Global Voices » Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan: Borat credited with tourism increase

Onnik Krikorian — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 07:48:23 +0000

RFE/RL's Transmission blog says that despite once protesting how ‘Borat' depicted the country, Kazakhstan is now crediting the 2006 film with increasing ten-fold the number of tourists visiting the country.

Russia: Writer Yuri Dombrovsky's Biography

Veronica Khokhlova — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 01:53:18 +0000

The Faculty Of Useless Knowledge writes about Yuri Dombrovsky, “one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century.”

Kazakhstan: Hockey Star's Wife Leaves Her Mark on the Kaznet

Chris Rickleton — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 03:36:56 +0000

Stacy Dallman, wife of former NHL hockey player Kevin Dallman, is likely to be remembered in Kazakhstan for a long time to come. After four years of starring for Barys, a team based in the Kazakh capital, Astana, Kevin is now on his way to other foreign ice rinks, apparently because his spouse Stacy's blog, Kaziland, upset some pretty powerful people in the Central Asian republic.

For Kazakh hockey fans, the news that Kevin, 31, had his contract with Barys torn up, is a bitter blow. An ex-defensemen for the LA Kings, Dallman was the heartbeat and captain of the Barys team, enjoying a cult status similar to that of Brazilian soccer star, Rivaldo, when he spent his twilight playing days with FC Bunyodkor in Uzbekistan.

Kevin and Stacy (centre) with the Barys leadership. Photo taken from the blog nortonsports.com

Like Rivaldo's stint in Uzbekistan, Dallman's time in Kazakhstan has ended in acrimony, the government apparently refusing to honour the remaining three years on his contract. In a post titled ‘до свидания' ('Goodbye' in Russian), his wife Stacy signed off on her time in Kazakhstan with a thinly veiled broadside against the Kazakh government:

I’m done. No more blogs about Kazakhstan. I leave behind some of the most intelligent, discerning young people who are poised to become the next leaders of a historically repressed country that I am confident has the desire and ambition to overcome it’s problems.

And, in a nod to classical Russian literature, she added a Pushkin quote to her swansong post:

Truth, like gold, is to be obtained not by its growth, but by washing away from it all that is not gold.

“Washing away?” Imagine how that sounds translated into Russian or Kazakh, in the corridors of power where President Nursultan Nazarbayev and his advisors strain to determine the course of their 20-year old ‘managed democracy'.

Or how about this, from a post entitled ‘Home Sweet Home':

I don’t really know why I tolerate it less and less every year. It just pains me when I see so much potential for a huge country with abundant natural resources who’s people don’t see a dime from their land being exploited and instead live in poverty and commanded denial. The money that should be used to develop the country is wasted away through corruption, lies, stealing, greed and selfishness on every level, in every organization from government right down to to small businesses to your everyday nanny or housekeeper.

Harsh words for a government that spends so much time and money burnishing its image, lauding its relative successes in a region strewn with faltering authoritarian regimes.

But the powers that be are probably thick-skinned enough to take some foreign criticism about corruption without resorting to deporting an international hockey star. What may have worried them more is the fact that many Kazakh internet users, usually seen as politically apathetic, came out in droves to agree with Stacy's posts. In a reply to ‘Home Sweet Home', one poster, Sanjiy, said:

What is written in the article is just the top of the iceberg. This blog is one of the bricks the building of democracy in Kaz will be made of.

Another visitor, Aidaika added more damaging words:

Stacy, thank you for your article, everything is true and it hurts me :-( Maybe you’ve heard about Zhanaozen events in last December, maybe not, but just to show everyone here in what country we live and what kind of president we have – the president has given green light to police and army to shoot at civil people.

But despite living in Kazakhstan for four hockey seasons, Stacy didn't seem to know too much about the December 2011 Zhanaozhen tragedy:

Was that the Oil situation?

Mukan.A thought Stacy was biting the hand that fed her:

Stacy, I agree with most of what you are saying. But if you look deeper what made you come to this country ? Is your husband that bad who could find a job only here? I am sorry but this country feeds you and your familly for the past years. I cant say this is a perfect country but you should appreciate the people country and the government where you live.

Another commenter, Kamila, wrote a lengthy post extolling the virtues of the Kazakh state and was subsequently criticized by other respondents for being a pro-government ‘troll'. (For more information about ‘trolling' in Central Asia, read this excellent report by IWPR):

“Stacy, Just ignore Kamillas, Kamshats and etc. They are being paid by [the Kazakh] KGB 25000 tenge [USD 170] to troll… Ha-ha-ha,” said one visitor, Alma Atinian living in the US.

Clearly, despite her claims to the contrary, Stacy's blog had already become very political. As several local and international websites began [ru] carrying reports about the blog, Barys, her husband's employers, asked her to delete a post:

“If you are wondering where the last post went…. well….Kevins agent made me delete it! Well the agent is blaming it on the team, the team is blaming it on the owner of the team, the owner of the team is blaming it on the president of the country. I’m not quite sure if the president of any country would have enough time on his or her hands to worry about one little blog that less than 100 people read per day…but that’s their story and they are sticking to it. I’m 30 not 13… but whatever, I deleted it to be respectful of the agents/teams/owners/president of the countries request,” Stacy informed her growing fan club in a post titled “Bye-bye opinions”.

Less than two weeks after “Bye-bye opinions”, Yahoo Sports reported that Barys had said “bye-bye” to the Dallmans.

On Twitter, Central Asian political commentator @JoshuaFoust wrote:

Amazing fire de coeur from Stacy Dallman about corruption in Kazakhstan.

@Slage 85, was less complimentary:

“Stacy Dallman, who cares about you? You're a nobody. Stay away from Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. You aren't welcome,” he raged.

But back in Kaziland.com, most posters displayed genuine grief at the Dallmans' departure, and anger towards the government, whom two posters accused of “behaving like a little girl” in its handling of the blog. One hockey-supporting father begged:

Kevin don’t leave. You are the best captain. All my friends shocked. The son cried all evening.

While Gussein contributed perhaps the most moving tribute to the pair:

Thank you very much for your effort to change Kz into a better place for its people. And i really appreciate what your husband, Kevin, has done for Barys. We are gonna miss you guys!!! and i’m sure that one day during our lifetime Kazakhstan will be a free country, and it will be a place where people would be able to practice freedom of speech. For now, you did what was right, and we will remember it for generations to come. I personally have no regrets, but only a sorrow that we have to be separated. We will miss you, our Canadian brothers and sisters.

Politics and sport - an explosive combination.

N.B For a dose of feel good on the Kaznet, check out the music video “Englishman in Shymkent” on YouTube. It is up to 100,000 hits now, and deserves ten times more.

Macedonia, Kazakhstan: Triumphal Arches to Celebrate 20 Years of Independence

Filip Stojanovski — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 00:24:10 +0000

The leaders of two former socialist countries have chosen the same architectural devices - triumphal arches - to mark the two decades of their states' divorce from the larger unions. Kazakhstan celebrated 20 years of independence from the USSR, and Macedonia - from the SFRY.

On December 16, 2011, while the government security forces were breaking down the Zhanaozen strike by shooting the protesting miners, the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev opened the Triumphal Arch “Mangilik El” (“Eternal Earth”) in Astana, as part of the celebration of the 20th anniversary of Kazakhstan's independence. As stated on the YouTube channel of Prime Minister Karim Massimov:

The Triumphal Arch that was constructed on the initiative of the President became another symbol of Kazakhstan's independence.

On January 6, 2012, the Prime Minister of Macedonia Nikola Gruevski opened the “Porta Macedonia” in Skopje (”porta”=”gate” in Latin and Macedonian). This triumphal arch was scheduled for unveiling on September 8, 2011, the actual 20th anniversary of Macedonia's independence, but construction delays had affected the timing. Nevertheless, the unfinished arch was used in the grandiose celebration (1, 2, 3, 4), which was then repeatedly shown on state TV, and at the welcoming ceremony for the national basketball team returning from the European Basketball Championship.

Porta Makedonija. Photo by Darko Nikolovski, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

During his 30-minute speech [mk], the Macedonian PM gave a much-commented-on statement [mk] that he personally had been the instigator and the chief backer of the Skopje 2014 project, which would leave an unavoidable mark in history.

He first thanked [mk] all the opponents of this “good, high-quality, useful project which has no downsides” - the opposition, those who disagree with him, the NGO sector:

…who with great passion and devotion strive to blacken this project, hoping that this would also negatively reflect on me and my collaborators, the current administration. This is a way for the artists to gain greater glory and escape anonymity after their deaths…

I do not say this cynically or ironically, if someone understands me that way. The greater the interest about a piece, in the sense of more critique and humiliation, in fact increases the motivation and the concentration of quality of that work…

Nikola Gelevski, an independent publisher and founder of the critical-thinking portal Okno, commented [mk] that the “discrete admission that he is the author of the most charlatan project in the history of Macedonia (according to me) was the only positive thing in the typically boring (and extremely) demagogic speech” by the PM.

Analyzing the speech, Gelevski noted:

“The one who abuses art and architecture for political goals, blames others for politicization!”

“Did we elect Gruevski to run the Government as a politician, or as an artist, a [demiurge], a prophet, and a messiah?!”

“One day–which will will come relatively soon–everybody will see that ‘Skopje 2014′ is but a great robbery of people's money.”

“All older monuments in the country are devastated in most humiliating ways, while whole squads of guards from private security agencies hired with public money “defend” the new monuments by Gruevski's regime.”

The triumphal arch was the most controversial element of the Skopje 2014 project. Many of its critics noted that it was superfluous and obsolete. The arch in Astana stands 20 meters tall, symbolizing the 20 years of independence. The Skopje arch is 21 meters tall, and no explanation has been provided in this regard.

The price of the Kazakh arch was not publicly disclosed in the news reports, while the Macedonian counterpart cost EUR 4.4 million. The everyday uses of the structure include selling souvenirs and providing space for weddings (or shooting ‘fancy' wedding photographs) on the observation platform.

Blogger Sead93 noted [mk]:

A few days ago the “Porta Macedonia” was officially opened in Skopje. After hundreds of reruns of the broadcast, this is not exactly news, but there's still something to add:

With all due respect to the one who named it Porta Macedonia, but this time I think they should have listened to the people, who use the name “The Triumphal Arch,” which is no accident. This is not just about the plain visual similarity with some-other-arches-from-some-other-countries and cities, but about the need to articulate triumphalism present in our daily lives. The nation needs an imprint, a space for canonizing or standardizing this triumphalism.

Namely, besides serving as an arch for triumphal marches of athletes, artists, scientists, laureates and other worthy citizens, the arch would be ideal for triumphal marching of our [Gastarbeiter] returning to visit the homeland. They could use it to parade their fancy cars (regardless of whether they own them or are just renting them to show off during vacation) and all their glitter. Imagine the view, and the astonishment, the sighs, the inspiration you would get from the successful emigrants. The prospective brides could easily eye a groom, and vice versa. This could be our Fashion Channel runway… Practical and profitable for all…

The linguistic assertion was proved by Zoriv, in his post [mk] praising the arch:

…the name does not correspond to the architectural work, but that is least important. The important thing is that the city of Skopje has acquired a structure that provides it with a new face and symbolism as the capital of the Republic of Macedonia. Debates about its aesthetics will rage among the architects… As a citizen of Skopje… I feel joy while looking at it, with a remark and question, was the middle of economic crisis the right time to build this - time will tell.

Responding to the implications stemming from the connection between Kazakhstan and Macedonia, Zoriv listed a number of other arches around the world, trying to show that building such monuments is quite normal: the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, Siegestor in Munich, the Wellington Arch in London, Narva in St. Petersburg, the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. He did not omit the tallest of them all, too - the Arch of Triumph in Pyongyang.

On Facebook, members of the ruling party tried to prove that raising triumphal arches was not an anachronistic practice related to despotic regimes with imperial ambitions, by sharing a photo of the Millennium Gate arch built in 2008 in the democratic USA, disregarding the fact that that “kitschy McMonument that bespeaks a cultural inferiority complex for all the world to see” (comment by an architecture forum user quoted by the LA Times) was funded through private donations, not with public money.

Even when questions of possible corruption and kickbacks by the developers are not taken into account, the issue of whether the money invested in Skopje 2014, and especially the arch, is well spent keeps popping up as the majority of the Macedonian population sinks deeper into poverty, and there's less money in the state budget for basic infrastructure services.

For instance, Twitter user Banekoma posted this collage of contrasting photos of the arch and the state of the main children's hospital, part of the main clinic, part of the dilapidated public health system.

Kazakhstan: Uzbek labor migrants survival

Adil Nurmakov — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 06:18:29 +0000

Camilla tells the story of Uzbek labor migrants in Kazakhstan, who were illegally trafficked - apparently, via channels, supervised by the officials - to work as slaves.

Kazakhstan: Stability of the nation vital for the whole region

Adil Nurmakov — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:17:23 +0000

Nathan Hamm reviews testimonies at the U.S. Congressional hearing, staged by the US Helsinki Commission about Kazakhstan’s stability, questioning whether or not Kazakhstan is as stable as its government claims.

Kazakhstan: Astana, urbanist haven of state corporatism

Adil Nurmakov — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:45:03 +0000

Molapse provides his analysis of the Kazakhstan's capital city, a newly built Left Bank of Astana, with a mix of artistic culturology and anthropology.

Kazakhstan: Reactions to Strike Crackdown as Police Brutality Video Emerges

Adil Nurmakov — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 10:27:07 +0000

Clashes in the town of Zhanaozen, Kazakhstan, on December 16-17, 2011, when a labour strike suddenly broke out in violence, looting and arson leaving at least 14 dead and hundreds of civilians and policemen injured, have been silenced, the authorities say.

The country leaders have come out with official statements and offers of condolence to the victims' relatives - a step that was tensely expected by the country's bloggers. The government has dispatched 1.2 billion tenge (US $8.5 million) for the reconstruction of the destroyed town, whilst the General Prosecutor's office has announced that preliminary data has already pointed to the organizers and instigators of the disorder.

A special governmental commission was quick to offer jobs in other regions to the striking sacked employees, even proposing to cover their travel and resettlement costs - a step that has proved belated after almost seven months of strike.

Debate online

Since the event the debates in blogs and social networks have become slightly less antagonistic, and the pro-governmental agenda has become much more visible in recent online discussions - especially in comments on news articles and blog posts. Positive reactions and praise of the government's response to the emergency have become so overwhelming, that Shali, a commenter on the country's most popular news site Tengrinews, ironically admits that [ru]:

obviously, moderators of this website, as well as law enforcement bodies, switched to the intensive regime of service

On December 21, however, shocking amateur video footage - taken presumably on December 16 - by some Kazakh women (whose lamentous comments can be heard in the background) appeared on YouTube. It was uploaded by user saule540 and shows a brutal crackdown:

A government spokesman had earlier stressed that weapons had been applied only for self-defense (for example, the deputy chief of Zhanaozen police is still in a coma after an injury received on December 16), or that police were only shooting into the air.

Pete Leonard tweets:

Ok, so the “shooting in the air and in the ground” story from Zhanaozen is already proving to have holes in it

Netizens have been divided again, between those who shared a link to this video with laconic descriptions like “Shoot out” and those who saw it an acceptable practice. Among the latter are Marat Shibutov, who says in comments [ru] to a Facebook post:

They were shooting in legs, so not to kill. That's within the limits of riot suppression.

Sadenka tweets [ru]:

This “how people were shot in Zhanaozen” video is missing parts about “how people were looting and setting town on fire” and about “how people in uniform were defending the town”.

Armanitto points [ru] at the continued information war and doubts that the video was totally amateur:

The video is designed to zombify people for lamentations about the massacre. A template scenario for colored revolutions.

Either way, the video fragment seemingly does not reveal signs of police action in self-defense, or for the protection of civilians or property. Ryzhkina exclaims [ru], asking Kazakh Prime Minister Massimov on Twitter:

@KarimMassimov When will we finally get the answer to the question, how legal it is to shoot at people, and who is going to be responsible for that?

Excessive use of force?

Bloggers called on the government to admit excessive use of force, investigate all deaths and gunshot injuries, and punish those guilty of inadequate use of weapons.

At 8pm on December 21, the Commandant of Zhanaozen made a statement [ru] about the video, saying that the Emergency Prosecutor's Office is holding a special internal investigation into use of lethal weapons by police. He also confirmed that the death toll is 14 and that nobody has tried to distort the actual number of victims. To conclude, the official informed the press of “weaponry, confiscated from the rioters”.

This has been seen by many commenters as a positive and timely step, to make sure that both radicals and enforcement structures are clarifying what is permitted, and what is not.

Sergey Domnin writes [ru] on Facebook:

The court must decide if the use of weapons was justified or not. It seems like it was not - the bullets were not made of rubber […] This deserves a criminal case against the policemen. The fact that they were beating up the injured is a shame.

Pacifist says [ru]:

I watched the video and pondered a lot on it. People are wandering around on the square without clear understanding of what to do. It could have been easy to quiet them down without guns. The police were just seeking even easier ways. Alas.

Meanwhile, Arioh calls [ru] on YouTube viewers to watch the video more carefully:

Who was able to identify real lethal weapons on this “amateur” video? The only gun seen on screen is with a person running in the center. This could actually be a pistol with rubber bullets, which commenters are standing up for. The riot squad officers - as far as I see - have shields in one hand and batons in the other. Could they shoot with the third arm then? The beatings are too much, yes. But, on the other hand, it proves that they hardly were using lethal weapons. Because beating up the dead bodies is too creepy even for the riot squad.

Popular blogger Kreich posts another analysis of the video [ru], suggesting that there were two shooting sides:

Many things were left behind the scenes. […] Most part of the mob and stone-throwers are of no interest to the police; the riot squad's target is a small group to the right - a target at which they conduct an aimed fire […] As for me personally, it is clear that this target was armed (otherwise, why so much attention to it?). What you think - you decide.

[It can be thought] that on this video policemen are shooting at the crowd. No, they don't - the crowd has gone far, and there are no victims there. It can be thought that this is an abuse. No, even on this video you can hear that there was an exchange of fire between two sides.

In comments sniprman posted a photo from a Tengrinews update about confiscated guns and explosives, showing police shields with traces of gunshots.

Armanitto reminds [ru] his readers of provocateurs of the riots and of their masterminds:

Zhanaozen blood is on the hands of those who sent the people against police.

Yuri Dorokhov comments [ru] on how divided the journalistic community and wider public are these days:

Journalists that took a trip to Zhanaozen report on the brutality of the police.
Journalists that attended press briefings report on the brutality of the rioters.
Journalists that did not leave their offices report on the brutality of the masterminders from abroad.
Readers do not believe anyone and hate everybody.

Radik-Temirgaliev draws [ru] a bottom line:

The cracks in our society are turning into gaps. People, who yesterday were chatting as friends in social networks, today are battling in fierce disputes […] Seemingly, both sides are telling the truth. The regime supporters are right that Zhanaozen events were completely illegal, and they were to be suppressed in the most resolute manner. Strikers have stained themselves with pure crime, and organizers must be punished.

But those who speak about the government's fault are right, too. In a country with no free and fair elections or responsible state bodies, people really don't have any other chance to get their dissatisfaction to the authorities, but to stage protests. And here it goes - the mob's rebellion is ruthless.

Kazakhstan: Longtime Strike Bursts into Violence; State of Emergency Declared

Adil Nurmakov — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 12:11:48 +0000

As Kazakhstan was preparing for the pompous celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the country's independence, the seven month-long strike of employees sacked from the national oil company's subsidiary in West Kazakhstan was evolving into brutal clashes with police forces, apparently, with the help of unidentified provocateurs.

The strike began in spring 2011, following demands for higher salaries and better working conditions in several oilfields in the Mangistau province. The government chose to stay away from the labor conflict, regarding it as an argument between the company and its employees. Eventually some of the demands were met and most workers returned to work. Ozenmunaigaz (OMG), located in Zhana Ozen, a town of nearly 100,000 inhabitants, remained the only restless company: its non-oil workers were not satisfied with сoncessions and demanded a pay raise.

The local court ruling arrived, declaring the demands baseless and the strike illegal. Observers commented that the strike leaders were misled by the ambiguous instructions for the salary incease and demanded more than was meant by the legislation. Workers from the town, where OMG is almost the only employer of substance, were fired and the leader of the unregistered labor union jailed. A strike of workers in a tent camp in the township's main square began.

The strike of nearly a thousand fired workers has been gradually aggravating the crime situation in the town, making its implications hardly trackable. On December 14, two days before Independence observances, the “Respublika” newspaper published a call for a rally in Zhanaozen, signed by an anonymous “group of Mangistau province residents”. The letter from the Zhanaozen residents was unprecedented, in that it madepolitical demands; the article was titled “Down with Nazarbayev” [president of Kazakhstan]. Leaflets disseminated around town summoned strikers to a rally on the main square on December 16, Independence Day.

On the eve of the date, according to the strike's official Twiter account, @zhanaozen [ru] the authorities were urging the strikers to clear the square for celebrations. The strikers refused to remove tents and, fearing a forced clean-up under the cover of night, mobilized their comrades. The morning of December 16 nothing happened - the tent camp of strikers was untouched, and the celebrations - a parade and a concert - began.

It is still unclear what happened next, but many eyewitnesses and journalists of “Respublika” newspaper and “K+” satellite TV channel, which became virtually the only news sources from Zhanaozen for the next two days, claimed that further disorder was incited by a group of provocateurs. Both media outlets are funded by M. Ablyazov, a former banker with a vast network of business and political interests in Kazkahstan. In any case, the peaceful rally and festivities ended with violent clashes (video). Men with sticks and “Molotov cocktails” attacked the civilians, and induced strikers to destroy the concert stage, burn the cars and storm the administrative buildings.

In the absence of updates from state-owned news sources, which were overwhelmed by the state anniversary, social media, especially Twitter, Facebook and Youtube with videos from “K+”, quickly emerged as the main tool to deliver information, as well as deliberate misinformation, about the clashes. The #zhanaozen hashtag on Twitter on December 16-17 was filled with sensational, and frequently anonymous, tweets about “civil war in Zhanaozen”, “mass killings” and galloping numbers of alleged victims. Uncertainty only increased with the blocking of Twitter and a number of Russian and Kyrgyz news sites the evening of December 16. The national telecom operator denied the fact filtering. The websites are still accessible with circumvention tools.

Many bloggers suspiciously pointed to [ru] a well-used anti-government information campaign on the Internet, aimed at manipulation of public opinion, especially on Independence Day, as well as the state media focus on this four-day weekend of glorifying the president, who retains power since the country became independent in 1991. The rhetoric of campaign, they thought [ru], probably was meant to draw parallels with the 2005 Andijan massacre in Uzbekistan. The campaign engaged several little-known NGOs and bloggers in Russia, Ukraine and Europe, as well as Irish Socialist MEP Paul Murphy, who was quick to describe the event in the Eur0pean Parliament as a “massacre”. Murphy visited Zhanaozen once earlier this year; the visit was extensively covered by “K+” and “Respublika”.

Official reaction came the evening of December 16 with a press briefing from General Prosecutor Askhat Daulbayev, who admitted the death of 10, and more wounded in clashes with police, who used weapons against the “hooligans” who burnt police cars, several buildings of the local government administration, a private hotel and the Ozenmunaygaz office, and looted shops and ATM machines. The lack of information provoked unease in the neighboring town of Shetpe and Aktau, the provincial capital. Pete Leonard, an Associated Press reporter in Kazkahstan, tweeting from nearby Aktau, the regional capital, quoted Vladimir Kozlov, leader of the unregistered opposition “Alga” party, talking about a “real risk of a provocation” from “drunken young men milling in the crowd holding rocks - not evidently associated with demonstrating oil workers“.

On Sunday December 18, the blockage of Twitter was lifted after president Nazarbayev ordered an investigation into the Zhanaozen violence, and enacted a state of emergency through January 5, or until final settlement of the situation. He expressed condolences to the families of people killed and sought to clearly divide the issue of labor conflict and “bandits, who took advantage of the situation”. Interestingly, the day before that, minister of interior Kalmukhanbet Kassymov named the strikers as organizers of protests when he reported on the stabilization of the situation in Zhanaozen, after detaining 70. The authorities thereby met - albeit somewhat late - some of the public's demands for information, but failed to declare national mourning and to include representatives of civil society in the government's Special Commission for Investigation. The government is inviting journalists and OSCE officers [ru] to visit Zhanaozen in an apparent attempt to show its transparency, but it remains unclear who was actually killed [ru] or the precise circumstances of their death.

The heated propaganda and counter-propaganda debates continue on the Facebook group Zhanaozen [ru], and more updates directly from the site can be found at Twitter hashtag #zhanaozen. Within the debates, observers and commenters are presenting various versions, from a provocation by exiled Kazakh oligarchs to a conspiracy [ru] of foreign states, or both [ru]. Global Voices will keep an eye on the developments.

Kazakhstan: 2,2 percent of population have Facebook accounts

Ekaterina — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 08:50:08 +0000

Kazakh blogger sympaticus writes [ru] that the number of Facebook users from Kazsakhstan is now 340 660 people, making up the Facebook penetration in Kazakhstan to 2,2 percent. During the last 6 months, the number of the FB users has grown by 18,5 precent.

Kazakhstan: Blasts Spark New Fears Over the Rise of Extremism

Adil Nurmakov — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 13:13:34 +0000

Early in the morning of October 31, 2011, two blasts occurred in the downtown district of Atyrau, the major city in Western Kazakhstan and the unofficial “oil capital” of the Central Asian country, which has long been boasting of itself as a showcase of inter-ethnic and inter-religious tolerance.

One of the explosions took place near the building of local prosecutor's office; the improvised explosive device was stored in a litter bin. The second blast hit the area next to the regional administration building; it was put into action by a suicide bomber, whose identity has not yet been revealed. No other casualties were reported.

The first news reports were messy and controversial - various news agencies and online publications quoted various sources and reported either on “rivers of blood” or on an “explosion of the [oil] pipeline”. Ironically, a high-profile media conference was taking place on that day in Almaty, the nation's commercial capital.

Atyrau, Kazakhstan. Image by Flickr user hellium666 (CC BY-NC 2.0).

Marat Shibutov opined [ru]:

Today media representatives were at the conference and discussed their problems. Meanwhile, the whole country was not able to receive news from the downtown of Atyrau for 4-5 hours. No photos from the ground zero, no versions, no comments from the authorities. If it is such a problem to provide information from the big city, where most national media have their correspondents - let alone the local news outlets - then we will never know should a terrorist act happen in a smaller town…

The official information arrived shortly with the acknowledgement of a “self-blow-up”. It is a euphemism that the Kazakhstani authorities prefer to employ instead of “suicide bombing”. Sniprman gave [ru] an appreciating acknowledgement in return by saying that “at least, the authorities didn't play hide-and-seek, and reported the situation as is”.

Even after the official report, some bloggers were skeptical about the incident. Pycm68 tweeted [ru]:

Normal terrorists stuff themselves with bolts and nails, and go to crowded places. Their bosses then ring and assume responsibility […] In Kazakhstan they do it quietly, give no explanations and only the bomber dies. “Quo prodest?”, that is the question.

BioPsihoz reminded [ru]:

The blasts were preceded by two things. Last week the previously unknown Islamist group The Jund al Khilafah (Soldiers of the Caliphate) threatened to start jihad in Kazakhstan if the authorities don't curtail the new law on religion [aimed at restriction of activity of unauthorized religious groups].

Skeptics insisted that terrorist act can rarely be anonymous. Sniprman said [ru]:

Such statements [claiming responsibility for the acts] should emerge instantly. But I doubt anybody would assume responsibility for such an unfortunate incident.

But shortly afterwards, the same “Jund al Khilafah” claimed credit for the blasts. They noted that explosions were merely a warning, and hence not very traumatic, while the suicide bomber's death in a premature detonation was an accident.

Bill Roggio of the LongWarJournal blog wrote:

Soldiers of the Caliphate, a “brigade” of foreign fighters based along the Afghan-Pakistan border […] is known to have carried out attacks in Khost province, Afghanistan, which is a haven for the Haqqani Network.

It was not the first warning to the Kazakh authorities. In May 2011, the Taliban has warned Kazakhstan that its decision to send troops to the NATO-led war in Afghanistan “would have severe consequences”, and a suicide bomber exploded himself near the regional office of the National Security Committee in Aktobe, a provincial center in Western Kazakhstan (see GV coverage).

The local Muslim leaders in the person of Chief Imam of the Atyrau region Nurbeck Yesmagambet promptly refrained from any sort of terrorists and explained [ru] that extremists only use Islam as a cover. In comments to the news item Alexis backed the Imam's position:

Terrorists are usual bandits, who pretend to be Muslims. And bandits are to be treated with force - they don't understand otherwise.

Earlier this year, following the bombing attacks in Aktobe, investigators revealed that the extremists were directly involved in organized criminal group, which was smuggling petroleum from the oil-fields. Meanwhile, Scuko Zloi is displeased with the fact that the Kazakhstan president keeps silent after the blasts and continues his international tour:

Where is NAN [an anagram for President Nursultan Abishevich Nazarbayev]? Out under the warm sun of the United Arabian Emirates? Where are the country leader's statement on the incident?

Seke agrees:

Look at Russia - if anything like this happens there, president or prime-minister are quick to react […] Our leaders are visible only on conferences and celebrations.

Steissd comments [ru] from the neighboring Russia:

It has always seemed that Kazakhs, albeit being Muslims, treat Islam not fanatically, but just as an element of their routine and spiritual culture. Everything changesб and Atyrau blasts appeared to be “Islam-rooted”. The only hope is that Nazarbayev would forget about political correctness and deal shortly with the newly emerged jihadis…

Megakhuimyak has his version [ru] of explanation of the developments - and the outcomes:

The reason of the blasts in Atyrau is simple - in late August a whole group of 30 terrorists was detained there. By the way, they already possessed IEDs and had ties with Pakistan and Afghanistan, to where they were sending people for training. Apparently, not all of them were arrested then. The rest are now taking revenge.

In fact, the terrorist wahhabi underground has declared war on the state. They would probably use the Dagestani scenario - killing officials and siloviks. Besides, the government will have to solve issues with the “bearded” guys within the elites […] and with various sorts of Islamic foundations, Islamic universities etc.

Kazakhstan: Bloggers Discuss New Copyright Protection Bill

Catherine Lawlor — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:44:11 +0000

Kazakhstan's Internet community has yet again suffered a setback, this time at the hands of state authorities. In recent months, state interference in the growth of the Internet has reached unprecedented heights. The government's interest in the new trend can be evaluated in various ways but, in particular, as a desire to diffuse and reinforce state power throughout various sectors of society.

Since the Internet is growing quickly, that ambition is quite obvious. It is worth noting, however, that the Internet has one very significant feature: a lack of laws and regulators. And inventing laws for that which bows to no law is a very difficult task.

Intellectual property bill

In early autumn, the government introduced a bill aimed at the defence of intellectual property to the Mazhilis (Kazakhstan's lower house of parliament). The bill, should it pass, will entail a number of changes to the various regulatory instruments of the state, in particular the criminal code and several other laws. Unfortunately, not everyone is prepared to adapt to these modifications, since they believe that the Internet should not be restricted by legal parameters - otherwise, it loses its beauty and reason for existence.

Image: Sunqar

This past spring, the ‘three-click' method [ru] was introduced in Kazakhstan. (The method of “three clicks” consists of several steps: first – formal notice for author of illegal content, second – warning and the third one – opening of criminal case against violator. It was proposed by President of Association of Legal Entities and «Internet— Association of Kazakhstan” Shavkat Sabirov for work on websites with pirate content).

Obviously, it is starting to gain practical support, although the implementation has not been entirely welcome - it is not enough that implementation of the legislation leads only to sanctions (an immediate punishment without warning), but should result in the mass shut-down of sites. Remember the clash over LiveJournal [ru] and counters, and aspects of other portals as well? Domestic 'shutdowners' now have local Internet resources in their sights: the target has become torrent-trackers, which massively violate copyright legislation and other related laws.

These decisions have infuriated the Internet community. One portal has been closed down despite its users numbering at least 20,000. Rafik Jafarof is not pleased [ru]:

By passing this law they've set themselves back a minimum of seven years seeing as a large proportion of users will stop using the Internet, which means that internet providers will take a colossal beating […] It would be better to police the streets - how many drug addicts, criminals and potential murders roam these streets? - instead of ‘fighting for copyright.'

On his blog, Sunqar posted a brief analysis [ru] summing up the situation:

‘2 clicks' in all its glory. The first time, they will warn a fan who shares ‘cultural goods' with the community. The second time it happens within a year, the justice-makers will fine him, say, 150 bucks and cheerfully take away his computer and modem.

A representative of the publisher iPORT.kz – JZU – speculates [ru]:

Even though the closure of the offending sites is adequate, the powers that be still made me laugh: they caught some of the thousands of illegal distributors (and made a PR stunt out of it) when there are a lot of other illegal things that could be pointed to on Kaznet.

The editors of the New Reporter published a fresh and topical post [ru] on the matter, in which they assembled all the most interesting opinions:

Deputy Murat Abenov suggests freeing the owners of Internet resources of responsibility for the actions of those users who, for example, host pirate films, and to punish them only if the owner knows about counterfeit content but does not react to an appeal from the copyright holder. A similar practice is in operation in the USA and permits sites to develop actively.

Another deputy, Nurlan Onerbay, suggested combatting not only domestic pirates, but foreign ones too. His version of the clause on the violation of copyright stipulates that “for foreign media that constitute Internet resources: the closure of access to the specified Internet resources on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan.”

Moreover, the issue is not just the closure of particular pages but the complete blocking of a site. By the way, on YouTube, VKontakte, and Moy Mir there are dozens of clips of the singer Nurlan Onerbay. If the deputy/singer's amendments are accepted, these resources, which are popular in Kazakhstan, could be completely blocked.

Internet user Rocfor went over all the aforementioned in quite a harsh manner and, as a result, declared [ru]:

In this country there are so many problems of a social character, yet they […] are thinking about the Internet - how progressive and considerate our government is.

Internet user Zebroman talks [ru] about how the bill is not the best idea, confirming his opinion with these words:

I am a young professional. The country should in principle be interested in me. My salary is 42,000 tenge (US$ 285). Licences cost (for your ‘music lovers') from 2,000 to 5,000 tenge (US$ 13 - 34). A cinema ticket costs 1,000 (around US$ 7). The question of the day is: what else can I do but download films, music, games and trackers?

We decided to consult other well known Kazakh commentators; Azamat Omarov [ru], gave this opinion on the matter:

If we compare the current version of the law and the draft the new version, I do not see anything fundamentally new. The emphasis in the draft is placed on punitive measures and does not reveal procedural aspects. The future law will not make possible any kind of reduction in the use of unlicensed content on the global network. The most that it can do is put Kaznet's leaders out by sending Kazakh users to external sites. Everyone understands perfectly well that even if all Kazakh sites were to be shut down, the number of users of counterfeit material would not diminish and copyright holders should expect no increase in revenues.

On the whole, the new law gives exclusive discretion over what falls in line to state authorities. Consequently, it is now possible to close absolutely any portal if an authority considers that it violates copyright law. But this inevitably will lead to a deterioration in the relationship between the state and its citizens, seeing as it interferes with the constitutional right to free access to information. However, approval of the law is planned for the middle of 2012 and in all likelihood a lot will change before then.

Global Voices Russian Partners With Neweurasia.net

Ekaterina — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 09:12:03 +0000

We are pleased to announce partnership of Global Voices in Russian with Neweurasia.net, one of the most prominent citizen media platforms in Central Asia and about Central Asia, which has a large Russian and English speaking audience.

Neweurasia focuses on news and analysis generated by young people from the ground. The site casts light upon under-reported issues and provides a space for young, bright minds to make themselves heard. It was created back in 2005, when several online activists joined forces to develop a platform for blogs with low editing needs and quick, direct publishing.

It is worth mentioning of course, that one of the platform founders was also Global Voices author Ben Paarman. Today, the site has an extensive network of bloggers from five Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan), who all share amazing stories of lives, achievements and challenges in their countries.

Taking all this into account, the partnership of Global Voices and Neweurasia.net is a logical step, given the activities of the two communities and their similar goals. We are very excited to start our cooperation with one of the most amazing and popular citizen media platforms about Central Asian region.

We started with exchanging our logos. You might have already seen the Neweurasia logo on the Global Voices Russian site and our logo is placed on the Russian version of Neweurasia, which means that Global Voices will be more accessible for a Russian speaking audience. Both sides are open-minded and do not exclude other forms of partnership in the future.

We are grateful to the people who worked hard to make the cooperation possible. So, we owe a big “thank you” to Oliver Dams, project manager and technical manager of Neweurasia.net and one of the founders of the site, and Yelena Jetpyspaeva, social media officer of Neweurasia.net, for being receptive and open to new ideas.

Also, we would like to thank the team of Global Voices in Russian, authors and translators alike, for producing content and making the site interesting for Russian speakers.

Kazakhstan: Online TV website shut down

Adil Nurmakov — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 12:41:44 +0000

Tomyris writes that Kazakhstan’s opposition news website Stan-TV was shut down by the court decision; it was ordered to close the production studio and dismantle its broadcasting equipment. The formal reason for closure is supposedly a failure to comply with the standards of Kazakhstan’s public health inspection agency.

Kazakhstan: Forbes magazine franchise launched

Adil Nurmakov — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 16:04:27 +0000

Tomyris informs that Kazakhstan, Central Asia’s wealthiest country, welcomes the prominent business Forbes magazine to its list of available medias.