Round Table: The Role of Public Diplomacy in Kyrgyzstan - Russia Relations

05/05/2023 15:00

The participants of the international round table noted that it is necessary to use all the resources of public diplomacy in strengthening friendship and relations between the two countries.

The role of public diplomacy in Russian-Kyrgyz relations was discussed in Bishkek. An international round table took place on 24 April. The event was organized by the Assembly of the Peoples of Russia and the Assembly of the Peoples of Kyrgyzstan with the support of the Presidential Grants Foundation, Rossotrudnichestvo and the International Union of Non-Governmental Organizations "Eurasian Peoples' Assembly" as part of the "LEADER OF PEOPLE'S DIPLOMACY" project.

Discussion moderators: Almanbet Matubraimov, Chairman of the Council of the Assembly of Peoples of Kyrgyzstan, and Svetlana Smirnova, Chairman of the Council of the Assembly of Peoples of Russia, First Deputy Secretary General - Head of the General Secretariat of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly, member of the Council under the President of the Russian Federation for Interethnic Relations.

During the round table, Russian Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Nikolai Udovichenko noted that today the interstate relations of countries represent a multi-level system, in which the functions of both official structures and institutions of public diplomacy are woven.

“The tasks of strengthening people's public diplomacy are clearly spelled out in the concept of Russia's foreign policy, adopted in March. It emphasizes that Russia will give priority to the development of a public diplomacy tools with the participation of civil society. We have many positive examples of public diplomacy with Kyrgyzstan, and the formats for holding interregional conferences have been established. Last year it was held in Yekaterinburg, this year we will hold it in Jalal-Abad in the fall. These are also youth forums, for example, "Eurasia Global", "We are together." A successful example of women's diplomacy was the recent forum with the participation of First Lady Aigul Zhaparova and Chairman of the Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko in Moscow,” the ambassador listed.

Udovichenko noted that within the framework of cultural diplomacy, the Cross Year of Kyrgyzstan and Russia, which was officially closed at the end of last year, was of great importance. He paid special attention to the growing role of compatriots in the development of interstate relations.

Albert Zulkharneev, head of the Rossotrudnichestvo Representative Office in the Kyrgyz Republic, said that over the past year, the Russian Houses in Bishkek and Osh have held more than 350 various events.

“We are expanding the scope of work and attracting more and more new partners. Of course, support for the development of the Russian language and the promotion of Russian education remain priorities. Quotas for applicants to Russian universities have been increased. The preservation of historical memory and support for Eurasian integration remain important,” he stressed.

Zulkharneev noted that an important task is to make the life of Russian and Kyrgyz compatriots comfortable, so that everyone lives in an atmosphere of mutual respect.

“I think that the use of such live connections and contacts would be of great benefit. We don't have to come up with themes and artificial structures, we have real people who connect us. It is important that the potential of these people be used for the mutual benefit of our countries. We will be glad to new good ideas and partners,” said the head of the Representative Office.

The participants discussed the issues of popularization and further development of public diplomacy through modern mechanisms of cultural, humanitarian, scientific, educational and business cooperation, its role in the development of Russian-Kyrgyz relations.

The coordinator of the project "Leader of People's Diplomacy", Deputy Head of the General Secretariat of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly, political scientist Natalia Zabolotskikh introduced the round table participants to the key figures of the project and its geography.

“During the application campaign, the portal of the International Competition “Leader of Public Diplomacy” in 2022 received 621 applications, 463 applicants of them became active participants in the project - these are representatives of the non-profit sector from 34 regions of Russia and 23 countries, including Turkey, Romania, Moldova , France, Canada, Italy, Mexico, India, Saudi Arabia, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Armenia, Israel, Serbia, Syria, etc. In a difficult geopolitical situation, there was demonstrated a high interest in Russia, the Russian language and participation in international projects initiated by our country,” the project coordinator noted.

Zarina Umetalieva, a political analyst at the National Television and Radio Company of Kyrgyzstan, continued the theme of the high mutual interest of countries in each other, talking about the events that were held under the chairmanship of Kyrgyzstan in the EAEU.

“Today it is worth remembering the words of the Kazakh public figure, poet, writer Olzhas Suleimenov, who said at one of the events that the time has come for conscious interdependence in times of geopolitical turbulence,” the journalist said.

Zarina Kalykovna also raised the issue of poor media coverage of large-scale events that contribute to the integration and development of public diplomacy.

“There is no single information space. As part of the thematic session at the Bishkek Economic Forum “Ideas of Eurasianism: a look into the future”, I proposed creating a single Eurasian information space. The entire Eurasian space should be aware of this colossal work that is being carried out and people, countries could integrate with each other,” she suggested.

Svetlana Smirnova supported the idea of creating such a structure that would contribute to the dissemination of information about public initiatives, projects, results in the Eurasian space and invited Zarina Umetaliyeva to join the Media Council being created by the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly.

Speaking about the effectiveness of public diplomacy Tokon Mamytov, Deputy Secretary General of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly, head of the Department of Political Research and Expertise of the National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic, Doctor of Political Science noted that today, in his opinion, it depends on five factors.

“A high level of positive image of the state or the main actor. Availability of resources. Having a strong civil society. A highly professional bureaucracy if the state is the initiator of the processes. Officials play an important role in the implementation of projects. Another important factor is modern technological advances. Only if these factors are present, people's diplomacy will lead to the goal,” Tokon Bolotbekovich noted.

During the round table, issues of preserving the Russian language and historical memory were raised. The speech of Cholpon Baekova, 1st General Prosecutor of the Kyrgyz Republic (1991-1993), 1st Chairman of the Constitutional Court of the Kyrgyz Republic (1993-2007), First Deputy of the Jogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic (2007) was mainly devoted to these topics. -2010), leading specialist of the Scientific Center at the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University. Among the voiced proposals is to consider the possibility of the Russian side to take “under guardianship” the villages of Kyrgyzstan, whose residents massively participated in the events of the Great Patriotic War.

“This is to show that we cannot be torn apart,” Cholpon Tursunovna emphasized.

The participants of the round table were students of Gymnasium No. 24 named after Aaly Tokombaev in Bishkek, who, with the support of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly and Rossotrudnichestvo, visited Volokolamsk and Moscow in April as part of the International Action “Twinning of Memory”, dedicated to the common feat of the peoples who defended Moscow in 1941 and the search activities.

During the round table "The role of public diplomacy in the development of Russian-Kyrgyzstan relations", more than two dozen projects were presented that are being implemented on the territory of the two countries. The participants exchanged contacts and agreed to continue close cooperation through public diplomacy and mutual information support.

The event was also hosted by Larisa Khoperskaya, Head of the Center for Eurasian Studies, Stanislav Korolev, Deputy Secretary General of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly, Director of the National Center for Public Diplomacy of the SCO, Valery Ruzin, Deputy Chairman of the Council of the Assembly of Peoples of Russia, Deputy Secretary General of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly, President of the Eurasian Television Academy and Radio, Alexander Aigistov, Head of the Russian Agency for the Development of the Information Society "RARIO", President of the National Union of NGOs, member of the General Council of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly, and other representatives of government agencies, non-governmental and intergovernmental organizations, representatives of youth and national-cultural public associations, experts in sphere of public diplomacy.

Recall that earlier during the meeting of the organizers of the round table - the delegation of the Assembly of the Peoples of Russia and the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly with State Secretary Suyunbek Kasmambetov, issues of strengthening interethnic and interstate people's diplomatic ties based on mutual friendship and trust were discussed. Kasmambetov stressed that the state policy in the field of interethnic relations in Kyrgyzstan is on a consistent course, and the activities of the Assembly of the People of Kyrgyzstan are of great importance. According to the State Secretary, work to strengthen interethnic relations in the country will continue further through the implementation of educational, cultural and other initiatives. The parties also agreed on the revival of the Eurasian Youth Forum.