Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev on Saturday awarded mothers with many children the Baatyr Ene (Mother Heroine) order and Ene Dunky (Glory to Mother) medal.

A total of 18 mothers, who have six and more children were invited to meet with the Kyrgyz president on the eve of the Mother's Day in Kyrgyzstan, which is celebrated on the third Sunday of May.

Atambayev, presenting letters of thanks and gifts to all the invited mothers, said: "Children are our future. And everybody bows to the mothers who are raising children."

Akylai Akmoldoeva, one of the recipients of this award, is 86 years old and has seven children and 20 grandchildren.

She is very happy to receive the award and grateful to President Atambayev. She said that she was busy taking care of her children and educating them in all her life.

This year, 1,902 mothers who have seven or more children became mother-heroines in Kyrgyzstan and 437 mothers having six children received the Ene Dunky medal.

Kyrgyzstan's mother-heroine order was founded on April 16, 1996, and it is the state award of Kyrgyzstan.

Population is important for Kyrgyzstan. In November 2015, Kyrgyzstan welcomed its 6 millionth citizen. Kyrgyzstan has a territorial area of less than 200,000 square kilometers. It considers the increasing population as an important index of the comprehensive national power.

The Kyrgyz government encourages every family in Kyrgyzstan to have many children.

Although the Mother's Day is celebrated throughout the world on the second Sunday of May, this holiday has been celebrated on the third Sunday of May since 2012 in Kyrgyzstan due to too many holidays in Kyrgyzstan in the first half of May.

The Mother's Day was established in Kyrgyzstan to raise the status and role of mothers, and to pay more attention to their problems.