ASTANA, The City of Peace, Turns 20

Words Veeramalla Anjaiah  Photos Courtesy of Embassy of Kazakhstan JakartaKazakhstan citizens in Indonesia joyfully celebrated the 20th anniversary of Astana, the capital city of Kazakhstan, in Jakarta on Wednesday at Hotel Borobudur in Jakarta.

Astana, one of the youngest cities in the world, is a beautiful and modern city in Central Asia. It took just 10 years for world famous architects like Norman Foster and many others to built such a marvelous city. With a population of more than one million people, Astana has been growing very rapidly, as is evident from the tremendous growth in its gross domestic product (GDP).

According to The Astana Times, the GDP of Astana city has gone up to US$16 billion in 2017 from just $3.2 billion in 2007, a record jump of more than 500 percent.

With modern buildings and beautiful towers like the Presidential Palace, Golden Towers, Singing Fountains, Bayterek Tower, Nur-Astana Mosque, Opera House and the tent shaped Khan Shatyr shopping mall, Astana is a very interesting place to visit.

Kazakhstan and the people of Astana are proud about the growth of Astana.

“Astana is the creation of the whole Kazakhstan. We have created a miracle in the 21th century. In the history of manking, no such city has been built in 20 years. But we did it! Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev said recently in Astana.

Echoing a similar view Kazakhstan Ambassador to Indonesia Askhat Orazbay, said Astana was not just a capital city but a point of pride for all Kazakhstan people.

“Astana is not only a dynamically developing megapolis with eye-catching architecture, it is the sacred center of the country, our pride and the result of the efforts of the entire nation,” Ambassador Orazbay said at a reception to celebrate Astana’s 20^th anniversary.

Amazing Astana, in a short period of time, has emerged as major hub for diplomatic, economic and cultural activities.

In 2010, Astana according to Orazbay, became the host of the historic summit of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Last year, Astana hosted the world’s biggest trade exhibition called Expo 22017. It also hosted the first Summit of the Organization of Islamci Cooperation (OIC) on Science and Technology and adopted a forward-looking document – the Astana Declaration on Science, Technology, Innovation and Modernization in the Islamic World, Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla attended the OIC Summit in Astana.

According to Orazbay, Astana was awarded by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1999 the title “City of Peace”.

“Astana has been the host to nine rounds of Syrian peace talks, which began last year. All the parties involved in the conflict guarantors and international organizations are involved in the these talks, which are aimed at ending the conflict in Syria,” Orazbay told The Jakarta Post.

Kazakhstan is also currently a nonpermanent member of the United Nations Security Council.

As a peace loving country, Kazakhstan launched a new initiative called the Congress of leaders of World and Traditional Religions in Astana several years back with the exclusive aim of promoting peace and harmony in the world.

Astana, Orzabay said, would host the VI Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions from Oct 10-11 with the theme of “Religious leaders for a safe world”.[Sources: The Jakarta Post, Friday, July 20, 2018]