BISHKEK, May 09 /ITAR-TASS/. Kyrgyzstan's President Almazbek Atambayev said the state borders between former Soviet republics should become "the borders of friendship and cooperation." He was speaking during at a function on the occasion of the 69th anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War.
The strength of any state is in its unity. "We shouldn’t divide [people] by nationality, because in difficult times we must be together as one. We have to keep the country's independence, but we should not lose our common history, culture, languages and mutual respect for brotherly republics," he said.
Kyrgyzstan paid a high price for victory in the Great Patriotic War, the president went on. In 1941-1945, every fifth resident went to the front; 95,000 died in fighting.
Atambayev reminded that 140,000 people had been evacuated from Soviet regions occupied by the Nazis, including 16,000 children from the besieged Leningrad.
"Kyrgyzstan welcomed the starving children from the besieged city as its own kind; the history of the survivors of the siege is the history of unity of our peoples; we had one common land, one country and one victory for all," the Kyrgyz president underlined.
"I'm a son of a Great Patriotic War participant; I'd like to address the Kyrgyz residents, our generation and younger people. "We have to repay our debt to war and labor veterans by giving care attention every day," Atambayev said.
The festivities marking the 69th anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic Ware are taking place in all settlements of the republic. At present, there are some 1,000 World War II veterans living in Kyrgyzstan.