Kazakhstan
News Bulletin
Released weekly by the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan
February 19, 2003 Vol. 1, No.10
________________________________
In this issue:
Interethnic Love and Marriages on the Rise in Kazakhstan
Astana Considers Allowing Antiterrorist Coalition to Use Another Airfield
Kazakhstan Ensures Freedom of Emigration, President Bush Says to U.S. Congress
Kazakhstan, Russia to Expand Business, Political Ties, Two Presidents Say
:
Interethnic Love and Marriages on the Rise in Kazakhstan
Trend Can Lead to Creation of "Eurasian" Ethnicity, Scientist Says
As thousands of couples throughout Kazakhstan celebrated Valentine's Day last week with exchanges of flowers, gifts and, yes, specially timed weddings, scientists spoke of specific trends in interethnic love and marriages that seem to confirm the country's reputation as "a melting pot of ethnic groups" and can have potential implications for future population qualities.
Professor Makash Tatimov, a renowned demographer, said there is an incremental growth in interethnic marriages in Kazakhstan that can potentially lead to developing a type of "Eurasian" ethnicity.
"Neither religious, nor intra-ethnic taboos can stop the ongoing process of interethnic blending in Kazakhstan," he told Vremya weekly newspaper (www.time.kz) on Feb. 13. "Right now, every fifth marriage in Kazakhstan is an interethnic one, but I think by 2050 this ratio will be one in three," he said.
Statistics seems to confirm his assumptions. Of the total of just under 100,000 marriages concluded in Kazakhstan in 2002, 19,502, or roughly 20%, were between people of different ethnic groups.
Tatimov says this trend leads to unification
of ethnic groups into two larger groups united by
race and language characteristics, a European
and an Oriental one. While the interethnic
marriages are currently mostly relevant for the
European ethnic groups, Tatimov says the trend
is also swaying the traditionally more conservative
Asians, - the Uzbeks, the Tartars, the Azeris, the
Uighurs and finally the Kazakhs, the majority A couple in traditional Kazakh
ethnic group. wedding garments
"These days marriage ads do not say "I am
looking for an ethnic Russian" or "an ethnic Uighur," Tatimov said. "Rather, they say "a man of European origin" or "a woman of Oriental ethnicity."
Reasons for these tendencies lie in the fact that many ethnic groups do not live compactly, Tatimov says, but they are spread out throughout Kazakhstan. Statistics says there are more than 80 percent of mixed marriages among the Ukrainians, the Belorussians, the Tartars, and the Germans and 27 percent among the Russians.
For ethnic Kazakhs, however, the ratio is only 4.1 percent, but Tatimov believes that will change. "The very origin of Kazakhs is the result of blending of two races, the European and the Mongoloid," Tatimov said.
"I think in the future and as these trends continue, our people will look like true Eurasians, with a pleasant skin color and beautiful almond-shaped eyes," he concluded.
The country's population is roughly 15 million, and it includes more than 100 ethnic groups.
Astana Considers Allowing Antiterrorist Coalition to Use Another Airfield
Move May Follow Earlier Provision of Almaty Airport to U.S. Air Force
Kazakhstan is considering allowing participants of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan to use an airfield in the southern city of Shymkent, the country's defense chief said Feb. 17.
"The conclusion of an intergovernmental agreement between Kazakhstan and Spain on making the Shymkent airfield available for the antiterrorist coalition is being considered at the moment," Kazakhstan Defense Minister Army Gen. Mukhtar Altynbayev told Interfax.
This issue is being considered within the framework of Kazakhstan's ties with the antiterrorist coalition members, and the Shymkent airport is viewed as a possible reserve airfield for the coalition's air forces deployed at the Manas airport in Kyrgyzstan.
In July 2002, Kazakhstan and the U.S. signed a memorandum on using the Almaty airport, the country's largest, as a reserve field for military aircraft involved in the antiterrorist operation in Afghanistan. Under that agreement, Kazakhstan committed to providing the Almaty airport for U.S. Air Force to use in emergency situations.
Kazakhstan has also provided free overflight for coalition aircraft. So far more than 1,000 military planes flew through its airspace on the way to Afghanistan.
Kazakhstan Ensures Freedom of Emigration, President Bush Says to U.S. Congress
30-Year-Old Jackson-Vanik Amendment Still an Issue in Bilateral Relations
Kazakhstan ensured "continued compliance" with "international standards concerning freedom of emigration", President George Bush said in a January 29 message to the U.S. Congress. The findings were part of the ongoing process of certifying Kazakhstan's freedom of emigration, and allowed for the continuation of normal U.S. trade relations for Kazakhstan and certain other activities without the requirement of an annual waiver.
These findings, also related to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Uzbekistan and several other nations of the former Soviet Union, were put forward in the updated report on emigration practices in these nations prepared by the U.S. Administration and sent by President Bush to American legislators.
The semi-annual report is required by the Jackson-Vanik amendment in the Trade Act of 1974 calling for trade sanctions against countries restricting their citizens' freedom of movement. The amendment was aimed primarily at punishing the Soviet Union for restricting the emigration of Jews, and as such became largely outdated with the collapse of the Communist state.
In respect to Kazakhstan, whose Jewish community thrives in an open multiethnic society and enjoys equally the freedoms available to others, the amendment long since became a source of bewilderment among the republic's political and business circles. While due to repeated presidential determinations and waivers it has not much affected the bilateral billion-dollar trade and investment, it still serves as an unwelcome factor out of tune with increasingly strong political, military and economic relations of strategic partnership between Kazakhstan and the United States.
During the past 11 years, Kazakhstan and other former Soviet republics have been repeatedly, yet temporarily, exempted from the sanctions through the presidential determination. On December 5, 1997, President Bill Clinton sent the determination to Congress with respect to Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries saying that they were not in violation of the provisions of the Trade Act. These actions allowed for the continuation of normal trade relations for these countries and certain other activities without the requirement of an annual waiver.
The recent message from President Bush falls short of the permanent graduation of Kazakhstan from the amendment, which can only be achieved through respective legislation.
So far, only Georgia and Kyrgyzstan, two former Soviet republics and currently members of the Commonwealth of Independent States, have been permanently exempted from the Jackson-Vanik amendment and granted permanent normal trade relations with the United States.
Kazakhstan, Russia to Expand Business, Political Ties, Two Presidents Say
Plans to Jointly Build Nuclear Plant, Extend Baikonur Lease, Sustain Kazakh Oil Transit
Kazakhstan and Russia will work to expand their economic, cultural and political and ties, presidents Nursultan Nazarbayev and Vladimir Putin said after their talks in Moscow Feb. 18. The leaders spoke at the grand opening of the 2003: Year of Kazakhstan in Russia that was held in Bolshoi Theater and featured Kazakhstan's performers of classic and national music.
"We need to open new perspectives to expand economic, scientific, cultural and educational cooperation, and to consistently develop our strategic partnership," Nazarbayev said, adding that the two countries "do not have any mutual debts, contradictions or unresolved problems."
President Putin said Russia "rejoices in Kazakhstan's impressive successes in its modernization and clearly sees that Kazakhstan is open to the world and is intent on the broadest cooperation with Russia."
Putin declared the expansion of trade and economic ties as "one of the main priorities" and listed several key areas of cooperation.
"First of all, this relates to the future of our joint work in the nuclear power sector and the construction of a nuclear power plant with Russia's participation near Lake Balkhash [in central Kazakhstan]," he said.
The two countries will also "pay serious attention to the extension of Russia's lease of Baikonur Cosmodrome," Putin said. Late last year, the two leaders discussed extending the current 20-year lease, expiring in 2014, for up to 50 years more.
"We will continue implementing the long-term project on Kazakhstan's oil transit through Russia, as well as solving the issue of the Caspian Sea's legal status," Putin announced. In June 2002, Kazakhstan and Russia signed the 15-year oil transit agreement, under which Kazakhstan will export annually no less than 17.5 million tons of oil through Russian pipelines. This will come on top of the 28-million-ton annual capacity of the first privately operated pipeline of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium launched in 2001.
In May 2002, the two countries also finalized the delimitation of the Caspian seabed between themselves, clearing the way for additional offshore exploration in the northern part of the sea. The issue of the sea's overall legal status still remains unresolved as all five littoral states have not been able yet to come to common position on dividing the seabed's resources.
Russia has been Kazakhstan's biggest trading partner for a decade now, and in 2002 the annual trade totaled $4.4 billion.
More than 100 events have been planned for this year as part of Kazakhstan's program in Russia, ranging from business conferences, seminars to concerts, exhibitions and movie screenings.
* * *
News Bulletin of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the USA and Canada
(Compiled from own sources and various agencies' reports)
Contact persons: Roman Vassilenko, Aibek Nurbalin
Tel.: (202) 232- 5488 ext. 104, 115, Fax: (202) 232- 5845
