Kazakhstan Moves to Secure UNESCO Recognition for Abai’s Literary Masterpiece

Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Culture and Information announced on Friday its intention to nominate several significant manuscripts for inclusion in UNESCO's Memory of the World register.

Among them is The Book of Words by renowned Kazakh poet and philosopher Abai, a cornerstone of Kazakh literature and cultural heritage, The Caspian Post reports, citing Kazinform.

The initiative aims to preserve and promote the nation's intellectual legacy on a global stage.

In its response to the official query, the ministry said that the National Committee’s strategy Memory of the World was developed. “We came up with a list for inclusion in the national register; inscriptions were selected for regional and international registers. In order to raise awareness of the program and stimulate nominations for the Memory of the World in 2025/27, a special webinar on how to submit nominations of written records was held”.

Work is under way to add Abai’s manuscript The Book of Words, written in the Kufic script, the manuscript of Mashkhur Zhusip Kopeev and others in the period ahead, reads the response.