Azerbaijan to join international consortium on steppe civilisation

Azerbaijan’s National Academy of Sciences (ANAS) will join an international scientific consortium dedicated to studying steppe civilisation, ANAS President Isa Habibbeyli said.

Habibbeyli made the remarks during a meeting with Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan Alim Bayel, according to local media, citing the Kazakh embassy in Baku.

The two sides discussed scientific cooperation between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, as well as collaboration within the wider Turkic world. Habibbeyli also expressed readiness to strengthen ties with Kazakhstan’s National Academy of Sciences under the president of Kazakhstan.

Bayel briefed Habibbeyli on an international symposium held in May on the Golden Horde as a model of steppe civilisation, covering its history, archaeology, culture and identity.

At the symposium, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said Kazakhstan was a successor to the Golden Horde and called for comprehensive research into the historical state’s legacy.

Bayel also invited Azerbaijan to become a co-founder of the International Scientific Consortium for the Study of Steppe Civilisation.

Habibbeyli said ANAS would join the consortium and actively participate in its work, describing the initiative as historically significant.

The consortium aims to create an international platform for studying the history and culture of Turkic peoples and the civilisation of the Great Steppe, including their role in the development of statehood and diplomacy.

By Aghakazim Guliyev