Kostanay International Airport named after Alash Orda activist Akhmet Baitursynov
Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov signed the decree to name the Kostanay International Airport after Akhmet Baitursynov. The issue was discussed by Kostanay authorities earlier this year.
This year the UNESCO member states mark the 150th anniversary of Akhmet Baitursynov’s birth. The anniversary was featured into the list of UNESCO anniversaries in 2021.
Born in 1873 Akhmet Baitursynov was a political activist, member of the Alash Movement and one of the founders of the Alash Party who fought fearlessly for Kazakhstan to gain its independence at the dawn of the 20th century. Baitursynov is also renowned for his educational reform and creating the first university in the KazakhSSR. One of the greatest sons of the Kazakh people fell a victim to the Soviet repressions and was executed in 1937.