OREANDA-NEWS  On 22 September was announced, that the Inter-Industry Joint Award Committee and the Humanitarian Fund of St.Petersburg praised contribution of Mustafa Shokay to the development of science, culture and arts of St. Petersburg. The outstanding public figure, leader of the national liberation movement and publicist was awarded the Person of St. Petersburg medal.

Concurrently, the awarding institutions have praised efforts and creative activities of the coordinator of the project ‘Along the Path of Mustafa Shokay’ (Shokai Projetc), head of BTA Bank’s brand office Kasymkhan Begmanov. The member of the Union of Writers of Kazakhstan, prize winner of the Union of Youth of Kazakhstan and Alash international award has received the Eagerness Medal.

BTA Bank launched Shokay project in 2008. During a year a Kazakh delegation of journalists, historians and writers will be visiting countries of Shokay’s stay to interview researchers, museum employees, to study public and private archives about his life.

Project participants have already traveled to Uzbekistan (Tashkent, Fergana, Kokand), Kyzylorda Oblast (Kyzylorda, Shieli district center, Narkoshy, Slu-Tobe station), cities of Istanbul and St.Petersburg. By the year-end the delegation tours the Caucasus (Tbilisi, Baku and Batumi) and Europe (Paris, Nogent, Shell, Berlin).

Shokay Project is designed to reconstruct the life and career of a controversial figure in the history of Kazakhstan as archive documents about Shokay’s life were unavailable to researchers of his heritage in Kazakhstan for long.

BTA Bank hopes this project will produce an unbiased appraisal of Shokay’s role and place in the history of Kazakhstan and will cover his contribution to the efforts of the national liberation when in exile. BTA will sponsor articles in the nation-wide printed media and a book about life and track record of Mustafa Shokay by Begmanov as well as a documentary.