The Turkic Culture Festival kicked off with a grand opening on Tuesday celebrating traditional dances, films and contemporary music from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey and
Turkmenistan. 

Hosted by Seoul's Foreign Ministry, the festival at the National Museum of Korea comes ahead of the 60th anniversary of bilateral ties with Turkey next year and 25 years of diplomatic ties with the other four countries.

The ministry said it hopes the festival will contribute to deepening friendly ties between South Korea and the Turkic nations, as well as heightening Koreans' interest in and understanding of Turkic culture. 

Other highlights of the gala include a photo exhibition and ethnic dress display and concerts in the southwestern city of Gwangju on Thursday and the southeastern city of Gimhae on Sunday, the last day of the festival.

Admission is free to all events and reservations can be made online at
www.turkicfest.kr.