On 8 September 2026, the Director of the OSCE Academy, Dr. Pal Dunay participated at the book presentation of H.E. Mr. Muratbek Azymbakiev, “Bridges, Not Walls: Notes of a Diplomat. Honesty About the Complex” held at the Alykul Osmonov National Library of the Kyrgyz Republic. He was invited as a contributor as Mr. Azymbakiev was a participant of the International Training Course in Security Policy (ITC) at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy in 2002-3 when Pal Dunay was the director of the course. His contribution emphasized the importance of the book available in Kyrgyz, Russian and English, due to the rich and distinguished career of Mr. Azymbakiev, including his work in the Foreign Ministry of Kyrgyzstan, as deputy secretary general of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and as deputy head of the presidential administration. The next generation of Kyrgyz diplomats, members of the administration, should benefit from the immense experience of Mr. Azymbakiev illustrating how diplomats representing an independent state with a relatively short history work for the national interest. The meeting was chaired by Mrs. Ishenkul’ Sadykovna Bodlzhurova, who was the Minister of Culture and Education of the country when the OSCE Academy was established. Contributions were made by the head of the Presidential Administration, MPs and representatives of the Chinese and Russian embassies.
In a week, Mr. Azymbakiev returns to Geneva as the Swiss representative to the UN office and ambassador to Switzerland.
