Russia and China's large neighbor

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It is not random when Kazakhstan these days almost kanoniserer its great poet and thinker, Abai Kunanbayev, 175 years after his birth. For nasjonsbyggingen and the cultural self-esteem of this young, independent state in central Asia with 8,000 km border with Russia in the west and north, and China as its neighbour in the east, is nasjonaldikteren levendegjøringen of the country's own history.

NASJONALDIKTER: Abai Kunanbayev Show more

Many kasakhstanere experienced inclusion in Sovjetsamveldet as traumatizing. As well the culture, the history, the language was corrupted by soviet policies and rule. With the worship of Abai has one knaggen, which makes it easier to regain the country's own identity. Therefore, Abais life and teachings had a renaissance. The poet and the thinker was concerned that the science and education was the key for a nation that would succeed.

Even considered him as the father of the language in Kazakhstan. This is one of the turkotatariske language, and is wandering from the case-the languages of the analytical language. In modern times, was the Swedish diplomat Gunnar Jarring, a prominent expert on the turkotatariske language in the Nordic countries. But he was most known as the envoy to the middle East for the Un secretary-general.

In Kazakhstan was nomadelivet the historic livsformen. In the absence of skriftlighet among most people, was the oral tradition is important. Any kasakh with self-respect be able to tell the family history many generations back. Then remembered insults also. Them was kasakhene often exposed to caught between Russia and China.

With the written language gave Abai Kunanbayev an important tool for national memory in this vast country, which formed the largest territory in the soft belly under the Russian empire. But he was also a champion for freedom and, not least, justice. His role in the cultural history of Kazakhstan is reminiscent of Alexander Pusjkins in the Russian past. All in 1919 got the russians control again with the region south of the border to Siberia. Russian orthodoxy met sunniislam in Kazakhstan.

Hans Wilhelm Steinfeld. Photo: Nina Hansen Show more

the post-Soviet era is a ambiguous time for Kazakhstan. On the one hand, knocked the modernity of the door. Illiteracy was abolished. It came to light in the cabins. But the as, for example, lands today in the industrial town Oktjubinsk in the western part of the country, or Oktobe on kasakhenes language, get to see the industrigrå relics from the soviet industrial experiment, which cost the Republic so much. Running one car in the old literature in the east, where the mountains Khan-Tengri, rising to 7000 metres high, sugar often the drivers "this is the last unionsasfalten" when they come down in the valleys from the grusbelagte høyfjellsovergangene. The encampments in Karagandà 200 km southeast of today's new capital (which was first baptized Astana and is now called Nor-Sultan) must be mentioned together with the Stalin-era worst parts of Arkhipelag Gulag, as Vorkutà, Mordovia, Nizhny Tagil and the Kolyma. Atomprøvefeltet in Semipalatinsk was the scene of uninhibited prøvesprengning in Kazakhstan.

One of the world's largest lakes Aralsjøen is there in the day as a dried vaffelkake because the water from there was used to overrisling of lavkvalitets bomullsindustri. Nikita Krustsjovs disastrous plan to lead the 20 percent of the water from the river Ob in Siberia, into Kazakhstan's desert to grow wheat there, was a disaster. The soviet everyday life was hard and monotonous both in Kazakhstan and the other states in the Middle Asia. "The day is longer than a century" put kirgiseren Tengoz Ajtmatrov on his Nobel prize-nominated novel.

When a sultan voluntarily go Comment

During the perestroika years won the Kazakhstan forward in skjebneåret 1989 with that one of their own to lead the country. Mikhail Gorbachev appointed the 49-year-old Nursultan Nazarbajev as secretary in Alma Ata. We who work as foreign correspondents in the Kremlin during perestroika period and since Boris yeltsin's regime, perceived Nazarbajev as a progressive leader. He stood load and burst with glasnost and Gorbachev, was an important participant in the political dialogue that led to a peaceful resolution of the superpower, the USSR, and has in all retrospect, he has remained positive in his attitude to the neighbor in the west.

Nursultan Nazarbajev was the dominant leader in Kazakhstan after the soviet era and was first in the year superseded by Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Nazarbajev came home to a society characterized by traditions from the khan system, klansamfunnet and Silkeveiens ancient culture. So typical for the soviet era, built also kasakhene up a personkultus about its president, who is still sitting with power. Seen with western eyes is his regime is regarded as a moderate in the Middle-east Asia, Srednjaja Azia in Russian. The region is called, not Central Asia. It would be difficult with regimes such as China and India in the near, then in the middle of Asia is a more precise, a geographical term.

When the earth is burning up the Comment

In postkommunistisk time put Kazakhstan in perspective, measured against the problems and conflicts, the region is characterized by. During the war in Afghanistan as the united STATES led after 2001 was both Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan sympathetic set of partners on the logistikksiden for NATO countries and ISAF forces. Corruption in the important neighboring Uzbekistan with its capital Tashkent is significantly more prevalent than in Kazakhstan. And compared with Turkmenistan in the southwest, it's tempting to determine, that Kazakhstan is the best among verstingene in the Middle Asia.

When Kazakhstan marks the hero in his nation-building to the critics, remember Norway's own nation-building after the "400-årsnatten under Denmark after 1814: It took, for example, 99 years before women gained the right to vote. In 1814 received only 7 per cent of the norwegians the right to vote. "Jødeparagrafen" in our Constitution was first repealed in 1851. Henrik Wergeland, fighting for there's. "The castbergske barnelover" came first in 1915 and gave the children more civilized rights in Norway.

With such memories from the past, it's tempting to warn critics of the struggle for nation-building in Kazakhstan with the Bible's own words about the "cast the first stone ..."

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