DUSHANBE, May 30, 2013, Asia-Plus – On Thursday May 30, President Emomali Rahmon received known Tajik poet Bozor Sobir, who has lived in Seattle, Washington (USA) over the last twenty years.

“I am grateful to President Emomali Rahmon for his special attention to my humble person,” Bozor Sobir told journalists after a meeting with President Rahmon.

“We had warm, frank and friendly conversation.  I am very grateful to him that he found me in remote America and invited me to return home,” the poet said.

He noted that before that he had been in Tajikistan several times and nobody had thrown obstacles in his way.

We will recall that Bozor Sobir arrived in Dushanbe Monday evening.  The poet was met by representatives from President’s Executive Office, journalists and friends at the Dushanbe airport.

Tajik national television channels have reported that the poet, who has lived in the United States over the past twenty years, is the last refugee of the Tajik civil war.

In his interview to TV channels, Bozor Sobir said that he had returned to homeland forever at invitation of President Emomali Rahmon.  He stressed that he was still able to make his contribution to development of society.

Bozor Sobir called on Tajik intelligentsia to unite round the leader of the country.  He also expressed perplexity what small Tajikistan needs so many political parties for.  “Many demagogues have appeared in Tajikistan and they should make way for sober-minded forces,” Bozor Sobir noted.

Born on November 20, 1938, Bozor Sobir completed his studies in Tajik philology at Tajik National University in Dushanbe in 1962 and had worked for the magazines Maorif va Madaniyat (Education and Culture) and Sadoyi Sharq (Voice of the East).  During the Soviet period his verse was widely translated into Western languages and even published in Iran.  With the advent of glasnost he became actively involved in the political and cultural movements for an independent national identity.  Four major collections of his verse were published in the 2000s.