Kazakh opposition tell foreign media they are bent on revolution

Text of report by Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency

Almaty, 22 April: A group of foreign guests at the fourth Eurasian Media Forum, which is currently under way in Almaty, has had a meeting with the leaders of the [Kazakh] opposition bloc For Fair Kazakhstan.

About 15 journalists from the USA, Europe and Russia representing, amongst others, the Nixon Centre, the Economist, the BBC, Internews, Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, Ferghana.ru and other media publications, met the leaders of the opposition bloc For Fair Kazakhstan.

At the meeting, the representatives of the opposition again expressed their negative attitude towards the authorities and spoke about their own vision of the forthcoming political processes [presidential elections] in Kazakhstan.

In particular, asked by a British woman journalist whether the type of revolution that has taken place in some CIS countries was possible in Kazakhstan, the opposition activists unanimously said: "There will be one."

The opposition activists said the leaders of post-Soviet countries "are greatly mistaken" when they say that the main reasons for the change of power in some CIS countries were the economic problems in those countries. According to the Kazakh opposition, unfair elections are a catalyst for revolutionary processes. Last year's Ukrainian events proved this, they believe.

According to the agenda of the second day of the Eurasian Media Forum, two topics were discussed this morning: "Problems of covering terrorist acts" and "`The taming' of the Internet". The participants in the media forum will go the Tau Dastarkhan leisure complex this afternoon.

On Saturday [23 April], the last day of the forum, its participants will discuss a topic "The phenomenon of `colour' revolutions in post-Soviet space".

Source: Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency, Almaty

BBC Monitoring Central Asia, April 22, 2005