Kazakhstan and Mongolian archeologists starts joint researches

Astana, 8 October 2008, (Khabar) - At the last meeting of the presidents of
Kazakhstan and Mongolia they agreed that beginning this year Kazakhstan
scientists, together with their colleagues from Mongolia, will be
researching and restoring historical and cultural monuments in the territory
of Mongolia.

Expeditions from the Kazakhstan ministry for culture went to
Mongolia to estimate the volume of work and create a plan.

Mukhtar Kul-Mukhmmed, Minister for Culture and Information of Kazakhstan:
- By order of the head of state in Kazakhstan the state programme "Cultural
heritage" will be running for five years and, exactly from this year,
Kazakhstan will start the research and systematization, as well as the
restoration of cultural and historical monuments that have direct attention
to Kazakhstan history but located abroad.

The entire world knows about the famous monuments of the Turkic culture
which were found by archeologists at the end of the 19th century on the
Orkhon River in Mongolia. Such things as arrows, with inscriptions which are
dated to the 7th-11th centuries, give the notion that in ancient time the
Turkic people had developed a culture, its own writing system and a state
structure. The majority of turcologists, who are specializing in this
period, had to work hard with only copies of Orkhonian writing. But
Mongolian scientist, Karzhauday Sartkozhauly is much luckier, as he has been
studying the originals for 30 years.

Karzhaubay Sartkozhauly, scientists-turcologist:
- These monuments have been protected by a special guard for about 500 year.
They are the first written monuments of our ancestors.

Recently, during excavations of the new burial mound, an ancient statue was
found 2 kilometres from the museum-complex of Kultegin and Belge Kagan and
Mongolian scientists think that this is a monument to Bilge Kagan. To
conduct more in depth research, they need the help of their Kazakhstani
colleagues.