Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 12 December, the International Institute of Central Asia hosted an international conference on the theme: "Strengthening and developing a common historical and cultural heritage in the worldview of Uzbek and Kazakh thinkers of the 19th century."

The event was organized by MICA and the Institute of Oriental Studies named after R. B. Suleimenov of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The conference in offline and online formats was attended by more than 80 specialists from leading analytical and research institutions of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, including representatives of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan (Department of Social Sciences and Humanities), the Committee on Interethnic Relations and Friendly Relations with Foreign Countries under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Cultural Heritage Agency under the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Heritage, UWED, NUUz, TSUOS, Institute of Musical Art named after. Y. Rajabi and others.

From the Kazakh side, the event was attended by: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Republic of Uzbekistan Beibut Atamkulov; Director of the Republican Center for the Study of Historical Materials of the Institute of Oriental Studies named after R.B. Suleimenova, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan Meruert Abuseitova, General Director of the Institute of Literature and Art. M.O. Auezov, Kenjekhan Matyjanov; director of the research institute "Abay academiyasy" of the Eurasian National University. L.H. Gumilyov, candidate of philological sciences Jandos Aubakir and other leading specialists of scientific institutions of Kazakhstan.

During the conference, the issues of researching the scientific, philosophical and literary heritage of the Uzbek and Kazakh thinkers of the 19th century, the facets of the interaction of the enlighteners of the two peoples in the cultural field, as well as their contribution to the pan-Turkic and world civilization were considered.

During the years of independence, the peoples of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan have gone through a very difficult and thorny path, which was accompanied by an unprecedented surge in social and political activity, worldview transformation and the growth of national self-consciousness.

In the new historical conditions, the problem of studying and popularizing the richest and, in many respects, common historical and cultural heritage of our peoples has become actual. Today, this issue is one of the key priorities of the state policy of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. In the modern world, spiritual, historical and cultural heritage, along with economic achievements, are among the main indicators of the nation’s competitiveness.

Spiritual wealth and historical and cultural heritage to a large extent form the basic core of national identity.

The multifaceted educational and reformatory activities of prominent representatives of the socio-philosophical thought of this period (Akhmad Donish, Abai (Ibragim Kunanbaev), Chokan Valikhanov, Sattarkhan Abdulgaffarov, Muhammadjan Mukimi, Zakirjan Furkat, Toshkhodja Asiri, etc.) created and formed a beneficial intellectual environment for the emergence of the movement Jadidism, which, as is known, played an extremely important role in the worldview and socio-political life of Central Asia under the conditions of the existence of the colonial regime.

In this context, the issues of studying the activities of outstanding Uzbek and Kazakh thinkers of the 19th century, who made a huge contribution to the process of understanding and preserving the historical and cultural heritage of the Uzbeks, Kazakhs and other Central Asian peoples, are of particular importance today.

Today, thanks largely to the efforts of the leadership of our countries, as well as the scientific community, we have real opportunities to implement research in this direction.

In his welcoming speech, ICA Director Anvar Nasirov noted that this event takes place during the period of the “Heritage Days of Abai Kunanbaev”, an outstanding son of the Kazakh people, a poet, thinker and humanist, widely celebrated throughout Uzbekistan.

“These days, with the participation of members of the Union of Writers of Uzbekistan, creative evenings are held in many collectives, and lectures on the work of the poet are given in higher educational institutions.

The production of the play "Abai" is planned at the National Academic Drama Theater of Uzbekistan. Cultural and creative evenings dedicated to the great thinker were organized in Tashkent, Navoi, Jizzakh and Syrdarya regions.

All these events are held with one goal - to continue strengthening cultural and humanitarian ties between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan through acquaintance with the spiritual heritage of Abay Kunanbayev.

A. Nasirov emphasized that Uzbekistan attaches the highest priority to strengthening ties with Kazakhstan, relations with which are based on strong historical ties, commonality and closeness of national traditions, religion, language and culture.

“In recent years, thanks to the firm political will of the leaders of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan and the joint efforts of the parties, the Uzbek-Kazakh relations of friendship, good neighborliness and strategic partnership have acquired a fundamentally new dynamic in absolutely all areas.

Last December, during the visit of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan to Astana (Nur-Sultan), bilateral cooperation was brought to the level of allied relations, which implies closer interaction, emphasizes the new highest trusting nature of relations.

The origins of the friendship of our peoples lie in a common history, a special part of which is centuries-old interaction, the interweaving of human destinies and joint trials.

Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, which occupy a special position in the common historical and cultural space of Central Asia, are also making serious efforts today to further develop cooperation in our region.”

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Republic of Uzbekistan B. Atamkulov, addressing the participants of the event, stressed the importance of the conference held on the eve of the state visit of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan.

It was noted that the regional policy pursued by Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan today acts as a locomotive for the development of the entire Central Asia. The modern transformations of the two countries demonstrate the commonality of culture, heritage and history.

“Uzbek and Kazakh peoples have common roots. Our Presidents solve common issues side by side. We are united by a single culture, history, land and water. Our farmers use water from the same river.”

In addition, the Ambassador expressed special gratitude to the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan for organizing the Abai Week in all regions of the country.

“The work of Abai is not only our common history, but also our present and future. Abai is the heritage of all Turkic peoples and the property of all countries of Central Asia. Abai raised the issues of nobility, happiness and humanism, which are still relevant today.”

Director of the Republican Center for the Study of Historical Materials of the Institute of Oriental Studies. R.B. Suleimenova M. Abuseitova emphasized that the history of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan is an integral part of the world, human history, as well as a single Central Asian civilization.

According to the director, the commonality of the historical destinies of the peoples of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan over the course of three to four millennia is the basis for updating the integration processes taking place today in the region.

Concerning the issues of expanding scientific and practical cooperation, M. Abuseitova emphasized the need to develop a new conceptual approach to unite the efforts of Central Asian scientists and researchers.

In this regard, the expert proposed to jointly develop a concept for the formation of relations between the countries of Central Asia, which would include the theoretical basis of regional relations, priority political and economic development paths, and forecasts for international and interstate relations.

Director of the research institute "Abai academiyasy" of the Eurasian National University. L.N. Gumilyov. J. Aubakir, during his speech, paid special attention to the content of Abay’s works, saturated with universal values and humanistic ideas. He noted that Abay is not only the national pride of the Kazakh people, but of the entire region of Central Asia.

For his part, Deputy General Director of the Institute of Literature and Art. M.O.Auezova, Ph.D. n. T. Kydyr especially noted the importance of Abai Kunanbaev’s poems written in oriental style, among them "Alifba", "Yuzi Raushan", "Fuzuli, Shamsi, Saikhali". At the same time, the expert emphasized that these poems were written in the style of the medieval Turkic literary language (chagatai) under the influence of the great Uzbek poet Alisher Navoi, whom Abai considered his teacher.

Kazakh expert B. Batyrkhan noted that Navoi and Abai are the property of all mankind. Their poetry is the poetry of eternity, wisdom, love and fidelity to creativity. Navoi and Abai are the great heritage of the two fraternal peoples, which is an example of the formation of not only common Turkic, but also universal values.

It was emphasized that the works of Navoi and Abai, who lived and created their works in different centuries, are united by the continuity of universal values, humanism, and the reformist spirit of poetry. Their deep philosophical treatises and poetic works played a huge role in the history of Eastern civilization, remaining in our century a great heritage of two fraternal peoples.

Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor of the Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies D. Alimova noted that the common history, traditions and customs of the peoples of the Central Asian countries are an important factor in the integration processes taking place today in the region.

“Ancient trade and economic relations of states on the territory of Central Asia, entry into a single system of world empires, the struggle for independence, coexistence since the 8th century in the Arab Caliphate, the revival of ancient cultural values based on a single Islamic religion and others that gave the world the greatest names and discoveries – all these historical processes contributed to the special closeness of the Uzbek and Kazakh peoples”.

According to the chief researcher of the International Institute of Central Asia, Doctor of History. R. Abdullayeva, today the issues of studying and preserving the historical and cultural heritage are among the key priorities of the state policy of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and other countries of Central Asia.

“Obviously, without a strong spiritual, historical and cultural core, the development of any nation is unthinkable.

The intellectual heritage of the enlighteners of the 19th century had a serious impact on the formation of the historical consciousness and national identity of the Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Tajiks and other peoples of Central Asia. Enlighteners also sought to familiarize their peoples with the values of world and national culture through acquaintance with the works of Goethe, Pushkin, Ferdowsi, Nizami, Navoi, Sa’adi and others. They contributed to the dialogue and interpenetration of cultures.

The holding of this event created a platform for an open and constructive exchange of views between representatives of the scientific community and experts of the two countries, with the prospect of making it a regular one, and the international conference also contributes to the development of practical proposals for further deepening bilateral scientific cooperation.