Paul
Goble
Staunton, June 22 – Some Kazakh
nationalists are calling for renaming the Uyghur district near Almaty as if
changing that name could solve the relations between that group and the
Kazakhs. In fact, Timur Isakhanov says, the problems have deep roots and are
intensifying (ia-centr.ru/experts/timur-isakhanov/uygurskiy-rayon-problema-v-nazvanii-ili-v-golovakh/).
Kazakh nationalism emerged in
opposition to Russians and Germans, but members of both of these groups have
left, reducing their footprint in Kazakhstan. Now, Kazakh nationalists are
turning their attention to other groups, including the relatively small Uyghur
population. But the Uyghurs have nowhere to go given China’s repressive
policies in Xinjiang.
There have been increasing clashes
between the two groups for at least three reasons: Kazakh nationalists object to
their government’s kowtowing to China over the Uyghurs, the Uyghurs while
Muslim are longtime sedentaries rather than nomadic like the Kazakhs and have a
different culture, and Russians can no longer mediate between the two, Isakhanov
says.
Moreover, at least some of the
Uyghurs in Kazakhstan have either fled China or have cooperated with the Islamic
State in the Middle East and thus are prepared to engage in militant actions
that frighten the Kazakhs and make the government less willing to defend them
against Kazakh nationalists.
But the overarching cause of
demonstrations is that in contrast to only two decades ago, most of the
districts in which Uyghurs live are now bi- rather than multi-national –
Russians and Germans have left – and as a result, Isakhanov says, all social
problems are seen through the lens of nationalism.
According to Isakhanov, renaming the
Uyghur district especially after the spate of conflicts between Uyghurs and
Kazakhs the past several months would be like “pouring gasoline on a fire,”
with the risk that these clashes could rapidly spread throughout the society
and destabilize Kazakhstan as a whole.
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