Exhibition of historical maps reflecting Kazakh nationhood opens at European Parliament
An exhibition of old maps reflecting the Kazakh nationhood was opened at the European Parliament in Brussels, El.kz cites MFA.
The featured historical documents were created by Dutch, French, English and German cartographers. About 1,500 such maps have been collected by Mukhit-Ardager Sydyknazarov, a Kazakh scholar and Director of the Institute of Modern Political Studies at the Lev Gumilev Eurasia National University in Astana, and published in his book “Uninterrupted Nationhood of Kazakhstan. The Kazakh State on European and American Maps of the XVI–XIX Centuries,” which had been published earlier in Brussels. The place of its publication was chosen because of the special role of Belgian cartographers of that era in the dissemination in Europe of geographical information about Central Asia and other regions of the world.
“It is very important to get the knowledge and to learn from each other, to see from historical perspective how Europeans perceived Central Asia and Kazakhstan in different historical periods. Every country is full of history and culture, learning about them helps us build a better policy for the citizens of today. I congratulate Kazakhstan and the EU on the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations and I wish their successful continuation,” Karsten Lucke, Member of the European Parliament, said at the opening ceremony.
The Head of the Mission of Kazakhstan to the EU, Margulan Baimukhan expressed his conviction that the exhibition would generate vivid interest among members, staff and visitors of the European Parliament, expanding their knowledge about the history of diplomatic, trade and cultural relations between the peoples of Europe and Central Asia.
“This study reveals important historical foundations of the solid partnership that the independent Kazakhstan and the EU enjoy today,” the Ambassador stressed.
The book’s author himself participated in the ceremony. As Professor Sydyknazarov points out, “in publications of the leading cartographic houses of the Netherlands, Belgium, England, France, Italy, Germany, Austria and the United States, the Kazakh state is regularly present on the political maps and in other atlases in the 16th to the 19th centuries, which, in our view, reflects the continuous nature of the Kazakh nationhood in this particular period.”
“The opening of this exhibition at the European Parliament gives its visitors a good opportunity to acquaint themselves with cartographic artifacts related to the Kazakh nationhood as recorded by European scholars, diplomats, and travelers of that epoch, and collected in national libraries, museums and archives in various countries in Europe, America, and the Middle East,” he emphasized.
The first visitors to the exhibition, including members and staff of the European and Belgian parliaments, representatives of major European institutions, diplomatic corps, research centers, non-governmental organizations, and media, noted that its opening was an important event that facilitates the further circulation of valuable historical documents and testimonies reflecting the early links between the peoples of Europe and the Kazakhs.
The event is being held under the patronage of MEP Andris Ameriks, Deputy Chair of the Delegation to the EU-Kazakhstan, EU-Kyrgyzstan, EU-Uzbekistan, EU-Tajikistan Parliamentary Cooperation Committees and for relations with Turkmenistan and Mongolia (DCAS) and Deputy Chair of the Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN).
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