Copyright © 2024 Euromaidanpress.com

The work of Euromaidan Press is supported by the International Renaissance Foundation

When referencing our materials, please include an active hyperlink to the Euromaidan Press material and a maximum 500-character extract of the story. To reprint anything longer, written permission must be acquired from [email protected].

Privacy and Cookie Policies.

Some in Moscow and Nur-Sultan see Kazakhstan becoming ‘another Ukraine’

Kazakhstan’s capital city of Nur-Sultan in 2012 (Astana at the time). Source
Some in Moscow and Nur-Sultan see Kazakhstan becoming ‘another Ukraine’
A growing number of Duma deputies and Russian commentators see Kazakhstan becoming another Ukraine (meaning not Ukraine proper, but the “Ukraine” in the way how it is misrepresented in Russian propaganda’s narratives, – Ed.), a country increasingly riven by nationalism, hostility to all things Russian, and thus on a collision course with Moscow and with its Central Asian neighbors, Dmitry Rodionov says.

 

The Svobodnaya pressa commentator surveys the views of some and provides especially instructive reaction by Yevgeny Valyayev of the Public Diplomacy Foundation for the Development of Civil Society and by Aynur Kurmanov, the head of the Socialist Movement in Kazakhstan.

According to Valyayev, “over the course of many years, it seemed that there practically didn’t exist any disagreements between Russia and Kazakhstan,” a sharp contrast with the situation regarding Georgia and Ukraine and even more friendly Belarus and Armenia. For Moscow, Kazakhstan by comparison looked like “a safe harbor.”

That led many in the Russian capital to neglect the ways in which Kazakhs were replacing Russian and Soviet toponyms, pushing out the Russian language, and promoting anti-Russian versions of history, he says. As a result, when recent events have made it impossible to ignore they have reacted with extreme concern.

[boxright]

“Russophobia” as a Russian propaganda tool

[/boxright]

Unfortunately, he says,

“Kazakh nationalism long ago became just as mainstream a point of view as Ukrainian or Belarusian nationalism which unites them via an active struggle with the imperial past, in which Russia and Russians become the chief targets for attack,” the Moscow observer says.

No one should forget that in northern Kazakhstan, there are a large number of ethnic Russians and they are hardly indifferent to the shift in attitudes in Kazakhstan. Many have left but many who haven’t don’t want to continue to be forced into the status of “second class citizens” (the old good universal “they are oppressing Russians” narrative of the Russian propaganda, – Ed).

The Kazakh “language patrols” which seek to force Russians to speak Kazakh and Kazakhs not to speak Russian have highlighted this problem, and the failure of the Kazakhstan authorities to crack down hard on them shows that in Nur-Sultan there are many who aren’t against the idea that “Russians should leave Kazakhstan forever.”

According to Valyayev, “the younger generation of Kazakhs is searching for its identity” and those promoting anti-Russian views of history such as playing up the issues of collectivization are encouraging them to be anti-Russian more generally. And that is producing points of view Moscow must be concerned about.

One young Kazakh director, Kuianysh Beysekov, is promoting the idea that Kazakhstan is “a besieged fortress,” beset on all sides by Russia, China, and the US. Such an idea, Valyayev says without irony given the Kremlin’s use of the term, “gives people simple answers to complicated questions and frees them from responsibility” by blaming others for their mistakes.

Russia must respond, he continues. It must not only use its economic leverage, but it must promote the idea that all countries in the Eurasian Economic Community, including Kazakhstan, insert in their constitutions provisions making Russian a state language and its study obligatory in all their schools (forced Russification has been one of the staples of the Russian then Soviet empire for many years, – Ed.). Only those countries that do so should be part of the EEC, according to him.

Kurmanov says that Russians and Moscow have good reasons to be worried about the situation in Kazakhstan. Recent pogroms against Dungans and other minorities show that it is very easy to imagine that Kazakhs under certain conditions will eventually attack ethnic Russians as well.

He believes that all too many in Moscow are calming themselves about Kazakhstan with the soothing words of the current Kazakhstan president. Sometimes but far from always, he says the right things. But he is not in real charge. His predecessor, Nursultan Nazarbayev, is and he and others in Kazakhstan are increasingly prepared to use anti-Russian themes for their own purposes.

They are promoting nationalism both to defend their own power and also to cover the ways in which they are shifting Kazakhstan away from Russia and toward the West, he says. But this is a dangerous game, Kurmanov says, one that may lead to “border clashes with Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan” and Russian-Kazakh clashes within the country.

All this, the Kazakh party official says, could eventually lead “to the disintegration of the country and civil war” much like what is going on in Ukraine now (where the “disintegration of the country” and the “civil” war exist exclusively in the Russian propaganda, – Ed.), a situation Russia cannot avoid being concerned about and even involved in.

Further reading:

You could close this page. Or you could join our community and help us produce more materials like this.  We keep our reporting open and accessible to everyone because we believe in the power of free information. This is why our small, cost-effective team depends on the support of readers like you to bring deliver timely news, quality analysis, and on-the-ground reports about Russia's war against Ukraine and Ukraine's struggle to build a democratic society. A little bit goes a long way: for as little as the cost of one cup of coffee a month, you can help build bridges between Ukraine and the rest of the world, plus become a co-creator and vote for topics we should cover next. Become a patron or see other ways to support. Become a Patron!

To suggest a correction or clarification, write to us here

You can also highlight the text and press Ctrl + Enter

Please leave your suggestions or corrections here



    Euromaidan Press

    We are an independent media outlet that relies solely on advertising revenue to sustain itself. We do not endorse or promote any products or services for financial gain. Therefore, we kindly ask for your support by disabling your ad blocker. Your assistance helps us continue providing quality content. Thank you!

    Related Posts