Dear students, faculty members, colleagues, and fellow citizens!

August 29 is forever inscribed in world history as the day when Kazakhstan became the first nuclear-armed state to say a firm “no” to nuclear testing.

In 1991, by decree of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site — one of the most massive and tragic symbols of the 20th century — was shut down.

For us, born and living on this land, this is not merely a historical fact. It is part of our pain, our memory, and our strength. Here, in the Abai region — on the land where Abai, Shakarim, and Mukhtar Auezov were born and created — nuclear explosions thundered for decades, altering the destinies of people, the nature around us, and our future. And here, on this very land, hope was born — hope for peace, for life without fear, and for every child’s right to breathe clean air.

Shakarim University stands in the heart of this land. We are the descendants of those who endured the consequences of nuclear tests, and the heirs of great thinkers whose word was stronger than any weapon. This imposes upon us a special mission:

to remember the truth about the test site,

to study its lessons,

to speak of it to the world,

and to raise generations that will build peace so that the tragedy of the Semipalatinsk Test Site will never be repeated.

Today, in an era of global challenges and turbulence, we must realize that the closure of the test site is not simply a period in history — it is a challenge to each of us. We are obliged to turn this experience into knowledge, into science, into a culture of responsibility toward the planet.

Shakarim University is already taking steps in this direction: we conduct research on ecology and health, develop programs connected to green technologies, and teach our students to see the interconnection between ethics, science, and policy. And we can rightfully tell the world: here, where nuclear blasts once shook the earth, we are building a safe, humane, and intellectual future.

August 29 is a day to remember not only the past but also the future. As the descendants of our greatest thinkers and educators, we must be wiser, more honest, and more far-sighted. We must preserve peace as the highest value, defend the truth of the Semipalatinsk story, and invest our knowledge, our efforts, and our hearts to ensure that every new page in the history of this land is a page of creation, not destruction.

Dear fellow citizens, students, and colleagues,

Let this day remind us that peace is the greatest labor, and memory is an immeasurable responsibility. And let Shakarim University, standing on land that has known both pain and rebirth, continue to work so that our region becomes a symbol not of nuclear tragedy, but of human genius, culture, and science.

Here, in the heart of Abai’s land, we must be the first to speak of this — and the first to live by it.

Rector Duman Orynbekov