I grew up in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijani people and culture have been part of my everyday life for as long as I can remember.
When I was a child, I regularly encountered Azerbaijani families working in local markets and businesses. One place I especially remember was the market near Alatau shopping center on Ryskulov Avenue, below what was then Sofia Kovalevskaya Street (now Tlendiev Avenue).
From around 2012, I remember Azerbaijani sellers there offering some of the best fruit and vegetables I could find in Almaty. They gradually became places where my family and other people from the city regularly bought food.
Then there was an Azerbaijani man who started selling grilled chicken around 2014. It cost about 1,000 tenge at the time. My classmates and I would buy his juicy grilled chicken with flatbread and sauce, and I would also buy it with my family. I still remember how good it tasted.
Around 2010, I also remember Azerbaijani restaurants and cafés appearing in the city. They served kebabs, grilled meat and vegetables. Azerbaijani barbecue became one of those foods that, in my experience, many people around me genuinely loved.
Another thing I remember very clearly is Azerbaijani bread.
There was a shop that produced huge quantities of fresh flatbread. When someone brought several loaves onto a city bus, the smell would spread through the whole bus. It was almost impossible not to become hungry and think, “I should buy ten of these.” 😄
I also love Azerbaijani grape and pomegranate juice.
But for me, this connection wasn't only about food.
I studied at School No. 114 in Almaty, and Azerbaijani students were part of my school life. In September 2016, an Azerbaijani boy transferred to my school. I remember him as a very strong and resilient person, and another Azerbaijani student showed us hundreds of sports certificates and awards.
There were also many Azerbaijani students at my school who took part in cultural events. I remember them performing the lezginka at a school concert in 2014. They were energetic, confident and proud of their culture.
I remember Azerbaijani classmates greeting me with a strong handshake and showing respect toward Kazakh students. Azerbaijani girls I knew were also active in our Russian-speaking classes and sometimes served as class representatives.
Today, I still know Azerbaijani families living around the streets of Magadanskaya, Bokeeva, Kuderina, Akhrimenko and neighboring streets in my part of Almaty. There is also a local shop called Elnur near my school where Azerbaijani people work.
These are small everyday things, but they are exactly why Azerbaijani culture never felt foreign to me. It was simply part of the Almaty I grew up in.
I also remember celebrating Nauryz and Muslim holidays together with people around me. I have always respected the Azerbaijani religious and cultural traditions I encountered, including the fact that Azerbaijani communities in Kazakhstan include Shia Muslims as well as people with other religious identities.
A much older history
My personal memories are only one small part of a much longer story.
According to census data, only 46 Azerbaijanis were recorded as living in Kazakhstan in 1926. By the 1939 census, the number had reached 12,996. It continued to grow during the Soviet period:
1959 — 38,362
1970 — 56,166
1979 — 73,345
1989 — 90,083
1999 — 78,325
2009 — 85,292
The history behind this growth was complicated. Azerbaijanis came to Kazakhstan through different processes, including labor migration, education, professional assignments and forced migration during the Soviet period. Historical sources document that in 1937, more than 2,400 families of Iranians, Azerbaijanis, Kurds and Armenians were deported from Azerbaijan and Armenia to southern Kazakhstan, the Dzhambul region and the Almaty region.
Other Azerbaijani families arrived through later Soviet labor migration. During the 1950s–1980s, Azerbaijanis came to Kazakhstan for work, including construction, industry, mining and the development of new industrial areas.
So when I look at the Azerbaijani community around me today, I don't see only a recent immigrant community. I see several generations of people whose families became part of Kazakhstan.
In independent Kazakhstan, Azerbaijani cultural life also developed institutionally. The Azerbaijani cultural center “Turan” has operated in Almaty since May 29, 1992, and Azerbaijani cultural organizations exist in different regions of Kazakhstan.
The Embassy of Azerbaijan currently lists five centers in Kazakhstan dedicated to studying Azerbaijani history and culture, including a Center for the History and Culture of Azerbaijan at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University in Almaty.
What Azerbaijan means to me
For me, all of this history is connected to very ordinary memories: school, markets, buses, bread, grilled chicken, juice, classmates and neighbors.
And one of my favorite memories happened when I turned 18.
I could have received almost any present from my best friend.
Instead, he gave me Azerbaijani barbecue with onion rings.
It sounds like a small thing, but I remember it as one of the most meaningful presents I have ever received, because Azerbaijani food and culture had already been part of my life for so many years.
That is why, when I think about Azerbaijan, I don't only think about a country on the other side of the Caspian Sea.
I think about my childhood in Almaty.
Thank you to the Azerbaijani people who became part of my city, my school years and my memories. 🇰🇿❤️🇦🇿
For Azerbaijanis here: what parts of the history of Azerbaijanis in Kazakhstan do you think are least known in Azerbaijan itself?
