Great Victory: Majilis Speaker Koshanov takes part in international forum in Volgograd

Parliamentary delegations of China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Vietnam, Cuba, Mongolia, Serbia, Slovakia and other countries participated in the event.

The final session was held with the participation of the presidents of Russia and Belarus – Vladimir Putin and Aleksandr Lukashenko.

Addressing the participants at the opening of the forum, Yerlan Koshanov said that being one of the most tragic pages in the annals of humanity, the World War II will forever remain a part of the history of multinational Kazakhstan.

“We have gathered on this sacred land on the eve of the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, the victory that has global historical importance. Our sacred duty is to remember the war, the heroes, their courage. In this regard, I would like to quote Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. He said: Kazakhstan has always stood and will stand for historical truth, preserving the true memory of this most bloody conflict in the history of mankind,” Koshanov said.

He also said that in the year of the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory, some two thousand memorial,  research, educational and other events will be held across Kazakhstan, including the military parade in Astana. On the initiative of the Head of State, more than five hundred streets in settlements in the country will be named in honor of war heroes born in these places.

Koshanov said that during the war, dozens of military units were formed in Kazakhstan, who fought on all fronts.

More than 1.7 million Kazakhstanis - a quarter of the entire population of the republic at that time – left for the war. More than half of them did not return from the battlefield. 500 Kazakhstanis were awarded the titles of the Soviet Union Heroes. More than one hundred veterans became the Full Cavaliers of the Order of Glory, four of which were twice awarded the title of the Soviet Union Hero.

The Majilis Speaker reminded that more than 300,000 Kazakhstanis fought heroically in the Battle of Stalingrad, one of the largest and bloodiest battles in the history of the World War II. Four of them – Nurken Abdirov, Karssybay Sypatayev, Timofey Pozolotin, Gayaz Ramayev – were awarded with the Soviet Union Hero titles.

During the visit, the delegation of the Majilis participated in memorial events on the Mamayev Kurgan. Here, the deputies laid flowers at the monument to the Kazakh soldiers who bravely fought in the defense of Stalingrad, as well as at the memorial plaque of the Soviet Union Hero Nurken Abdirov, a Kazakh pilot who heroically died in battle in December 1942 at the age of 23.

During a visit to the Panoramic Museum "The Battle of Stalingrad",  Yerlan Koshanov, on behalf of the Majilis of the Parliament, donated a mini-copy of the monument to Nurken Abdirov, installed in Karaganda, to the Museum.

The Kazakh deputies also participated in the forum’s panel sessions and in a ceremony of lighting up the Eternal Flame on the Alley of Heroes. 

Earlier it was reported that the aircraft of the military aviation of the Kazakh Armed Forces  airlifted the remains of Kazakhstani soldiers, Orazgali Belyubayev and Pyotr Okonechnikov, fallen in World War II, to the homeland.