The first Kurultai or Congress of Kazakhs took place in Ukraine. Representatives of Kazakh diaspora from different regions of the country attended the event in Kiyv. The main purpose of kurultai is to unite all Kazakhs living in Ukraine, the organizers said. According to the country’s State Statistics Service, there are currently around 60,000 Kazakhs living in Ukraine. Makka Karazhanova is a member of the Kazakh diaspora. She has been the Head of the ‘Birlik’ Association of Kazakhs in Kharkiv since 2006.
“I hope that we will finally put an end to small associations, for example, small groups that are divided by businesses or cities. I want us to stop doing that and create one large group instead, which will represent us here in Kiyv and all over Ukraine. It’s important to show that we are here, this is one of the ways to indicate that we are actively participating in the life of all of Ukraine, and there are many of us. There are talented Kazakhs living in Odessa, Kharkiv and Dnipro, and they would like their homeland to know about them. That’s the most important thing,” noted Makka Karazhanova, Head of ‘Birlik’ Association of Kazakhs in Kharkiv City.
“The main purpose of the congress is to unite Kazakhs living in Ukraine and determine their further development. What are we doing? What are the future plans of Kazakhs living in Ukraine? In what area do they work? Where do they grow and develop?” said Batyr Niyazbekov, Deputy Director of the Kazakh Cultural Center ‘Dostyk’.
Book and art exhibitions were organized as part of the kurultai. The Kazakh Embassy in Ukraine plans to hold such kurultais on a permanent basis.
“We are in a great mood, because today is the first kurultai of Kazakhs in Ukraine. Kazakhs living in different cities of the country gathered here today. This is a real holiday for us,” added Gulnaz Rash, Member of the Kazakh Diaspora in Ukraine.
Translation by Assem Zhanmukhanova
Editing by Galiya Khassenkhanova
Web-editor: Admin
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