Kazakh Opposition Convinced the Department of State

V. Volkov

Russian media widely covered the event of the last week, i.e. the speech of U. S. President George Bush at the International Republican Institute in Washington, DC. The reporters focused their attention on the distinguished guest’s statement that an armed overthrow of non-democratic regimes is by far less effective than that of ‘velvet revolutions’. As media indicates, President Bush suggested that mobile expert groups be formed to go to crisis regions and a foundation be set up to react to new conflicts. However, only few take note of the presence of Zharmakhan Tuyakbai, the single presidential candidate of united Kazakh opposition, as well as of the fact that the trip of Tuyakbai and Amirzhan Kosanov, the executive committee head of the Republican People’s Party of Kazakhstan to Washington, DC had some concrete consequences. Expert of the New York Eurasian Institute (International Eurasian Institute for Economic and Political Research – ed.) Rinat Akhmetshin describes those events.

RA: The Department of State made a decision Thursday not to qualify Kazakhstan as the country eligible to receive the U. S. financial assistance. This decision was made, in particular, thanks to the efforts of Kazakhstan opposition representatives in Washington days before. In Washington, Amirzhan Kosanov and Zharmakhan Tuyakbai had a chance to meet top officials of the U. S. Department of State and the head of the European department of the U. S. National Security Council, who were deeply involved in the process of making this decision. This decision by the Department of State demonstrates its disappointment about the development of the political situation in Kazakhstan. In his Thursday statement at the OSCE Permanent Council the U. S. Ambassador to the OSCE Minikes mentioned recent changes in Kazakhstan legislation on national security, NGOs and elections. The Kazakh government has apparently taken the course towards increasing repressions against political opponents. A recent letter of the Kazakh interior minister to the prime minister, where the former requests the latter to increase purchases of arms and other equipment to fight peaceful demonstrators proves that the Kazakh government prepares for bloody suppression of people’s will. It also shows that the presidential elections in Kazakhstan will not be fair or free because they can’t be fair and free with such laws. The Kazakh citizens will definitely react to the situation.

• Mr. Akhmetshin, if we get back to the dinner at the International Republican Institute and the participation of Zharmakhan Tuyakbai in it – was it just the act of hospitality or a political gesture?

RA: Mr. Tuyakbai had a chance to meet the high-ranking officials of the International Republican Institute, and also a major speaker at the dinner, the U. S. President George Bush who spoke at the dinner. President Bush said that revolutions that would bring democracy to the countries of the Central Asia and the Caucasus would continue.

Deutsche Welle, May 22, 2005

http://www.dw-world.de/