In Honor of the 30th Anniversary of Kazakhstan’s Independence, a Round Table and a “Tar Zaman” Film Screening Dedicated to “Alash Orda” Took Place in Bern

Bern, September 27, 2021 – In honor of the 30th anniversary of the Independence of Kazakhstan, the Embassy of Kazakhstan in Switzerland organized in Bern a round table dedicated to the role and legacy of “Alash Orda” in the history of the formation of the Kazakh statehood with the participation of the Kazakh diaspora, students and members of the Kazakh-Swiss Association “Birlik”.

During the event, Ambassador Alibek Bakayev told the participants about the role of the Kazakh intelligentsia of the early 1920s of the last century – Alikhan Bukeikhanov, Myrzhakyp Dulatov, Mukhamedzhan Tynyshbaev, Akhmet Baitursynov, Mustafa Shokai, Alikhan Ermekanov, and many others, - in the formation of true patriotism and high responsibility before the Kazakh people and their future.

“The main goals of the intelligentsia “Alash ”, who absorbed, among other things, the liberal views of the French Revolution, were the creation of a state self-government, upholding the Kazakh people’s right to national self-determination and modernization of the Kazakh society using advanced world experience,” – summarized Bakayev.

The Chairman of the Kazakh-Swiss Association “Birlik” Ruslan Tokbolat noted the following outstanding qualities of “Alash Orda” leaders: extremely high responsibility to the Motherland, progressive views, and self-sacrifice for the sake of the interests of the Kazakh people. “The continuity of these qualities he would like to see in the activities of the “Birlik” Association in Switzerland” – he noted.

During the discussion, the participants agreed that the values of “Alash Orda” on sovereignty, national peace, legal, secular, democratic state, the separation of religion from the state, and many other democratic ideas are of lasting importance in the development of modern Kazakhstan.

With the collapse of the Soviet regime, historians were able to study the material, systematize disparate information, and, on this basis, analyze the activities of the “Alash” intelligentsia. One of the results of such research was a new feature film “Tar Zaman”, created by the “Kazakhstan” TV and radio complex, which was screened as part of the event. The Kazakh diaspora took this film with great interest and deep, undisguised emotions. Many saw in its plot not only the history of Kazakhstan of that period, but also the history of their families, subjected to repression and collectivization, hunger and persecution, and actively shared their memories.

The meeting showed that among the Kazakh diaspora in Switzerland there is a serious demand for historical topics, since being far from the homeland, the diaspora especially cares about the history and culture of their Motherland.