Orenburg state university

Historical heritage as the foundation of friendship

K. Zhubanov Aktobe Regional State University (ARSU) (Kazakhstan) held International scientific conference “Prospects for the cooperation of Russia and Kazakhstan scientists in studying common history” within the framework of the agreement singed between OSU and ARSU.

The agreement to provide a dicussion site for historians and archivists of the two countries was reached during the Days of the Aktobe region in Orenburg region in April 2017. Apart from ARSU, the OSU Research Institute of the History and Ethnography of the Southern Urals and the Autonomous Non-Commercial Organization “People's Commonwealth of Eurasia” acted as the coorganisers of the conference.

Scientists, historians, archivists, media people and government authorities from various cities of Russia and Kazakhstan such as Aktobe, Kyzylorda, Uralsk, Moscow and Orenburg took part in the conference. Eduard Yasakov, director of the International Cooperation Department and Venaliy Amelin, director of the Research Institute of the History and Ethnography of the Southern Urals participated in the evnet as OSU representatives. Venaliy Amelin addressed the conference participants with a welcoming speech. He emphasized the significance of international cooperation of scientists from the Russian Federation and the Republic of Kazakhstan in the fields of Arts and Humanities, especially in the field of preserving the rich historical heritage of the two countries, which is a solid foundation of friendship.

The conference participants got acquainted with the exhibition expositions of the documents about the milestones of the common past of the two countries presented by the archives of Orenburg, Aktobe, Martuk, Uralsk and Kyzylorda. It is worth noting that Orenburg archives were presented for the first time in Kazakhstan.

The conference discussed the cooperation of history scientific schools in the boundary regions of the two countries, the exchange of research results between Kazakh and Russian historians. It analyzed the experience in conducting the research on the past as well as challenges to popularize historical science achievements popularization in the Eurasian region.

Historians and archivists of the two countries agreed to join forces in identifying new sources and materials for studying the history of Russian and Kazakh society for the future objective study of the common past.

During the visit to Kazakhstan, the OSU delegation also met with the ARSU rector prof. Baurzhan Yerdembekov to discuss the prospects for cooperation in the fields of education and science.

Russian guests visited the Aktobe’s Nur-Gasyr Regional Central Mosque, the Mausoleum of Abat-Baitak (the architectural monument of the XIV–XV centuries), the Orthodox Nikolsky Cathedral and the Alley of Friendship, which is the visual evidence of cultural diversity, peaceful coexistence of various religions and peoples in the boundary area.