ASTANA—Terhi Hakala, the European Union’s (EU) Special Representative for Central Asia, was honored to participate in a tusau kesu ceremony (a tradition to celebrate a child’s first attempts to walk) at the invitation of the Kazakh Embassy in Brussels on March 13, the Embassy reported on its X account. Kazakh diplomats and foreign guests performed this ritual on the eve of the Nauryz holiday.
Tusau kesu is one of the important rituals of the Kazakh people. It symbolizes the beginning of a child’s life journey, and the ceremonial cutting of bonds on the child’s legs is believed to pave the way for a prosperous and bright future.
The ceremony was held for little Aisha, who recently turned one year old. Her parents, Counselor of the Mission of Kazakhstan to the EU, Almas Dissyukov, and his wife Marzhan, chose Hakala to officiate this ceremony.
Hakala cut the strings, marking the beginning of the child’s path into the world.
“May her future be blessed with all good and special things in life,” she wrote on her X account.