In this issue:
Commission Report Says Iraq Explosion Which Killed Kazakh and Ukrainians No Accident; Bush Sends Condolences
Kazakhstan President Seeks Unified Global Strategy in Fighting Against Terrorism
Harvard Professor Says Kazakhstan Potential Regional Economic Center
Kazakh Folk Music Ensemble Charms Tucson
Where is...? - ... qaida? (The sentence structure puts interrogatives at the end)
a barber shop --- Shashtaraz
a dry cleaners --- Kiim tazalau
a public swimming pool --- Kogamdyk bassein
a parking lot --- Avto turak
Commission Report Says Iraq Explosion Which Killed Kazakh and Ukrainians No Accident; Bush Sends Condolences
A commission from the Center-South Multinational Division in Iraq has concluded the January 9 explosion of ordnance in Iraq which killed eight Ukrainians and one Kazakh soldier was no accident.
Captain Kairat Kudabayev from Astana and his Ukrainian colleagues were killed when their teams of demolition experts were preparing to detonate aviation bombs found by local police in the town of as-Suwaira. Several other soldiers from both countries were wounded in the explosion.
The commission found evidence at the site including components of a 122-mm artillery shell which may have served as a trigger for the explosion leading to detonation of at least three hand grenades.
The commission ruled out the possibility of an accidental explosion because pieces of ordnance had not yet prepared for demolition. Similarly, the commission ruled out a mistake on behalf of army engineers from both countries.
According to the commission, “at the site of the explosion electronic devices were found including a timer, a battery, possible switch components… which allows to conclude the explosion was cause by an initiating device.”
“Given the above, the commission concludes that it was a planned act against the Coalition forces and can be viewed as a new tactics used by anti-Iraqi forces,” the commission said in its report. The report was posted on the website of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense.
President George W. Bush sent a letter of condolences to President Nazarbayev after the incident. In it he thanked the Kazakh army engineers in Iraq for their bravery and noted “these losses remind us of the partnership between our two great nations, which I look forward to strengthening in collaboration with you and the people of Kazakhstan.”
Kazakhstan President Seeks Unified Global Strategy in
Fighting Against Terrorism
President Nursultan Nazarbayev has called for a unified global strategy for the world community in fighting terrorism and has said Kazakhstan is ready for an active dialogue on such a strategy.
The President delivered his remarks at the opening of the three-day 4th Special Meeting of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee with International, Regional and Sub-Regional Organizations in Almaty on January 26, 2005.
President Nazarbayev said a single strategy is needed for the international community to break the backbone of terrorism: “Our common task is to devise a single strategy of action to strengthen the unity of the international community and to overcome national, religious and ethnic divisions so that we are able to remove the fertile ground for terrorism.”
He said success in destroying terrorism depends on success in tackling problems that help promote terrorism, including “conflicts rooted in nationalism, interethnic and religious divisions, organized crime, drug trafficking, illegal arms trade and money laundering.”
Uneven regional development has a negative effect on international affairs which, unless resolved, will hinder efforts to uproot terrorism, he said: “The benefits of globalization continue to be concentrated in a relatively small group of countries. This uneven distribution between regions and the continued inequality between developed and developing countries both lead to an escalation of existing crises. In this context, methods of fighting terrorism based on force are not only inadequate, but also incapable of bringing positive results in the long term.”
The President said Kazakhstan believes “the United Nations and its specialized agencies, in partnership with regional arrangements, should play a leading role in preventing and eliminating the threat of terrorism. Despite the escalation of criticism of the United Nations in recent years for its inability to deal with complicated international issues, we in Kazakhstan have confidence in its strategic and consolidating role.”
Kazakhstan has initiated several processes to promote dialogue and security cooperation, including the first Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, which unanimously rejected the use of religion as ideological justification for terrorism, and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building in Asia (CICA) which brings together 16 Eurasian nations.
The President said Kazakhstan has taken measures to combat terrorism internally, including the accession to all twelve United Nations counterterrorism conventions and the establishment of a national Antiterrorist Center. Terrorism is also being countered by improvements in Kazakhstan domestic law. The parliament is considering a bill providing for measures to counter extremism. Among other things, it would set up a judicial procedure to mark certain entities as extremist.
Kazakhstan is also taking preventive measures to neutralize terrorist organizations. In the fall of 2004, the Supreme Court banned the activities in Kazakhstan of a number of organizations proved to be involved in terrorist acts. Also, in accordance with the decisions of the United Nations Security Council, Kazakhstan has put in place a system to prevent money laundering and the financing of terrorist organizations.
Harvard Professor Says Kazakhstan
Potential Regional Economic Center
Professor Michael Porter of the Harvard Business School, considered a marketing guru for his inventive and successful strategies of economic development, says Kazakhstan “has all the possibilities to become a leader in Central Asia and the economic center of the region.”
Porter spoke at a conference, “Kazakhstan’s competitiveness and cluster development”, in Almaty on January 26, saying Kazakhstan has achieved major successes in the first stage of reforms designed to create a market economy.
“In terms of macroeconomic policies, the establishment of the National Fund, reforming legislation and regulations, Kazakhstan has been a leader among the CIS countries and is making major strides,” noted Porter who is working with Kazakhstan to improve the country’s competitiveness. He added progress thus far lays the groundwork for a new stage of reforms.
Porter said he had a meeting with President Nursultan Nazarbayev earlier in the day which focused on a project to strengthen Kazakhstan’s competitiveness under a plan of the country’s development for the next 20 years.
Porter believes the “cluster approach” is needed to strengthen the
competitiveness of Kazakhstan’s economy. That means the need
to define and promote the development of the strongest sectors.
He said “we began economic studies to try to define the first
group of these clusters and to work with the private sector” on
the development of the economy. Oil and other natural resources
of Kazakhstan “are a considerable factor which needs to be used
correctly.”
Among the most promising clusters which made it into the first
group are tourism, food and textile industries, oil and gas
equipment, transportation and logistics, metallurgy and construction materials.
Porter’s theory of cluster type development has been successfully tested in his home state of Massachusetts and other parts of the United States as well as in more than 10 European nations. Porter is an author of 16 books and scores of articles on competitiveness as well as an advisor to the U.S. Government and large companies such as DuPont and Procter & Gamble.
He said one of the biggest challenges Kazakhstan needs to overcome in implementing the second stage of reforms is “people’s mentality.” He believes the people in Kazakhstan are still looking toward the Government to provide for them even though they should assume responsibility for the country’s development. “The Government should only play an auxiliary role.”
Kazakh Folk Music Ensemble Charms Tucson
The Sazgen folk ensemble brought traditional Kazakh music to the American South West when they performed for two weeks in Arizona.
The performances were held for the City Council and at Crowder Hall the Family Arts Festival as well as middle and high schools in Tucson and the surrounding area. Some members of the ensemble were granted honorary citizenship of Tucson by the city’s Mayor Bob Walkup for their contribution to promoting friendship.
Tucson has been a sister city of Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty, the former capital of the nation, for the past 15 years. The appearance was made possible through the work of the Tucson-Almaty Sister Cities Committee and its Chairman, Jerry M. Gary. Over the years, the committee has held numerous exchanges and partnership programs between the two cities.
Kazakh folk music may be the next big thing in American folk music circles with concerts by another group, the Kazakh State Kurmangazy Orchestra of the Performing Arts in Washington on Feb. 1 and in New York on Feb. 3.
Things to Watch:
- Plan of action to be adopted at the UN Counterterrorism Committee meeting on January 28 in Almaty.
- Melodies and Songs of the Kazakh Steppes, the first ever concert of Kazakh traditional and world classical music in the United States of America, will take place at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, on February 1, 2005. A follow up concert will be held at Carnegie Hall in New York on February 3, 2005. For more information please click here.
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News Bulletin of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the USA and Canada
(Compiled from own sources and agency reports)
Contact person: Roman Vassilenko
1401 16th Street NW, Washington DC 20036
Tel.: 202 232 5488, ext. 104, Fax: 202 232 5845
