Press Center

written in Central Asia, even if it is a one marked by the burdens that come from the long history of nomadism. We know that, long ago, in an economic-type of conquest, the Mongols have engaged different peoples in conquering the West, which, until today, has left a mark upon European history. Samarkand has been left in ruins since then. Presently, the descendants of those shrewd conquerors, amalgamated in the meanwhile with the peoples who lay at the origin of the Turks, live themselves up to history (to "the highest standards of history", as today's Kazaks say). I am talking about Kazakhstan, a country which is from many points of view surprising and admirable, and which I have had the occasion of visiting a few days ago.

Many Kazak realities may impress the visitor. It's not simply the large territory - which is four times the size of France, while the administrative region of Karaganda within the country, for example, is larger than any European country (except for Russia, of course). It's not just the spread of soil resources (it is rightly said that in Kazakhstan Mendeleev's entire periodic table is represented, and Uranium, gas, oil, Copper and many others may compete internationally in their quantities). It's not just the complexity of the population - gathering around 140 ethnic groups, of which 40% are Kazaks, in one of the greatest demographic basins of today's world. Throughout all of this, Kazakhstan matters. This country matters, however, in many aspects. I will mention only a few.

Trying to embody a society where information is exchanged, maintaining over 2000 newspapers (80% of which are private) and 100 independent television and radio programmes (at a population of 16 million inhabitants), remains worthy of being discussed. It is also worth mentioning that Kazakhstan has an export trade of 71 billion dollars (of oil, gas, metal and animal products, machinery) and an import of 38 billion in 2008, with Russia, China, Germany, France, USA, Italy as main partners (as the eloquent volume Kazakhstan. Country Profile, edited by the OSCE, in 2010, informs us). Today's great economic and political powers are successfully competing in a country which tries to skilfully use the international market as an instrument for its own development. Kazakhstan's main universities - I

am considering Astana, Karaganda, institutions in Alma Ata - are directed towards gaining autonomy, powerful financing, performance in experimental sciences and social studies, and are open to employing specialists from other countries.

One may assert that looking at the airline companies one may understand the economic development and the landmarks of a country. When, in Frankfurt am Main, one steps into the "Air Astana" aircraft, a 767 Boeing, one gains the perception of the mentality oriented towards organisational and personnel high standards. Any trip made by air within the national boundaries of Kazakhstan confirms that. And when entering the new and very modern capital of Astana - visibly inspired by the architectural and systematisation experiences in Tokyo, Beijing, Washington DC, and designed by Japanese architects - one has the impression of a firm will to enter history made today. The old capital, Alma Ata, remains the charming city situated at the foot of the high mountains, which continue to the Himalayas, and it allows for it to be fairly compared to Geneva.

One cannot go to Kazakhstan without encountering history. One must make the effort of reconstructing Kazak history in Eurasia, which is, of course, more complex than today's manuals render it. One must also make the effort of understanding that, during the Stalinist period, the Kazak territory was used as a place for political deportations (Solzhenitsyn was taken to Povlovar, not far from Karaganda, and The Gulag Archipelago, his renowned novel, can be traced to his experiences there); it was also used as a place for the extermination of prisoners of war (Germans, Italians, Romanians, Japanese), especially after the battle of Stalingrad. I have been to the endless cemetery of Spask, where many countries - France, Italy, Romania, Kazakhstan, Israel, Russia, Poland, Germany and others - inaugurated memorials dedicated to the victims of Stalinism and of the extremely harsh conditions of captivity. Of course, nothing can measure up to those sufferings, but it is somehow encouraging that, as contemporaries, we remember how great those sufferings were and that we can learn from them.