 Wel, welwch yn fawr, everybody. I hope you're completely fluent in whichever of the languages you had a taster of. So that's good. Now, you will have noticed also that we've got some maps outside, some wonderful reproductions of historical maps. Which the Kazakh embassy have put on display for us. Mae'r 16 o'r ddweud o'r ddweud, ac yn ddweud, mae'n ddweud yma'n ddweud yma'n ddweud, sy'n ddweud yma'n ddweud. Mae'r ddweud yn ddweud yma'n ddweud, Mr Eliasof, yng Nghymru yn Llyfrgell Casachstan yn ymddangos. Rwy'n dechrau, Mr Eliasof, o'n du'n ddweud i ymddangos. Ddweud i'n gael. Rwy'n ddweud i chi'n gweld gyda'r dddweud, a bod eisiau gael i mi rai defnyddio a'n fawr i allu. Felly ystafell yna arni yn ei cyflwyno. Fe wnaeth yw'r amlun ychydig hynny'n gwbod ei ddweud i ymddangos. Felly yn ymddangos, dyma'r fawr i'n gwybodaeth i ddiweddol. Felly, dynaion Felly, dyna ffantyrwch gyffredin cael gwahyddiol Cazach sydd yn credu gan yng Nghymru sydd gyntaf i'w cymdeithasio'r ddweudol. I would like to express my appreciation to the Royal Society for Asian Studies for choosing Kazakhstan as a country topic for you today, and you've seen the maps, I'll come back to that later, but can I start with asking a question or maybe a request to state one fact about Kazakhstan that you know, that you think is curious. Please, it's true. Thank you very much. Yes, Kazakh language. Yes, I mean, it's a separate language. We speak that language along with Russian and younger generation speaks English, of course. Please, partly correct. Indeed, former Soviet Republic used to have the fourth largest nuclear arsenal in the world, bigger than UK, gave it up. So I think these three questions give us the idea of the country about the past. And thank you for that former Soviet Union Republic remark, because our task here as an embassy is also to show you Kazakhstan is beyond Soviet Union. Soviet Union collapsed 30 something years ago, and many people after that saw Kazakhstan, oh, you've been a part of Soviet Union, but our nationhood is much, much older than that. It goes back to the 15th century. So in this presentation today, we will introduce you to the history of the great step where eventually the state of Kazakhs emerged, and we will go back centuries and thousands years ago to give you an idea why Kazakhstan today is a country that it is, why we are multinational, why we are developing, and what dark pages we had in our history. But also we'll share with you some interesting facts I think you would take with you and maybe share tonight with some of your friends who skip today's lecture. But let's go for the next slide. Okay, so the earliest references to the tribes that inhabited modern Kazakhstan territory come from the Persian and Greek inscriptions and writings. One of them is the Greek historian Herodotus. So we're talking about 5th century BC, where he tells that amongst the nomads of the Eurasian steppe, the Scythians and the Saka, there was a group of the so-called gold-guarding griffins. It's believed that from afar, due to the pointed headdresses and golden decorations, the warriors on the horseback did resemble griffins, therefore, the reference. And it also seems that the inspirations for Sintaurus in Greek mythology were the nomads of the great steppe, the remarkable horsemanship and the archery abilities of the nomadic warriors caused some to imagine that beasts and men were in fact one creature. So here is a first map of the great steppe. So for you to understand, as the first lady said, Kazakhstan is the ninth largest country in the world. The territory of Kazakhstan is 2.7 million square kilometres, which makes it like 10 times bigger than United Kingdom. The population right now is 19 million people. At that time, even less. It's a huge vast territory where you had a lot of tribes surviving, fighting, trying to get access to the best places. So as I like to call it, it's kind of like Game of Thrones part of the world. But that also was a place where some interesting facts happened. So it is the University of Exeter, and there are many other scientists that prove that domestication of horses first took place in the territory of modern Kazakhstan at that time, as did the culture of horsemanship which developed later. The ancestors of Kazakhstan were the first to create protective armor for the horse and the rider from armor plates. In 2009, there was an archaeological discovery in Kazakhstan, in northern part of it, and they found a proof that first people to tame, harness and use horses for work and ride them with the people of these settlements. And that happened 4,000, 6,000 years ago. So a millennia earlier than the previous predictions were. And domestication of horses is an important fact for future development of all human civilization, but the first examples of domestication were found in that part of the world. You see this beautiful decoration, Asian decoration, you see the petroglyffs on the stones and carvings, which show that men and horse were together from many, many years ago. Now we jump a little bit in time, and I just want to show you this as an example of a society of nomads where gender equality wasn't become a buzzword 10 years ago. It was always there. We had Queens warriors. We had members of the family who were carrying out the same tasks together as with men. They fought together with men. And now, Tometis is the proven fact, thanks again to Herodotus, who preserves the story of this Queen Tometis of the Masageti tribe. And according to Herodotus Cyrus, famous for his conquest and expansion of the Persian Empire, intended to seize areas east of the Caspian Sea, which included the area inhabited by the tribes of that Queen. And according to the story, he was slain by Tometis during the standoff. So, the woman of the steppe tribe played a vital role and went on to fight alongside the men. And also, there is a theory that the legend of the Amazons, the warrior woman, also comes from that experience and encounter of Greeks with these tribes. Now remember the Herodotus called these nomads the gold-guarding griffins. So this is how the rulers of the steppe dressed like. In 1969, the Kazakhstan Tutankhamun was discovered in a unique burial mound, and the skillful craftsmanship of the Golden Warrior revealed a rich mythology, reflecting power and aesthetics of the steppe civilization. The use of the images of animals in everyday life was a symbol for Kazakh ancestors of the interrelation of men and nature pointing to the spiritual guides of the steppe people. These images were often produced using the highest techniques of the time, including the smelting and casting of copper and bronze and the complex manufacturing of gold sheets. So this is an example of very, very intricate jewelry. And in Greek mythology, in Greek history, these tribes were sometimes called as the barbarians, wild people of the steppe, not because they were less developed, because they were unknown and that's why they were kind of a mystery. But they were in no way were less developed than civilization of Greeks at that time. And I mean, this is the example of the craftsmanship of the people who inhabited the territory of modern Kazakhstan centuries ago. Now, I mean, some of you may have tattoos, some of you are thinking about tattoos, but tattoos as an art also was very widespread amongst the nomadic tribes. Of the great steppe because animalism was not only jewelry, but also a reflection of the character of the warrior, or maybe some kind of a talisman to protect him. And it was believed that these tattoos offered magical protection and also used to commemorate the acts of bravery. The more tattoos were on the body, the longer it meant the person lived and the higher was his status. So these samples, I mean, they look a little bit creepy, but you have to understand that they were found frozen in some glaciers and swamps in eastern part of Kazakhstan. So they were basically mummified and due to that reservation were able to find these bodies with the tattoos that date back 2500 years ago. But again, an interesting fact, not something that kind of always tell about Kazakhstan, but to show that the bond between nature and animal world and people and the spiritual core was very important right now. I mean, there's a lot of debates about the place of religion in our life, but at that time I think it was very, very harmonious for these people. Now, this is the map that shows the span of that great step. Again, huge, huge landmass. And of course there were movements and migrations of different nations and people, and the tribes were constantly fighting each other, moving, finding the best places for themselves. They created new unions and states fought for territory and power, collapsed, somewhere forced to migrate to the Middle East, some towards the Indian Ocean and others towards the Black Sea. And through these migration and fight, you know, this is an evolution, not of an individual, but of tribes, so only those who were stronger, more resilient, they survived. They were the dominant tribes of the great steps and that's how the character of the nomads was tempered. And the next slide is just one example of a personality. So, I mean, this kind of people would emerge from the great step. I'm talking about Sultan Baibars and the Mamluk dynasty. So this gentleman was the eminent Mamluk Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and he ruled from 1260 to 1277. But he was born in the steps of modern Kazakhstan. He was in one of these fights as a young warrior. Then he was imprisoned and eventually he was sold at the slave market in Damascus as a mercenary because he was fit. He had good skills, martial skills, and then he was recruited to be one of the Mamluks who were the personal guards of the Sultan of Egypt. And he grew in the ranks within that, let's say, special force, and eventually he decided that he would seize the throne, and he did. So he threw the Sultan out. He seized the throne. Again, it's like, you know, Game of Thrones scenario. And he established a dynasty which was not a dynasty where the throne will be passed by your relation from father to son. It was among these warriors, they would pick the one who is worthy and he will be the next Sultan because the Mamluks, they were from all around the world because they were mercenaries, the best, but they would come from different countries. And this dynasty was very disciplined, quite successful. They built and rebuilt a lot of infrastructure, mosques, warships, arsenals and cargo vessels. They united Syria and Egypt at one stage to fight against the Mongol invasion, which eventually was stopped in the Middle East. And then they also fought against the Crusaders. So he died and I think he's buried in Damascus and in Cairo in Egypt there's a big mosque, there's a library that bears his name. But this is just an example of a young warrior from these nomadic tribes who traveled across the world, became the Sultan of Egypt, created a dynasty that lasted for another 300 years and died with honors and was buried in Damascus, which was the capital of Middle East at that time. So something that we're very proud of. And the next individual, I think you know him more, this is famous or infamous King Ishan, one of the greatest conquerors and warriors that originates from the territory of modern Mongolia. And of course, over the centuries, the step of Kazakhstan saw some of the world's greatest conquerors, including King Ishan and Emir Timur. The coming of King Ishan's ports at the start of the 13th century heralded rapid and momentous change in Central Asia. But while the destructive power of the Mongol military was trumped across the world, less was known that in fact if the city or any nation would not fight against them, the Mongols would take them in, they would leave them in peace and continue. So part of the step tribes, they actually didn't fight against army of King Ishan. They joined him and they continue the conquest and were part of the King Ishan army that eventually end up being in the territory of modern Hungary and Austria and then they had to turn back to Mongolia. So this invasion played an important role in shaping basically the model of the statehood that the future Kazakhstan will take because eventually the territory of modern Kazakhstan was a part of big empire of King Ishan system of ruling the administration codes, all was used later on by Kazakh hans and rulers. Another big phenomenon which is kind of invisible, so it's not an individual, it's not a conqueror, it's a great Silk Road, it's a trade route and Kazakhstan was just right in the middle of that crossroad. The unique location of Kazakhstan, the heart of Eurasia has contributed to the emergence of transit corridors between various regions and civilizations. Of course Silk Road was passing across our country and through that trade route the caravans would bring silk and other fabric, semi jewelry, glass and leather produce from China to Byzantine empire to Europe and back. This route was a major transcontinental trade artery until the 14th century when the maritime route was opened and then it faded away. But Kazakhstan was in the middle of that. Basically imagine there is a big highway and you build a hotel, a restaurant on that highway and of course you will meet a lot of people, you will be prosperous, you will learn how to interact with them. So generally that Silk Road was a kind of highway of the Asian times and Kazakhs, they hosted these people because they were the keepers of caravans. They were guards for the caravans and they met, represent from different cultures, religions, backgrounds, they learned that there are other interesting people. They learned how to be tolerant, how to be curious, how to adapt the best practices from all these people who would travel across your territory. So that also became later on a part of our national identity, being open, transparent, learning from our experience, being respectful to each other, whatever the color of your skin or your face is and that was happening many, many centuries ago. Now the fun fact, the birthplace of apples, it is scientifically proven, there is a clip from the telegraph that the apples originate as a wild fruit in the slopes of the mountains in southern part of Kazakhstan. They were then selected, domesticated and then they were traded as a fruit along the Silk Road and they went eastward towards China, westward towards Europe. But the birthplace of apples is a territory of Kazakhstan, particular southern part of it where we have a beautiful city called Almaty which is translated the father of apples, that's my hometown. And I still believe this is the best place in the world. So something for you to know when you next time bite into an apple you will know that this fruit originally comes from Kazakhstan. Another fun fact, the tulips are originally from Kazakhstan because many people think that they're coming from the Netherlands but it's not the fact. The Dutch are very good in marketing tulips but originally tulips came from the wild step as a wild step flowers and they were taken by the Seljuks, one of the tribes of the great step that decided to move out in the search of new lands and eventually ended up establishing the state of Turkey and the Seljuks brought these flowers. They treated them as a reminder of the great steps that they left. If you visit Turkey you see the moss, the tiles, there is always beautiful depiction of the tulips on Turkish arts. And then from the court of Ottomans in Istanbul, the bulbs of the tulips were smuggled by, if I'm not missing, German monks somewhere in the 15th, 16th century because it was illegal to take these flowers outside of the court. He brought them to Europe and then the Dutch continued to grow these flowers and make it into a business but the fun fact stays as a fact that Kazakhstan is the best place of apples and tulips. Now back to the politics game of thrones and all this eternal fight for survival. So we are now talking about the formation of a particular Kazakh kingdom or Hanate as it was called. Because, as I said, they've been different tribes, they've been kingdoms rising and falling, but by the 15th century, a group of tribes decided to unite under the leadership of the two Hans, Sultan Kerei and Johnny Beck in 1465, and they decided that they will be stronger together. So these two gentlemen and their commitment to rise as a big power created this union of different nomadic tribes who will start calling themselves Kazakhs. But the truth is and it is an interesting fact that because it is a union of tribes, it is still can be felt in our society in a very cultural way, every Kazakh knows actually to what particular tribe he belongs or she belongs. You call yourself a Kazakh, but then if somebody asks what tribe you're from, you know what tribe you're from and you kind of keep this as a part of your heritage. So when we say Kazakhstan or Kazakh people, that's absolutely right, but deep down there, we can actually trace ourselves to these tribes, to people who united into a kingdom many, many centuries ago. Now Kazakh Hanate or Kingdom and the Russian Empire is the whole slide about this because when we speak about Kazakhstan, we have to speak about your immediate neighbors. In case of United Kingdom, you are on the island and your neighbors are either on that side of the channel or on the next island to you. In our case, it's a landline border. These people cross back and forth and still today the land border between Kazakhstan and Russian Federation is the longest landline border between the states. It's 7500 kilometers long. So that was the case in the 19th century where the Russian Empire was expanding towards Central Asia and of course they started expanding into Kazakhstan. And at that time Kazakhstan was fighting for survival at the state against the Kingdom of Djungars. And the decision was to align with Russia to be able to withstand this pressure from the east, the threat from the east, and eventually through that we saw more of Russian settlements on the territory of Kazakhstan. We started building trade points, forts, and eventually it disturbed the lifestyle of the nomads in many, many ways because Russians pushed them away from their traditional pastures because they said, OK, we're going to build a fort here. You cannot come here anymore. And it was a very trying part of our history because there were people who said we have to fight, there were some wars, but also there were people who said we have to build relations with this big country. But eventually we found a way to interact with Russia and had to become a part of the Russian Empire to survive as a state and initially we promised a lot of autonomy and independence but in fact it wasn't really true. But things were not going very well in Russia itself and if the world history in 1917 there was this Russian revolution and the monarchy in Russia ended and the communists came into power, Bolsheviks as they were called, and that spread across the whole Russian Empire and reached Kazakhstan. And in 1970 and 1920 we had the Alashorda which was a model of a parliamentary republic that we thought Kazakhstan will have now after the collapse of the monarchy in Russia but the Alashorda and their declaration of independence did nothing to alter the terrible economic deterioration in the steps and for the Kazakh people. So many Kazakhs, they were not very happy with the Alash program and they formed some opposition party and eventually aligned with Bolsheviks and that's how after three years of this attempt to create in Kazakhstan a democratic republic, parliamentary republic, we became a part of what was later known as the Soviet Union and that's where this reference comes that we are the part of Soviet Union. Indeed Kazakhstan was one of the 15 republics that made Soviet Union for 70 years and that slide represents what happened in Kazakhstan and I mean this was the time when agriculture was developed in industrial scale in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan became the bread basket of the whole Soviet Union. Education infrastructure in the right bottom corner you see a rocket taking off a space rocket because the first man into space Yuri Gagarin went on to that flight from the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan. And somebody says from Soviet Union. Yes, but that was a part of the Republic of Kazakhstan and they still take off and land in Kazakhstan because of the vast landmass because there is some physics involved but that location is optimal for the launch and landing of the astronauts when there was a disaster in the United States you remember when the shuttle erupted the program was shut down for seven years all that seven years every international astronaut that went into space went into space from the territory of Kazakhstan. Now, the second world war, because I think it resonates with you with United Kingdom's history when we all fought against the Nazis, and there was a front line here but there was a eastern front that's where the Soviet Union fought and still many people think oh it's Soviet Union and they say well it was probably Russia, Belarus, Ukraine that fought, but not because it was a union every republic thought that they have to be a part of that war and the Republic of Kazakhstan sent 1.2 million people to war and 600,000 every 20 years every country in the United States the ultimate sacrifice fighting mostly in European from France and battlefields, but we were very small country, so when we lost this 600,000 people it meant that 10% of our population was lost forever, but we think it was worth it so when we speak about world war two, I think Kazakhstan made a very very significant contribution to that victory over the Nazis. Now, this slide from 30s to 50s, so the world war two happened at that time, and there was this Soviet industrial projects, they would send a lot of people to Kazakhstan to develop that, but most of the people of other nationalities that live today in Kazakhstan they ended up because the Soviet leaders during world war decided to resettle thousands and hundreds of thousands of what they considered to be disloyal nationalities from the front lines to Kazakhstan including 400,000 Volga Germans and large number of the Crimean Tatars near the end of the world war two the Soviet also the Soviets also transferred thousands of ethnic Koreans from far east of Soviet Union to Kazakhstan so all these people you see the picture they were basically loading the trains and sent to Kazakhstan because a huge country just dump them there and they will stay away from the frontline and they will not cause any problems for the Soviet regime so all of a sudden Kazakhstan welcomed all these people because there was no other choice and in the true spirit of nomadic hospitality they showed all of these people a second home a warm welcome and they stayed and they lived and they still a part of our community and that brings me to the next slide more than Kazakhstan so remember that first slide with the Scythians and Herodotus I tried to briefly show you the you know the the big events the migration the wars and everything that shape Kazakhstan into a modern society and it is absolute right that we are large but we are also very very rich in subsoil reserves we are very multi ethnic you see the five top communities Kazakhstan, Russians, Uzbek, Ukrainian, Uzbek but we have another 80 different smaller diaspora and communities that have been living in Kazakhstan for many decades they are very integral part of our community they enjoy same rights as everyone and we have represented it for about 40 different face and religions that peacefully coexist in Kazakhstan there is no state religion in our constitution the freedom of face is your personal choice and that makes us a very modern progressive country that first of all respects the right of everyone to pursue their goals and live in peace and harmony rich creative sporting and professional heights for the sake of our country modern Kazakhstan so these are three pictures that show you the downtown of our capital and then there is expo pavilion and there is foreign secretary cleverly visiting Kazakhstan in March this year and he asked for that outfit and that picture so just make sure they understand that he wasn't like wearing this throughout his visit he was visiting one of our kind of ethnic pavilion to showcase our culture and he said can you can I hold that eagle because Kazakhstan is also a place where the eagle hunting originated as as an art and craft centuries centuries ago is still a part of our national heritage we have championships on eagle hunting a very fascinating sport that recently has been revived but again this picture shows that Kazakhstan is an important global player that is recognized by us UK European Union countries of the Gulf by Russian Federation China we have diplomatic relations with most of the countries around the world except for some far away maybe islands in the Pacific because just physically doesn't make sense and it's it's a long distance but otherwise we enjoy these relations we have a very strong presence of businesses from all these countries in Kazakhstan being rich in natural resources and we're building our future this is Astana this is our capital city and you can see by architecture that it's it's new it's vast there is a lot of space it's very modern and this one is all muddy the birthplace of apples also very modern interesting city that is very unique case because it's very close to the beautiful mounting so if any of you is into skiing or snowboarding is a great place to do something in the city and then take take a car or bus and in in 30 minutes you can be going down the slope 60 miles per hour again it's a glimpse of of our cities and architecture and this is a glimpse of our people because we are very proud as I said again about our multi ethnic multinational community that is very creative they try to prove themselves in sports in arts you see some award winning winners that young man in the leather jacket he won Grammy last year for the best remix and I know you've heard that song many many times but you don't know that it was remixed by the cazeguy was actually part time railroad worker so he's not a professional DJ but in the his spare time he he liked to remix things and eventually his mix won the Grammy then we have boxers football players actresses the lady in the far right corner we're back in a she won a wimbledon last year again a fun fact about custom so all these people they represent a young dynamic open minded country that is very proud of its history that is much more than former Soviet Republic I think now you know that we have a very long history and that enjoys very good relations with many countries and that has a lot of young people of your age who are also very open minded and curious about the world so with that I will end my presentation and I'll leave it to questions and answers thank you very much but please if you feel yeah please move back so the question was how the people reacted when if you talk about people on the street asked them is different views because if you looked at the breakdown the ethnic break ground breakdown of our country we have a big Russian community and the most of the people in Russian community they aligned themselves with the information that comes from Russia so they said all this is a special military operation I think they're doing the right thing most of the ethnic Kazakh people they they they were not that inclined to believe to the information from Moscow from Russia and they were very sympathetic with Ukrainians because you know generally it's wrong when a country any country in the 21st century rolls into the times in the neighboring country and just start you know proving their point and it went to the extent that people in Kazakhstan would collect humanitarian aid our government sent about three planes with the different humanitarian aid including heat generators last winter if you follow some social media in Ukraine they've been these years of resilience years is a is an automatic 10 you know and in Ukraine in some Kazakh businessman just out of individual desire to show their support to Ukrainian people they send this tense and they were open in different cities because people could go they have some you know hot food recharge their phone. sydd wedi cymryd o cymryd y cymryd, mae gennyn nhw'n mynd i gael y cwmwylo yn ymdweud. Ond mae gennyn nhw'n mynd i dda'r cymryd gael y cymryd, ond ydych chi'n cael ei wneud i'r cyfeidliadau ar gyfer y gyfer y warfeyd. Ffredd, oes, mae'n rhai. Felly, felly, ydych chi'n gweithio'r ffordd ydyn nhw, ar gyfer y maen nhw, sydd yw 2021 yn Caelistin, yw'r gwaith o'r twyddo cyrfaith yn cael eu tawr. Yn hyn'r ddigon yma, mae'n gofio yna o'r anfertyn o'r anfertyn o'r constitution. Ond byddwn i'r anfertyn o'r anfertyn o'r anfertyn o'r Parlyd ac o'r anfertyn o'r prydyn. Yn hynny, mae hynny yna, fe'n meddwl yn meddwl i'r hynny, boeddeni'n gydag. Mae'n meddwl i'r anfertyn o'r anfertyn o'r anfertyn. Fel ydych chi i gyd caw meddwl dyneb gyda'r dweud hynny o'r falch. Ond gydig yn ddefnyddio eu adran yn olygu'r adran i gael Gael. 77 yr시dd yn y Fformysolio Uniaeth yn golygu'r ddweud ym mwywyr sy'n siŵr o'r morhaeg hyd yn holl gweithio'r dyn nhw. Dwi'n oserio i'r ddweud y rhan nyfawr achos yn boblyn yn ddechrau i gallu gweld ni'n deall yn y gael gyda yn gweld. Rwy'n dechrau'n gobeithio'n dweud i gael. mae'n mynd i'r gael ystyried. Roedd wedi gofynu i ddifwedd y Cynedau ac yn dweud o'n gofynu音 o'r gofynu. Dwi'n deall yw wedi'n gwneud eich bod wedi teimlo yn Cazachos fel mae'n dweud ymlaen i ddiololi. Dydych chi'n ei ddigonio ar supersyau, nefai yw ei ddweud wedi ddegonio ar hyn yn y bydd. Mae'n ddigonio ar y cerdd gan datblygu, ac rydyn ni bod yna bod ymlaen i gael y pwn. Ond dyna'n gwybodaeth yma y Llyfrgell Cymru cethwyr yn cyfnodd Ymgyrchol Cymru, yma yw'r yn cyfnodd Ymgyrchol Cymru i'r Llyfrgell Cymru, yn cyfnodd Ymgyrchol Cymru yn 18 ymgyrchol. Mae 18 yma, yma ydych chi'n gwneud o'r ffordd y parloedd yng nghymru o'r cyfnodd y Llyfrgell Cymru'r Cyfnodd Ymgyrchol Cymru, yma, mae'n gwybod i'r gweithio, mae'n gweithio'r ddaeth a mae'n gweithio'n gweithio, But it will take time. A I would lie if I said when I was a kid I always dreamed of being ambassador because the reality was I was born in a Soviat union and the soviat union, you know the whole foreign policy was exercised from Moscow so being born in Alb stock of Amazon you had a very, very, very shallow chance to make it up there. So I wasn't really into that, But in 1991, when our country became independent, all of a sudden I realized and everyone was, we have to have our own foreign policy, we have to have our own army and banking system, so there was new, these new professions that were in demand and then I decided I would try, I would do my best to represent my country. I did my university degree in foreign relations and London, when you are in the system, London is one of the top destinations in the world. I mean, there are like, you know, big five. I mean, there is London, there's Washington DC, there's United Nations in New York, there might be Geneva or France, but London is the global capital because of the influence of this country to the global agenda, about the economic opportunities for countries like ours from UK. So, I'm very honoured to be posted to United Kingdom, it's a great mission and I'll do my best to accomplish it successfully. Well, Ambassador, thank you very much indeed. We're going to need to stop to move on to lunch. It's nice to hear that there are attractions to coming to London. I suspect that quite a lot of us here would wonder if that was the case. So, Ambassador, thank you very much indeed.