President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev: KAZAKHSTAN HAS ENTERED THE NEW STAGE OF MODERNIZATION

– Respected Kassym-Jomart Kemelevich, with your annual interviews for mass media, you have established, in fact, a new political tradition. Therefore, we are grateful to you for responding to our offer to give an interview to “Turkistan” newspaper.

– "Turkistan" newspaper has been in existence for more than 30 years. It is one of the most influential print media in Kazakhstan. The name of the newspaper speaks for itself. The journalists of the publication, along with covering current events in the country, do not forget about the Turkic theme, which is encouraging.

I read with interest articles about foreign Kazakhs who successfully work in various fields. I awarded three of them for their contribution to evolving the collaboration between Kazakhstan and their countries of permanent residence.

Newspapers and magazines have entered the "renaissance" period because social networks cause great harm to people's cognitive abilities. We are already meeting forty-year-olds with the educational level and mentality of fifteen-year-olds.

I had a passion for reading periodicals from the young age, and I have not changed this habit to the present. In modern realities, print media are looking for and finding their niche, focusing on review and analysis, and performing the educative functions. Newspaper materials performed by professional, conscientious journalists fulfill the important task of preserving the traditional values. I often receive information from newspapers about worthy people who work productively in all spheres of public life for the benefit of our Fatherland. TikTok, Instagram, and Telegram channels, which are now popular, are far from the core interests of people of labor.

I would like our society to live not only on news sensations and watching video images, but also to appreciate semantic information. It is encouraging that my opinion is shared by a large number of young people who prefer to live in a world of knowledge rather than illusions, which often lead to a dead end in life. I am convinced that countries with a high reading culture will remain at the forefront of global progress.

Read the full interview