One of the important directions in modern historical and archaeological research is the study of the problems of medieval history, culture and art of the ancient Turks. Attention to this issue is due to the special role played by the ancient Turkic ethnic group and the state formations created by it in the ethno-cultural history of the Turkic peoples of Eurasia. In studying the problems of the genesis, development and influence of the ancient Turkic cultures on other nomadic and settled peoples of the Eurasian continent in the early Middle Ages, the main attention of researchers was paid to the monuments of the Eastern Turks, since they own the most significant memorial complexes and monuments of ancient Turkic runic writing. To a lesser extent, the complexes of the ancient Turkic culture in the western area of its distribution were studied, where after the collapse of the unified ancient Turkic state - the first Turkic khaganate, associations of Western Turks and Turkeshs existed for several centuries. At the same time, if ancient Turkic cultural monuments were excavated on the territory of Central Asia, they were often interpreted on the basis of materials obtained during the study of ancient Turkic complexes in the Sayan-Altai and Mongolia. In recent decades, due to a significant increase in interest in the history of the ancient Turks in the independent states of Central Asia, the situation has changed significantly. In Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, large-scale targeted research of monuments of ancient Turkic culture is conducted, and fundamental scientific works are regularly published, which introduce the results of the latest scientific research into scientific circulation.

One of the notable events in the study of the history and culture of the ancient Turks was the international scientific conference " Kazakhstan: Past, Present, Future (Western Turkic Khaganate)", held in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, on December 12, 2008. The conference was held at the Presidential Cultural Center. It began with the participants visiting and viewing the museum exposition located in this center, and watching the film "Secrets of the Great Steppe", which demonstrates the progress of research on the locations of medieval memorial structures and stone sculptures in Southern Kazakhstan.

The plenary session of the conference opened with a speech by the head of the Presidential Cultural Center M. Zholdasbekov "The Turkic world of Eurasia in the context of the development of Western Turkic culture". Having outlined the main events related to the formation and history of the Western Turkic Khaganate, he formulated a number of tasks that could be coordinated by the center headed by the speaker: creating a basis for studying the history of ancient Turks, analyzing the genesis of the statehood of the Turkic peoples, introducing the achievements of Turkology in historical and archaeological research. Special attention was paid to the need to preserve and musealize the Turkic heritage in accordance with the state program "Cultural Heritage".

The report of A. M. Dosymbaeva (Institute of Archeology of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Almaty) spoke about the importance of studying the monuments of the Western Turkic Khaganate for assessing the cultural heritage of the Kazakh Steppe. The speaker offered several new interpretations for the realities depicted on the ancient Turkic stone sculptures that she studied at the Zhetysu monuments. The image of the vessel in the hands of people, according to the speaker, is explained by the fact that when concluding contracts, Western Turks drank water from this vessel. The image of the bird on some sculptures, according to the proposed hypothesis, should go back to the Bronze Age and Saka time.

T. Osawa (School of World Turkology at Osaka University, Japan) made a report on the sacred centers of the Turkic peoples, which he read in Turkish. According to the speaker, the toponyms Ektag and Otyuken mentioned in the Turkic sources are

sacred centers of Turkic nomadic peoples, including the Eastern Turks. Remains of animal sacrifices were found in these mountains, which, according to the speaker, confirm his assumption. As an illustrative material, he presented photographs of several stone sculptures from the Ili River Valley, one of which has a Sogdian inscription.

A. Tashtagyl (Mimar Sinan University, Turkey) spoke about some sources on the history of the creation of the Western Turkic Khaganate. He demonstrated maps of the settlement of Turkic nomadic tribes in Central and Central Asia.

Senator of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan B. Omirbek made a welcoming speech to the audience. He shared with the audience the results of his research in the field of the history of the Turkic peoples. Having determined that some names of famous historical figures of the past are consonant with individual words of the modern Kazakh language, he suggested calling the Hunnic leader Attila Idil-batyr, Khitan-sidans, and drew attention to the difference in the sound of the names "Moguls" and "Mongols".

V. D. Kubarev (Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk) spoke about some finds of stone sculptures in the territory of the Gorny and Mongolian Altai. The speaker expressed his point of view on the purpose of balbals, which, in his opinion, were used as hitching posts.

A.V. Komar's report (Institute of Archeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kiev, Ukraine) was devoted to the study of the heritage of the Turkic khaganates in Eastern Europe. The author analyzed information from Byzantine and Armenian sources about the appearance of ancient Turks in the steppes of Eastern Europe. He gave some evidence from sources about the rulers of the Ugric and Utigur nomadic tribes, Silzibul and Anagai, and their use of the titles Tudun and Yabgu. However, the audience was much more interested in his report on archaeological materials from the monuments of nomads of Eastern Europe: Bulgars, Khazars and Hungarians.

Yu. S. Khudyakov (Institute of Archeology and Ethnography SB RAS, Novosibirsk) presented the results of studying the weapons and military history of the Western Turks. The characteristic features of weapons of remote and close combat and means of protection of Western Turkic and Turgesh warriors were noted, tactical methods of conducting equestrian combat were identified, and the main stages of the development of the military-druzhin culture of the ancient Turks were traced.

Yu's speech Stoyanova (University of London, Great Britain; Israel) was devoted to the spread of the traditions of the Turkic cosmogony during the migration of peoples in Eurasia. In his opinion, the Western Turkic Khaganate occupied a special position between Byzantium, Iran and China. Special attention is paid to the mythological story of the cosmic bird-the demiurge who created the earth and space.

The report of K. S. Tabaldiev (Kyrgyz-Turkish University "Manas", Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan) contained data on monuments of Western Turks on the Tien Shan. The results of studying these monuments indicate the mutual influence of the ancient Turks, Sogdians and other peoples. According to the author, many elements of the ancient Turkic funerary and memorial rites have been preserved to the present day in the cultures of the Kazakhs and Kyrgyz.

In the report of Z. S. Samashev (Institute of Archeology HAH PK, Almaty) the features of ancient Turkic graphics are described. In his opinion, the image of the equestrian standard-bearer is a kind of cultural code. Drawings of characters in three-horned headdresses can depict not only women, but also men of high social status. Images of hunting birds of ancient Turkic hunters were also considered.

D. Bayar (Ulaanbaatar University, Mongolia) spoke about the study of ancient Turkic monuments in Mongolia. A previously unknown ancient Turkic memorial complex was discovered in the Ulun-Nur locality in the Bayan-Khongor aimag. During the excavations, a sarcophagus made of stone slabs with ornaments, fragments of three statues and a slab with a runic inscription were found.

Z. T. Fiema's speech (University of Helsinki, Finland) was called "Between East and West". The author of the report participated in field research at the Merke monument complex in Zhetysu. During the geodetic survey, streets and buildings were identified on the Aspara settlement, which were then cleared. The speaker demonstrated the possibilities of total station measurements and obtaining detailed images based on them, as well as creating virtual models of digital reconstructions.

Ismailzade city (Azerbaijan National Park) un-t, Baku) told about the images of the Turkic period on the petroglyphs of Kobustan, located near Baku. According to the author, the drawings of the Turkic period did not stand out from the general array of petroglyphs for a long time. Only recently have these images become the subject of a separate study.

Report by A.V. Yevhelevsky (Donetsk National University) UNIV, Ukraine) was devoted to the study of the stone architecture of the Golden Horde mounds. The speaker demonstrated the design features of burial mounds in different territories of the Eurasian steppe belt from Central Asia to Eastern Europe.

During the discussion, the importance of discussing the issues raised at the conference was noted, among which special attention was paid to the peculiarities of the formation and development of culture, ethnogenesis and statehood among the Turkic peoples. The need to create a consolidated source base on history and other sciences for the development of the cultural heritage of the Turkic peoples in relation to other peoples of Eurasia was emphasized. The conference participants proposed the creation of an international Turkological organizing committee on the basis of the Presidential Cultural Center and formulated a number of recommendations for the implementation of the planned plans.

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