Scientific research, expeditions, forums, preparation of the multi-volume publication Chronicle of the Turkic Civilization, as well as summer schools for young scientists, postgraduates, and master's students, and the development of Altaic and Turkic studies — all form a shared scientific platform for Central Asia countries and Russia. The collaboration between Zhusup Balasagyn Kyrgyz National University and Altai State University has become one of the longest-running and most sustainable research projects in the Eurasian region.
Zhamyikat Omurova, Head of the Department of Regional and Kyrgyz Studies, Professor and Director of the Greater Altai Representative Center for Altaic and Turkic Studies at Zhusup Balasagyn Kyrgyz National University spoke to the Vecherniy Bishkek portal. She discussed how cooperation has developed, the research being conducted, and why work within the Greater Altai framework holds strategic importance.
Collaboration between KNU named after Zh. Balasagyn and Altai State University began in 2013. Over the years, we have adopted Altai State University's expertise in organizing interdisciplinary research on an integrated basis. Within the Greater Altai project, historians, archaeologists, ethnographers, philologists, and media specialists work as a unified team, rather than in isolation. This approach has proven highly effective and yielded tangible scientific results.
Our experience in preparing large-scale collaborative scientific publications has also been significant, particularly the multi-volume "Chronicle of Turkic Civilization," which features a clearly structured editorial process, peer review, and international co-authorship. Equally valuable has been our work with young researchers. Altai State University actively engages master's and doctoral students, and young scientists in real-world research projects, and we have successfully adopted this practice. All this has significantly enhanced the quality of our joint project and strengthened our scientific collaboration. The Greater Altai project is not only an inter-university collaboration but also a full-fledged interstate initiative that fosters integration and international cooperation.