In 2002, at the Hyatt hotel in the capital, during the presentation of the book “The Kyrgyz Path to Gaining a Name”, introduced by the advisor to the President of the Kyrgyz Republic on tourism, Max Habershtro, the President of the country, Askar Akayev, spoke. The speech was vivid and thus memorable. I would like to return to this speech and present it as a preface:
- In the Kyrgyz national epic “Manas,” there is a line: “Everyone can become a guest.”
Manas bequeathed to us:
- to overcome ethnic barriers;
- to seek points of contact with the wider world;
- to maintain friendly ties and seek new friends.
All the peoples of Kyrgyzstan, despite the diversity of their cultures, share one common quality - their traditional, innate hospitality, which awakens immeasurable sympathy in anyone.
The hospitality of the Kyrgyz draws more and more foreign guests to our country. We cannot boast of vast reserves of natural resources or a highly developed industry, but God has generously rewarded our country with stunning nature. Why not offer people the chance to feel like a part of nature in the Ala-Too mountains on the Great Silk Road?
With the doctrine of “Silk Road Diplomacy,” we call for the revival of the Great Silk Road on a completely new basis, oriented towards the ideals of humanism and tolerance. We remind of the peaceful coexistence of religious ideas and cultures during the flourishing of the Silk Road, of how the world learned about the ideas and works of great philosophers, scientists, and statesmen of Central Asia, and how travelers and explorers discovered countries and peoples along the Great Silk Road for themselves and the wider world.
Our country, Kyrgyzstan, located in the very heart of Central Asia, has traditionally been and strives to continue being a connecting link on the Asian continent. In this sense, we not only support the traditions of the Great Silk Road with words but also with actions, which once served as a thread connecting the East and the West.
Maintaining old friendships and finding new friends is the most important element of tourism. Only energetic citizens, creative youth, and understanding officials of our republic can determine how we will live tomorrow among the nature gifted to us by God, precisely among nature, and not against it, for the benefit of our peoples, our guests, and our children.
Only by recognizing our common social, cultural, ecological, and economic responsibility can we, through joint efforts, ensure that guests who visit our country become its most active promoters and carry back to their countries and around the world admiring stories about the famous hospitality of the Kyrgyz. We want tourism to provide Kyrgyzstanis with a solid foundation for a full life and to help create a magnificent image for the country.
We all - representatives of the state, economy, and society - bear great responsibility, as we are an example for others. We want our country, the land in the Tian Shan mountains, to truly become an oasis on the renewed ancient Great Silk Road and ultimately embody a friendly, universally sympathetic Central Asia.
Looking back at the history of humanity and glancing at the geopolitical map of the world, it is not hard to notice that throughout history, it has been small states like our Kyrgyzstan that have acted as intermediaries in contacts between world powers; it is often in the territories of small and therefore safe countries that decisions have been made that change the course of world history.
The fact that Kyrgyzstan is so small is its asset in the region; the fact that it seems so weak is its advantage: together, using our capabilities, however modest they may seem, we want to create a model state in Central Asia, modern, hospitable, open to guests and friends (as has always been customary on the Great Silk Road), where tourism serves as a kind of “road sign” for Kyrgyzstanis, our neighbors, and the entire world.