OBJECTIVES AND HISTORY OF THE CENTRAL ASIAN RESEARCH CENTER

The Central Asian Research Center (ORASAM) was founded by the decision of the Board of Trustees of the Kyrgyz-Turkish University "Manas" on November 30, 2010 to conduct and promote research in the political, strategic, social, economic and cultural spheres related to the Central Asian region and surrounding states. ORASAM has set itself the task of serving peace in the region and around the world by identifying, processing and strengthening common culture, as well as strengthening social, political and economic relations between Central Asian Turkic societies and countries, especially Turkey and Kyrgyzstan. Furthermore, the strategic vision and projects for Central Asian geography are to produce, share, implement, collaborate and assist employees with the same purposes.

Since its foundation, the center has held many seminars, events and projects. For example, in 2013, a seminar on "Improving Academic Quality" was held within the framework of ORASAM, and in the same year, joint work with the International Public Foundation "The Initiative of Rosa Otunbaeva" was launched. One of the two projects undertaken with this Foundation aims to strengthen the capacity and cooperation of education programs among Alumni Associations. The "Education Festival" project as the second initiative aims to raise awareness of the importance of education. Between 24 and 25 May 2013, a symposium entitled "The Future of Kyrgyzstan Turkey Relations in Light of 22 Years of Experience" was held by ORASAM and Strategic Thought Institute (SDE). From November 4-5, 2013, with the participation of representatives of Central Asian countries, a "Terrorism and Organised Crime Connection Workshop" was organized in Antalya, in which a representative of ORASAM, Assoc. Professor, Dr. Seyit Ali Avcu, spoke on behalf of KTMU.

In the 2013-2014 academic year, various conferences and seminars were held on behalf of ORASAM on the topic "The Eurasian Economic Union and Kyrgyzstan", "International migration of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan", "Issues of Higher Education and Teacher Training in Kyrgyzstan" and "A Study on Turkish İnvestors Operating in Kyrgyzstan". Members of ORASAM participated in the International Forum of Young Scientists held in Baku on May 24-31, 2014. The topic of the forum was “New Challenges in Earth Science: Common Approaches of Young Scientists”. Two workshops titled "Peace Training for Social Peace in Kyrgyzstan" and "Organization and Activities of Religious Groups in Kyrgyzstan" were held on June 25-27, 2014.

In the 2014-2015 academic years, ORASAM continued to organize several events, such as research projects, international conferences and seminars. During this period, a joint research project "Peace and Religion in Central Asia" was conducted between ORASAM and the Research Center for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA), following which an international conference on the same topic was held at the Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University. In addition, a seminar entitled "Opening of a New Academic Year in the Department of International Relations" was held. The Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to the Kyrgyz Republic Mr. Metin Kılıç was invited as speaker. Many seminar series were also held during this period. For instance, seminars were held on topics such as "Limiting Power in Democracies," "Energy-Political World, Turkey and Central Asia." In addition, the 1st ORASAM Central Asia symposium titled "Politics and International Relations" was held with the support of the US Embassy in Kyrgyzstan. During this period, projects on "Peace Education for the Achievement of Social Peace in Kyrgyzstan" and "Organization and Activities of Religious Groups in Kyrgyzstan" were carried out.

In the 2015-2016 academic years, attempts were made to implement new joint projects and work with various national and international partners. For example, on October 9, 2015, a draft joint conference was discussed with the NATO Liaison Officer for Central Asia, Rosaria Puglisi. In addition, on March 23, 2016, further cooperation was discussed with the Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to Kyrgyzstan Metin Kilic. On April 1, 2016, the meeting between ORASAM and Roza OTUNBAYEVA focused on ORASAM’s upcoming projects.

Between April 21 and 22, 2016, academicians from seven different countries participated in the "Silk Road" International Congress, organized by ORASAM. Furthermore, a letter regarding "Relations and Cooperation in the Field of Education" was prepared for the Directorate General of European Union and Foreign Relations.

Since 2016, some changes have been made to the work of the ORASAM center which led to the implementation of new activities and initiatives. During this period, the Chairman of ORASAM, Associate Professor, Dr. Yunus Emre Gurbuz presented a report entitled "The place of Prut and the wars of 1768-1774 between the Ottomans and Russia in modern historical education: a comparative analysis of textbooks of Turkey and Russia". The project "Turkic Republics under the Turkic Council on the 25th anniversary of Independence: relations and cooperation", implemented on behalf of ORASAM, has been completed.

On December 25, 2017, a seminar was held with the participation of the teaching staff, where the Ambassador of the Republic of Uzbekistan to Kyrgyzstan Komil Rashidov was invited as a guest speaker.

Recently, ORASAM has been systematically organizing a series of seminars, conducting research studies and implementing projects. For example, seminars such as "Kyrgyzstan-Turkey Relations," "Border İssues of Kyrgyzstan with Neighboring Countries", "One Belt, One Road Project and Kyrgyzstan" were held.

In addition to the project called "Reflection of the Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University in the Kyrgyz Press", books such as "Joint activities and cooperation in the countries of the Turkic Council after 25 years of experience" and "Education of common citizenship in the Turkic world" were published and prepared for submission to the Turkic Council. On July 12, 2018, the project "Perception of Aging by Kyrgyz Youth: Bishkek Sample " was completed.

Since 2018, the "Weekly Bulletin of ORASAM" and the "Monthly Bulletin of ORASAM" have been published and transmitted electronically to the attention of interested parties. Furthermore, the media of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan is systematically analyzed and shared on ORASAM's website in Turkish, Kyrgyz, Russian, English and the Centre's Instagram, Facebook and Twitter pages.

The Central Asian Research Center, which works under the Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University, is an institution ready to cooperate with national and international partners.