Members of Kyrgyz Parliament held a moment of silence in honor of the great Kyrgyz writer Chingiz Aitmatov, who would have turned 80 today.

Chingiz Aitmatov passed away on June 10, 2008 in Nurnberg (Germany) after he was hospitalized with a severe pneumonia and renal failure.

Aitmatov is the great author of stories “Jamila,” “Farewell, Gulsary,” novels “Scaffol” and “The White Sheep”. Up to March 2008 Aitmatov was an acting Ambassador of Kyrgyzstan to France, Belgium, Luxemburg and the Netherlands. The last Aitmatov’s work – “When the Mountains Fall” was published in Moscow in 2006.

Aitmatov was buried in Kyrgyzstan on June 14, 2008 at the memorial gravesite Ata-Beyit, next to his father Torekul Aitmatov’s grave.