Russians in Kazakhstan and demographic change

Imperial legacy and the Kazakh way of nation building

Bibliographic Data

ID6039200
AuthorsZharmukhamed Zardykhan (0000-0002-3710-9646, Bilkent University, corresponding author)
Year2004
Volume5
Issue1
Pages61-79
Publication date2004-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAsian Ethnicity (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1463-1369 • E-ISSN: 1469-2953
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/1463136032000168907
OpenAlexW1981687449
LanguageEN
Citations received10

Today it can surely be said that the Kazakh government has come a long way in developing and supporting the Kazakh national identity, culture and language. These were suppressed and damaged during more than two centuries of Russian domination over the Kazakhs. Since independence, the 'Russian problem' in Kazakhstan has certainly defined Kazakh foreign and domestic policies. The cautious and astute policy of the Kazakh government is worthy of investigation, a task this paper takes up. After providing the historical background, the paper examines certain social, legal and demographic aspects of independent state‐ and nation‐building policies in Kazakhstan. In presenting and analysing the Kazakh national policy, this paper also examines the attitudes and criticisms of various Russian groups inside and outside Kazakhstan, both official and unofficial. Keywords: KazakhstanKazakhmigrationsdemographicsCentral AsiaCIS Notes Martha Brill Olcott, 'Post‐Soviet Kazakhstan: The Demographics of Ethnic Politics', Problems of Post‐Communism, vol. 42, no. 2 (March–April 1995), p. 28. Early Russian travellers confused the Kazakhs with the Kirghiz and until the mid‐1920s the Kazakhs were known as Kirghiz‐Kaysak or simply as Kirghiz, while the modern Kirghiz were known as Kara‐Kirghiz. A.K. Akishev et al. (eds), Istoriya Kazakhstana s drevneyshikh vremen do nashikh dney (Dauir, Almaty, 1993) (hereafter Istoriya Kazakhstana), p. 260. Inorodtsy is a Russian term to denote the non‐Russian and/or non‐Orthodox Christian subjects of the Russian Empire. Martha Brill Olcott, The Kazakhs (Hoover Institution Press, Stanford, California, 1987), p. 121. Istoriya Kazakhstana, p. 275. Olcott, The Kazakhs, p. 125. Hélène Carrère d'Encausse, 'The Fall of the Empire', in Edward Allworth (ed.), Central Asia (Duke University Press, Durham, North Carolina, 1994), pp. 216–17, 222. d'Encausse, 'The Fall of the Empire', pp. 216–17. Richard Pipes, The Formation of the Soviet Union (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1964), p. 91. Ibid., p. 86. Carrère d'Encausse, 'Civil War and New Governments', in Allworth (ed.), Central Asia, p. 236. S.N. Pokrovskii, Razgrom interventov i vnutrennei kontrrevoliutsii v Kazakhstane 1918–1920 gg (Alma‐Ata, 1967), p. 126; cited by Olcott, The Kazakhs, p. 146. Olcott, The Kazakhs, p. 155. Stephan Blank, 'Soviet Reconquest of Central Asia', in Hafeez Malik (ed.), Central Asia: Its Strategic Importance and Future Prospects (St. Martin's Press, New York, 1994), p. 40. Pipes, The Formation of the Soviet Union, p. 174. Istoriya Kazakhstana, p. 400; Elizabeth Bacon, Central Asians under Russian Rule: A Study in Culture Change (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, 1966), p. 117. Although 'Alma‐Ata', the eminent misnomer, was officially used throughout the Soviet period, its Kazakh version 'Almaty' was still in use in Kazakh language press during the Soviet period. After independence, 'Almaty' became the exclusive official nomination of the city. Hélène Carrère d'Encausse, 'The National Republics Lose their Independence', in Allworth (ed.), Central Asia, p. 257. Shirin Akiner, The Formation of Kazakh Identity: From Tribe to Nation‐State (Royal Institute of International Affairs, London, 1995), p. 36. M.B. Tatimov, Sotsial'naiya obuslovlennost' demograficheskikh protsessov (Nauka, Alma‐Ata, 1989), pp. 120–6; cited by Akiner, The Formation of Kazakh Identity, p. 45. Bacon, Central Asians under Russian Rule, pp. 190–1. Ibid., p. 145. L.S. Rogachevskaia, Likvidatsiia bezrabotitsy v SSSR: 1917–1930 gg. (Moscow, 1973), p. 88; cited by Istoriya Kazakhstana, p. 402. E. Yu. Sadovskaya, Migratsiya v Kazakhstane na rubezhe XXI veka: osnovnye tendentsii i perspektivy (Galym, Almaty, 2001), p. 35. Ibid. Istoriya Kazakhstana, p. 402. Olcott, The Kazakhs, p. 188. Istoriya Kazakhstana, p. 403. Kazakhstanskaya Pravda, 18 June 1989; cited by Istoriya Kazakhstana, p. 403. Istoriya Kazakhstana, p. 403. Ibid. Olcott, The Kazakhs, p. 244. Allworth, 'The New Central Asians', in Allworth (ed.), Central Asia, p. 540. Itogi vsesoyuznoy perepisi naseleniya 1970 g, vol. 4 (Moscow, 1973), p. 13; cited by Istoriya Kazakhstana, p. 404. According to the population census of 1989, the Ukrainians became the fourth largest ethnic group in Kazakhstan, after Kazakhs, Russians and Germans. See Table 1. Istoriya Kazakhstana, p. 406. Ibid., p. 405. 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Martha Brill Olcott, Central Asia's New States: Independence, Foreign Policy and Regional Security (United States Institute of Peace Press, Washington, DC, 1996), pp. 60–1. Kazakhstanskaya pravda, 11 August 1992; cited by Olcott, Central Asia's New States, p. 61. FBIS‐SOV‐International Affairs, 19 January 1996, p. 18, cited by Alvin Z. Rubinstein, 'The Transformation of Russian Foreign Policy', in Karen Dawisha (ed.), The International Dimension of Post‐Communist Transition in Russia and the New States of Eurasia (Armonk, New York, 1997), p. 49. Daniel C. Diller (ed.), Russia and the Independent States (Congressional Quarterly, Washington, DC, 1993), p. 196. 'Russia' TV Channel, Moscow, 28 February 1993 in BBC Monitoring: Summary of World Broadcasts, 2 March 1993, pp. B1–B2; cited by Mohiaddin Mesbahi, 'Russia and the Geopolitics of the Muslim South', in Mohiaddin Mesbahi (ed.), Central Asia and the Caucasus after the Soviet Union: Domestic and International Dynamics (University Press of Florida, Gainsville, Florida, 1994), p. 305. 'The National Doctrine of Russia', Obozrevatel' (1994); cited by Vladimir Barsamov, 'Kazakhstan: How Long Can Ethnic Harmony Last?', in Alexei Arbatov et al. (eds), Managing Conflict in the Former Soviet Union: Russian and American Perspectives (MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1997), pp. 312–33. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Russian Question: At the End of the 20th Century (Harvill Press, London, 1995), p. 93. FBIS‐SOV‐International Affairs, 19 January 1996, p. 18, cited by Alvin Z. Rubinstein, p. 49. Murat Laumulin, Foreign Policy and Security of the Republic of Kazakhstan (The Eurasia Foundation, Almaty, 1997), p. 33. Roland Dannreuther, 'Creating New States in Central Asia', Adelphi Paper, no. 288 (March 1994), pp. 43–4. Barsamov, 'Kazakhstan', pp. 305–6. Vyacheslav Belokrenitsky, 'Russia and Former Soviet Central Asia: The Attitude towards Regional Integrity', in Atabaki and O'Kane (eds), Post‐Soviet Central Asia, p. 56. Ibid., p. 56. 'The Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance Between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation', Kazakhstanskaya pravda, 23 July 1992, p. 2. 'Kazakhstan: Yeltsin Says No Territorial Claims on Kazakhstan', ITAR‐TASS, 13:45 GMT, 27 April 1996 in FBIS‐SOV‐96‐083. 'Duma Criticizes 'Persecution' of Russians in Kazakhstan', Rossiyskaya Gazeta, 2 June 1995, in FBIS‐SOV‐95‐107, 2 June 1995. Bess Brown, 'Kazakhstan Cossack Group Gains Official Recognition', RFE/RL Daily Report, no. 127, 7 July 1994, pp. 2–3; cited by Philip Petersen, 'Security Policy in Post‐Soviet Central Asia', European Security, vol. 4, no. 1 (Spring 1995), p. 157. Moscow News, 20 May 1994; cited by Olcott, 'Post‐Soviet Kazakhstan', p. 26. Panorama (Almaty), no. 24, 19 June 2000. Ibid. Denis Lomov, 'Sekrety sem'i Nazarbayeva', Vremya, no. 12, 30 May 2000, in IAC Eurasia, www.eurasia. org.ru Olcott, 'Post‐Soviet Kazakhstan', p. 25. S. Kozlov, 'Democratic in Form, National in Essence', Nezavisimaya Gazeta, 2 April 1994, pp. 1–2; cited by Barsamov, 'Kazakhstan', p. 299. A. Dokuchayeva, 'Trevozhnye tendentsii v Kazakhskoy etnopoliticheskoy situatsii', Russkiy geopoliticheskiy sbornik, no. 2, p. 76. Barsamov, 'Kazakhstan', p. 276. Sagyndyk Mendibayev, '"Russkiy vopros" i Nazarbayev', Tsentral'noaziatskiy byulleten', 29 May 2000, in IAC Eurasia, www.eurasia.org.ru Ibid. Olcott, Central Asia's New States, p. 62. Burkut Ayaganov and Alibek Kuandykov, 'Kazakhi v Kazakhstane', Aziya, no. 24 (1993). Solzhenitsyn, The Russian Question, p. 92. 'Russia: Kazakhstan Warned of Possible Exodus by Russian Speakers', Interfax, 13:58 GMT, 20 November 1996, in FBIS‐SOV‐96‐226. Barsamov, 'Kazakhstan', p. 326. A. Dokuchayeva, 'Vse yazyki ravny, no Kazakhsky‐ravnee', Institut stran SNG, 22 May 2000, in IAC Eurasia, www.eurasia.org.ru. Barsamov, 'Kazakhstan', p. 298. Dokuchayeva, 'Vse yazyki ravny, no Kazakhsky‐ravnee', Institut stran SNG, 22 May 2000. Panorama (Almaty), no. 24, 19 June 2000. Charles King and Melvin J. Neil, 'Diaspora Politics: Ethnic Linkages, Foreign Policy, and Security in Eurasia', International Security, vol. 24, issue 3 (Winter 1999–2000), p. 128. 'Kazakhstan: Decrease in Kazakhstan's Population Reported', ITAR‐TASS, 14:30 GMT, 12 December 1998, in FBIS‐TEN‐98‐346, 12 December 1998. Dokuchayeva, 'Trevozhnye tendentsii', p. 77. Panorama, no. 48, December 2001. The Law on State Independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Almaty, 1992); cited by Barsamov, 'Kazakhstan', p. 296. Lomov, 'Sekrety sem'i Nazarbayeva', Vremya, no. 12, 30 May 2000. 'Kazakhstan: President Nazarbayev Defends Decision to Move Kazakh Capital to Akmola', Interfax, 12:50 GMT, 8 December 1997, in FBIS‐SOV‐97‐343. Irina Zviagelskaia, The Russian Policy Debate on Central Asia (The Royal Institute of International Affairs, London, 1995), pp. 13–14. 'Kazakhstan: Decrease in Kazakhstan's Population Reported', ITAR‐TASS, 14:30 GMT, 12 December 1998. Ibid. Olcott, Central Asia's New States, p. 61; Dannreuther, 'Creating New States in Central Asia', pp. 43–4. Ibid., p. 14. 'Twenty Russian, Kazakh Oblasts Agree on Border Economic Zone', Rosskiyskaya Gazeta, no. 1 February 1995, p. 7, in FBIS‐SOV‐95‐028‐S. Martha Brill Olcott, 'Kazakhstan', in Mesbahi (ed.), Central Asia and the Caucasus, p. 138. Olcott, 'Post‐Soviet Kazakhstan', p. 27. 'Cossacks View Repatriation Differently', Interfax, 14:57 GMT, 10 August 1999, in FBIS‐SOV‐1999‐0810. Viktor Shelgunov, 'Akayev vykhodit iz‐pod vliyaniya svoyaka', Tsentra'noaziyatskiy byulleten' 29 May 2000, in IAC Eurasia, www.eurasia.org.ru S. Petrov, 'Russkiye v Kazakhstane glazami russkogo kazakhstantsa: Yesli eto ne genotsyd, to togda chto?', El. Pochta, 15 June 2000, in IAC Eurasia, www.eurasia.org.ru Liz Fuller, RFE/RL Daily Report, no. 57, 23 March 1994; Ben Brown, RFE/RL Daily Report, no. 201, 21 October 1994. Both cited by Henry Hale, 'Commentary on Kazakhstan', in Alexei Arbatov et al. (eds), Managing Conflict in the Former Soviet Union, p. 338. Kasymzhomart Tokayev, Pod styagom nezavisimosti: Ocherki o vneshney politike Kazakhstana (Bilim, Almaty, 1997), p. 88. Ibid. 'Nazarbayev Views Eurasian Union at Conference', ITAR‐TASS, 15:51 GMT, 19 September 1994, in FBIS‐SOV‐94‐182. Hale, 'Commentary on Kazakhstan', p. 338. Barsamov, 'Kazakhstan', p. 321. Belokrenitsky, 'Russia and Former Soviet Central Asia', p. 57. 'Kazakhstan: Government for Comprehensive Integration With Russia', ITAR‐TASS, 20:08 GMT, 24 April 1997, in FBIS‐SOV‐97‐114. 'Nursultan Nazarbayev: My za mnogopolyusnyi mir', Nezavisimaya Gazeta, 24 February 2000. Dannreuther, 'Creating New States in Central Asia', pp. 43–4. Kazakh News (E‐mail based RFE/RL News Bulletin), 21 June 2000. Sergey Pavlenko, 'Kak spasti Rossiyu', Sibirskiy kalendar', no. 14 (26), 4 April 2000. Burkut Ayaganov and Alibek Kuandykov, 'Kazakhi v Kazakhstane', Aziya, no. 24 (1993)

Economic growth · Economics · Economy · Kazakh · National identity · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Global Energy Security and Policy · Law · Post-Soviet Geopolitical Dynamics · Russia and Soviet political economy

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