in the world, in honor of the poet.
The oil and gas rich country has in recent years erected several monuments, buildings and statues in honor of national heroes and the ruling family.  
President Serdar Berdymukhamedov presided over the lavish opening ceremony of the statue of Pyragy, south of the capital, Ashgabat.
Born 300 years ago, Pyragy is seen as one of the most important figures in Turkmen literature. His name is being used by authorities to promote a Turkmen identity, rooted in history.
“I wanted to embody the greatness of a humanist and poet whose name figures among the eminent writers of the east,” sculptor Saragt Babayev told AFP.
Originally populated by nomadic local tribes, Central Asia historically lacked fixed borders along national or ethnic lines.
It was conquered and subsumed into the Russian empire, staying part of the Soviet Union until its collapse three decades ago.
Standing 80 meters tall, including the base, the statue of the poet is twice the height of Brazil’s Christ the Reedemer and 13 meters shy of the Statue of Liberty and its pedestal in New York harbor.
The statue of Pyragy is surrounded by 24 smaller bronze statues depicting foreign authors, including William Shakespeare, Honore de Balzac and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
The tallest statue in the world is India’s Statue of Unity at 182 meters.