Voice of Democracy
Published by Kazakhstan 21st Century Foundation · Washington, D.C. ·May 29, 2002

NAZARBAYEV, ARE YOU LISTENING? -- The Bush Administration has called on the Kazakh government to permit the return of former Prime Minister Akezhan Kazhegeldin and other opposition politicians in forced exile so that they may fully participate in their country's political process. The statement, issued by the State Department, came in response to a letter from Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona). McCain had written to Secretary of State Colin Powell calling for the return of opposition politicians like Kazhegeldin to be made a key component of America's commitment to foster democracy in Central Asia. Kazakhstan's membership in the UN and OSCE obligate it to respect human rights, McCain told Powell, and "One tangible expression of Kazakhstan's commitment to these principles would be for its government to permit Mr. Kazhegeldin and other peaceful opposition politicians to return from exile and participate freely and safely in their country's political process." State replied that "Mr. Kazhegeldin (and the others) should be free to travel, speak their minds in public debate, and participate in the political process." The Administration will be watching to see how Nazarbayev responds to its latest call to clean up his act.

THUG OF THE WEEK ­ The co-host of one of Washington's most influential political programs called Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev "an anti-democratic thug" and said America should avoid alliances with this "brutal dictator." Al Hunt, the Wall Street Journal correspondent and co-host of CNN's Capital Gang put the spotlight on Nazarbayev for the regular feature, "Outrage of the Week." Nazarbayev won the distinction for having "presided over an arson attack and vandalizing of the few remaining independent media in the former Soviet republic. They had the audacity to report that the president and his cronies are siphoning state funds into Swiss bank accounts." Hunt went on: This guy is an anti-democratic thug. Even in the war against terrorism, we ought to remember the trouble such alliances have brought us in the past. http://www.cnn.com/

UNINTENTED TRUTHS -- Kazakh Foreign Minister Kassymzhomart Tokaev struck an unexpected truth unintentionally. Writing in Kazakhstanskaya Pravda, he said his country offers the United States two important benefits ­ oil and an ally in the war against terror. But everything hangs on his modifier words: stable and reliable. As America looks beyond the Persian Gulf and countries like Saudi Arabia that have not been as loyal or reliable as promised, Tokaev cannot make a convincing case for his alternative. It makes no sense for Washington to invest in another corrupt, repressive dictatorship whose policies invite instability and Islamic extremism. Both Saudi Arabia and Kazakhstan have talked the talk about supporting the war against terror, but substantively they've done very little. Both regimes have rejected democratic reform, economic transparency, respect for human rights and the rule of law. President Nazarbayev's continuing flirtation with Iran is not winning any friends in Washington, either. Tokaev rightly states, "The cooperation with the U.S. is absolutely essential for our nation. Without stable and good relations with this power, Kazakhstan cannot count on strengthening of its international positions." And it is also true that the United States needs "a reliable partner in Central Asia." But there is a flaw in his argument: his candidate is sadly lacking the basic qualifications of reliability, stability and loyalty. http://www.kazpravda.Kz/

YANKEE GO HOME ­ Leaders of the new Russian Party of Kazakhstan have declared their opposition to the American military presence in Central Asia in general and in Kazakhstan in particular, ITAR-TASS reported. The month-old party claims 3,000 members nationwide and plans to put up a candidate in future presidential elections. Russians are the second largest ethnic group in the country, and the Russian language is the most widely spoken in the country although it is not the official language. On a related matter, leaders and activists from some of the more than 130 other ethnic groups in Kazakhstan oppose creation of a separate Russian party, arguing that if all groups follow that example "there will be a mess in the country." http://www.itar tass.com/

AND HE SAID IT WITH A STRAIGHT FACE ­ It took Kazakh police a whole week to come up with this excuse, but now they're saying "hooligans and burglars" were responsible for the attacks last week on the newspapers Sol-Dat and Respublika. U.S. Amb. Larry Napper has called for a "an independent and transparent investigation,"; American officials reportedly believe the assaults were politically motivated. The Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists has condemned the attacks and accused the Nazarbayev regime of "waging a war" against the independent media. The government, which has been conducting an extensive and often brutal crackdown on critics in politics and the media, denies it was behind the attacks on the newspapers, as is widely believed. The Union of Journalists has called 2002 the worst year for the country's media since it became independent in 1991, and Reuters quoted an Almaty based journalist as saying, "After all these terrible events I am afraid even to come to work."http://www.rferl.org/bd/ka/

For the full stories, see the web citations above or contact us at News@Kazakhstan21.org. The Kazakhstan 21st Century Foundation promotes democracy and human rights in Kazakhstan through public affairs and educational programs in the United States and Europe. This material is distributed by Kazakhstan 21st Century Foundation. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice,  Washington, D.C.