Friends and acquaintances of Begench Saparovich Karayev often jokingly compare him to René Descartes or Gottfried Leibniz. Both of these great scientists, Descartes and Leibniz, were able to harmonise mathematical rigor with a deep humanitarian understanding of human nature. When studying something, they found in it a balance between the architectural structure and the meaning of the purpose and existence of the object. According to those who know him well, our hero, Begench Karayev, a senior lecturer at the Institute of International Relations of the MFA of Turkmenistan, possesses just such a gift.
His unusual path to the heights of science began in the 1980s. After graduating from the Turkmen state institute of architecture and construction and receiving a degree in mechanical engineering, he began working as a simple foreman at the Buzmeyin experimental and instrument-mechanical plant. Fate, as if testing Karayev, was conducting its own experiment on the young specialist: what would prevail in him – the strict, dry laws of mechanics and mathematics, which he had been taught for five years at the university, or the desire for creative understanding, understanding the essence and purpose of objects.
As Begench Saparovich himself explains, all aspects, and even the very essence of human life, symbolise a certain equation with unknowns. A mathematician can be satisfied when he finds the desired «X» (iks) and says that the problem is solved, since both sides of the equal sign are balanced. But in life, it turns out, the laws of fundamental science operate at a completely different level, where a whole range of variable arguments balances over the fraction of the sought-after common denominator.
Working with a work team, setting up and repairing complex technological lines, where often the leaders are not newly minted engineers, but experienced 6th-grade mechanics, opened our eyes to many things that were not lectured to students. The factory experience of Karayev later proved useful in his work with young people, when he was invited to lead the lecture group of the Ashgabat regional komsomol committee. This invaluable experience of working with people, the school of tempering character and acquiring vital guidelines gradually lead him to the study of dogmas and the laws of philosophy.
Ten years later, he already had a PhD in philosophy, having successfully defended his dissertation in April 1991 in Moscow. In the late 1990s, fate took another sharp turn when Karayev was invited to work for foreign ministry of Turkmenistan. For nearly two decades, he worked in senior positions at the MFA of the country, making his own contribution as a scholar-diplomat to solving the tasks set before the department.
It seems that it can now be said that life and work experience, accumulated, including in the MFA, has finally defeated the techie in him, turning him into an «engineer» of meanings. He became an analyst, a man who could transform a chaotic flow of information into a clear, inspiring and logical concept. And in our time, in the era of information overload, such abilities are not superfluous, but perhaps even urgently necessary for a teacher. And already as a teacher, Begench Saparovich devoted himself entirely to the study of the philosophical aspects of international events and problems.
He is the author of about one and a half hundred scientific and popular articles, numerous textbooks and books. B. Karayev is an expert and consultant for a large number of public and scientific centres. For his work, B. S. Karayev was awarded numerous Certificates of Honour, the medal «Watana bolan söýgüsi üçin» («For love of the Fatherland» - 1999), and the jubilee medal «Türkmenistanyň Garaşsyzlygynyň 20 ýyllygyna» (2011).
At a recent meeting at the Academy of sciences, held in honour of Science Day, Begench Saparovich Karayev was ceremoniously awarded the degree of «Doctor of philosophy» by the Higher Attestation Commission of Turkmenistan.
It seems that this is not the peak of scientific and pedagogical activity of Karaev, because his vast experience and life principles aimed at finding something new suggest that in his field of teaching he will achieve new successes in the field of training young personnel for the diplomatic school of Turkmenistan.
P.S.: The editorial board of the «Golden Age» joins in the numerous congratulations addressed to B.S. Karayev on the occasion of his being awarded the degree of «Doctor of philosophy».
