As it has been known, yesterday the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev arrived in Baku on an official visit.

According to the press service of Akorda, the leaders of the two countries will discuss issues of bilateral cooperation in the spheres of security, economy, transit and regional policy. Within the framework of Nursultan Nazarbayev's visit to Azerbaijan, a number of documents on interstate cooperation are expected to be signed.

In this regard, I want to take a closer look at the friendship of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, which has overcome the test of time and has a long history.

Azerbaijani Parable of Friendship

There were two friends in the world. For many years their friendship was measured. Once they went together on the road. Their way ran through the desert.

Maybe because of boredom, maybe for some other reason, friends argued. One of them heatedly gave the other a slap in the face.

His friend, feeling a strong pain, did not say anything and did not even hurry back slap and only took a twig and wrote on the sand: "Today my best friend has slapped me."

But the path was long. And ahead of the friends saw a lake, banks of which were caressed by green thickets. Friends, tired after a long journey, decided to swim. And this must happen to a friend who got a slap in the face, almost drowned. But his friend saved him.

When the rescued came round, he carved on the stone: "Today my best friend saved my life."

Then his friend asked:

- When I offended you, you wrote on the sand, and now you write on a stone. Why?

And the friend answered:

- When you are offended, we must write on the sand, so that the winds can soon erase this offense. But when the good is done, you need to carve this event for ages on the stone so that no wind could erase.

The friendship of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, which has overcome the test of time, has a long history. Not only geographical and historical proximity, but genetic community forms the basis of friendship of two ancient Turkic peoples. And to this day, the fundamental factors of genetic affinity - the commonality of history, language, culture and spiritual values ​​form an unshakable foundation of the brotherhood of two peoples.

The genetic community of the two Turkic peoples, Kazakh and Azerbaijani, allows representatives of these peoples to understand each other, as they say, from a half-word. So historically, people of more than one hundred nations and peoples live on the territory, both Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. And they all consider these countries their homeland.

The main part of the population of two friendly states is Islam. One of the influencing factors in the adoption of Islam was the spread of the Sufi philosophical doctrine, which became widespread both in Kazakhstan and in Azerbaijan. Sufism left a deep imprint on the historical monuments of both states. Holy places, Sufi cells, walls that breathe the history of Sufism to this day arouse awe of the locals and attract the attention of travelers and tourists.

In the past, the time has passed when Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan were fraternal republics of a huge state of the USSR, which existed for seven decades. The bloody page of the history of the Soviet Union was the era of repression. The Kazakh land became the site for the deployment of numerous special settlements, or as it was also called the "steppe laboratory". At the same time, the Kazakh people reacted with understanding and sympathy to the settlers, including representatives of the Azerbaijani people. The last piece of bread the Kazakhs shared with the people, who due to historical circumstances forced to leave their home.

Two nations fraternized, hardened by a lesson in past history. And when in the 50s of the "Khrushchev thaw" the Azerbaijani people were allowed to return to their historical homeland, many of them remained in Kazakhstan, where they live to this day. Years lived on the land, children grown and nourished by this land, forced to rethink the life canons of the representatives of the Azerbaijani Diaspora, to reverently treat Kazakhstan and consider it their second homeland. Thanks to the great humanism of the Kazakh people, tolerance, disinterestedness, Azerbaijanis, like representatives of other nations and peoples, have been peacefully living in Kazakhstan for many years and consider themselves full Kazakhstanis.

This is a factor that brings our countries closer together by equally strong ties - 150,000 Azerbaijanis living in our country, united in national cultural centers operating throughout Kazakhstan. The Azerbaijan-Kazakhstan Friendship Society named after Geidar Aliev has been successfully operating in Azerbaijan for twenty years now.

In general, there is a full-fledged partnership based on the deep roots of the historical relationship and commonality of destinies.

Friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation between the two states is an important element of the foreign policy strategy of both Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. The basis of friendship and comprehensive cooperation between our countries is laid by the national leaders of the two peoples - Nursultan Nazarbayev and Geidar Aliev. Having found themselves at the head of their countries in the difficult, critical period of their history - the period of the emergence of young statehood, Nursultan Nazarbayev and Geidar Aliev managed to lead their peoples on the path of stable political, economic and cultural prosperity. The personal friendship of the two great politicians became a possible help both for the establishment of fraternal relations between the two sovereign states and for the implementation of a successful centuries-old foreign policy, of which the energy strategy was an important component.

In the most difficult times, when many expressed doubts about the feasibility of building a large oil pipeline Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, Kazakhstan supported this "century project", which currently connects the shores of the Caspian and Mediterranean seas, allowing export of Caspian black gold to world markets. Both countries are at a strategic transport junction that connects Europe and Asia, between the West and the East, the North and the South since the existence of the historic Great Silk Road. In our time, regular flights and sea ferry services, which do not stop in the worst of times (even in the perestroika period), confirm close trade and economic ties between the two countries. Both countries participate in regional political - OSCE, CIS, CICA, OIC, and economic - ECO (Organization of Economic Cooperation) organizations, and are on the way to WTO accession.

In the status of an independent partner, Azerbaijan has been going side by side with Kazakhstan for 25 years. All this time our states together overcame problems, destroying the stereotype of a distant, "overseas" partner.

We recall that diplomatic relations between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan were established as of August 27, 1992. Azerbaijan has an embassy in Astana, Kazakhstan - an embassy in Baku.

By Makhabbat BOLSHINA

Translated by Raushan MAKHMETZHANOVA

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