From 1994 to 2008, Chingiz Aitmatov represented the interests of his native Kyrgyzstan in the international arena as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kyrgyz Republic to the Benelux countries and as a representative of Kyrgyzstan to NATO and the EU. As mentioned above, the analysis of diplomatic activity is not the purpose of this essay. I will write about questions that I have not found answers to, hoping that someone smarter than me will help find these very answers.
So, let's get started. On March 10, 2008, almost all major Russian media were full of catchy headlines of approximately the same content: "President of Kyrgyzstan Kurmanbek Bakiyev removed the writer Chingiz Aitmatov from the post of ambassador of the republic to Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and France, as well as from the post of permanent representative of the republic to NATO and UNESCO." Professor Rakhima Abduvalieva, who collaborated with Chingiz Aitmatov for many years, also claims that the writer was fired from his diplomatic post. However, responding to the appeal of the newspaper "Moskovsky Komsomolets" of March 10, 2008, Chingiz Aitmatov (laughing) replied: "Voluntarily. Rotation of diplomatic personnel occurs every 3-4 years. And I've been in this position for 15 years. And at some point I decided that we need to think more about creativity, health. I am an emotional person, prone to experiences. But now I'm calm. I do not regret my decision: it was easy for me. Colleagues and relatives understood and supported me." Question - Bakiyev removed or Aitmatov voluntarily resigned
Further. Chingiz Aitmatov was the Russian ambassador for two years – the ambassador of the Kyrgyz Republic for 15 years. Throughout his diplomatic career and life abroad, which is more than 20 years, he wrote, and spoke in daily life, and at all kinds of diplomatic events only in Russian. "In Europe, I only write in Russian. The Russian language gives more opportunities. Because it resonates right away. And translators are waiting, almost immediately translate into German, French and other languages," the People's Writer of Kyrgyzstan answered the question about languages...
Addressing Lord George Robertson, Secretary General of NATO directly, Chingiz Aitmatov contributed to the introduction of simultaneous interpretation into Russian during working meetings and meetings at expert and high levels. Until the beginning of the 21st century, NATO's working languages were only English and French.
Chingiz Aitmatov' s answers to the question about the Russian language in numerous interviews are not just answers – they are odes praising the great and powerful. In 1993, Aitmatov received the European Literary Prize as a European writer who made a significant contribution to the promotion of the Russian language. And not only the Russian language was the subject of admiration of Chingiz Aitmatov. It seems that there are not so many such devoted enthusiasts of Russian literature, culture and Russia as a whole (we are not talking about the Russians themselves) around the world as the great son of the Kyrgyz people Chingiz Aitmatov. To analyze everything he said about it, more than one dissertation study is needed.
There is another one. On the vast expanses of the Internet, I found Aitmatov' s statements about Russian colonialism from an interview with the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, translated into Russian. I do not even venture to interpret, perhaps I did not understand everything correctly: "The Russian influence on Central Asia was positive. Russia, with its colonial ambitions, has made a great contribution to the development of our territory. Only thanks to Russian colonialism we in Central Asia managed to join the common civilization". In the same interview, Aitmatov once again emphasized the positive influence of Russian imperialism: "But we must not forget that Russia brought Central Asia in terms of civilizing progress, by the way, even before the emergence of the Soviet Union." As mentioned above - no comment. Only the question: "What about the events of 1916?" I do not know about others, but I am haunted by the question: "Which country was in the first place for Aitmatov: "Russia, whose interests he defended at every convenient and inconvenient occasion, or Kyrgyzstan, from which he received an ambassadorial salary?"?
Are there answers there?