Kyrgyz writer Chinghiz Aitmatov was commemorated at his grave in Bishkek.

World-renowned Kyrgyz writer Chinghiz Aitmatov was commemorated at his grave on the 97th anniversary of his birth. Admirers who visited his grave at the Ata-Beyit National History and Memorial Complex offered prayers.

Speaking at the grave, Chairman of the country’s Council of Elders, Doolotbek Shadybekov, stated that Aitmatov is remembered today not only in Kyrgyzstan but also in Türkiye through numerous events.

Many students laid flowers at the writer’s monument in Bishkek’s main square.

– Aitmatov’s works were brought to life

Aitmatov was also commemorated at Vocational High School No. 100 in Bishkek, where the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) established the Green Energy Training Center and the Kyrgyz-Turkish Cultural Center. During the event titled “Apocalypse and Climate Change, Aitmatov’s Warning and the Mission of Green Energy,” students staged the work “Mankurt,” which reflects the loss of humanity. They also portrayed characters from the novels “Mother Earth,” “The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years,” “Jamilia,” “The White Ship,” and “The Red Scarf.”

Speaking at the event, TİKA Bishkek Program Coordinator Mehmet Bodur stated that preserving the writer’s valuable legacy is a great responsibility for them, saying:

“As TİKA, we established the Chinghiz Aitmatov Turkish Cultural Center within the Kyrgyzstan National Library. At the same time, through the Virtual Museum application introduced at the Chinghiz Aitmatov House Museum, we have carried the world of the master writer into the digital realm for future generations.”

Bodur added that they support international seminars, conferences, and panels to ensure that Aitmatov’s ideas continue to live not only in the past but also today and into the future.

Osman Tahir Osman, the Bishkek Representative of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), stated that they commemorated Aitmatov, the writer of the Turkic world, with mercy, gratitude, and respect on his birthday.

– Aitmatov’s colleagues gathered at a conference

Under the organization of Prof. Dr. Abdıldacan Akmataliev, Director of the Chinghiz Aitmatov Institute of Language and Literature within the National Academy of Sciences, a conference titled “Aitmatov Readings – 2025” was held.

The conference was attended by Kyrgyzstan’s State Secretary Arslan Koychiyev, Presidential Advisor Marat Imankulov, representatives of the embassies of Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan, as well as the writer’s colleagues and admirers. In his speech, Akmataliev stated that they possess the manuscripts of Aitmatov’s works titled “Synagogue,” “Gold and Snow,” “Meeting with the Slain Son,” “The Flute and the Earth,” and “The Flute – A Symbol of Love and Sorrow.”

Born on December 12, 1928, in the village of Sheker in the Talas region, Aitmatov fell ill in May 2008 in Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan, while there for documentary filming for a Russian television channel. He passed away on June 10 in Germany, where he had been taken for treatment.

 

Anadolu Agency