President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, speaking at the first session of the National Kurultai, urged writers to write more works on urban themes. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Sputnik Kazakhstan.
The head of state noted that society pays a lot of attention to rural themes.
"We talk a lot about the village. 'The village is the golden cradle of our people' – we repeat this at every meeting. But is there a need to keep repeating this in the modern era?" – said the president.
Tokayev noted that urbanization is underway throughout the world today and emphasized the importance of promoting urban civilization.
"Today the excitement of life is in the city. We are already gathered in the city. Therefore, the important and urgent task before us is that we must promote urban civilization. In this matter, we must meet the advanced requirements of civilization," – he said.
The president said it is wrong to contrast young people living in the city with rural youth, calling the former "asphalt Kazakhs" or "incomplete Kazakhs."
"Today our young people living in cities receive quality education in the Kazakh language in Kazakh schools. Therefore, we must stop dividing our united people into two. There is no need for such actions, and no one has the right to do so," – said Tokayev.
In this regard, the head of state said he had instructed the Ministry of Culture and Information to hold literary competitions among writers on urban themes.
"This will be something needed by our people, especially our youth," – the president concluded.