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Russia’s provocative discourse surges anew towards Kazakhstan

Remarks against Kazakhstan by a high-ranking official at a Russian state-owned media conglomerate are fuelling further animosity in bilateral ties.

Remarks critical of Kazakhstan made by a high-ranking official from a Russian state-owned media...
Remarks critical of Kazakhstan made by a high-ranking official from a Russian state-owned media corporation are exacerbating tensions in the diplomatic relationship.

Stirring Up Trouble: The Kazakhstan-Russia Diplomatic Spat

Russia’s provocative discourse surges anew towards Kazakhstan

Where do railway station names lie on the scale of political importance? Well, apparently, it's a pretty big deal — at least if you're Tina Kandelaki, a popular Russian TV star and executive at Gazprom-Media.

Recently, she took to her Telegram account to criticize Kazakhstan for giving several train stations more Kazakh names, arguing that this was a step towards excluding ethnic Russians from public life in the country. She compared this to the shutdown of Russian schools and removal of monuments in former Soviet Baltic republics. Her claims? Riddled with falsehoods.

This generated quite the stir in Kazakhstan, with businesswoman Togjan Qojaly questioning the fuss over name changes like "Railway siding No. 13" becoming "Akshi railway siding," or "Railway station 26" becoming "Zhetitobe railway station." In most cases, Kazakh names were simply substituted with other Kazakh names or transliterated.

Undeterred by the backlash, Kandelaki doubled down on her statements. She reminded her readers that the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization had helped Kazakhstan restore stability after political unrest in January 2022. For Kazakhstan to disrespect Russia's culture and language, she suggested, was ingratitude.

This isn't the first time Kazakhstan has courted the ire of Russian ultra-nationalists. The country has been careful to avoid expressing support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine or criticizing it, and has been eager to comply with Western economic sanctions against Moscow to avoid being ensnared in the same punitive policy.

Kandelaki's position is noteworthy because she serves as an executive at the owner of one of Russia's most ferocious propaganda outlets, which is available in Kazakhstan. The Kazakh Foreign Ministry reacted to her remarks, announcing that she would be included in a list of people barred from entering the country.

"If you don't like someone, you don't let them into your home. We will do the same," said Aibek Smadiyarov, a ministry representative.

But it didn't end there. Later that day, NTV, a station owned by Kandelaki's Gazprom-Media, aired more content meant to irk Kazakhs. A historian named Mikhail Smolin shared his opinion that pre-Russian Revolution, there were no such ethnic groups as Kazakhs, Uzbeks, and Azerbaijanis. This prompted Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova to do some damage control, stating that Smolin's views were purely subjective and had nothing to do with reality.

Sergei Yershov, a member of Kazakhstan's upper house of parliament, sees this recent string of remarks by public Russian figures as another attempt to sow instability in the region. "The aim is again to throw things into the mix: 'This one is bad, this one is bad, but we are good,'" he said.

This incident is part of a broader pattern of escalating tensions and diplomatic signaling between Kazakhstan and Russia. The travel bans imposed on prominent figures from both nations demonstrate the use of such measures as tools in geopolitical relations, aiming to influence public opinion and diplomatic relations.

  1. The controversy over railway station names in Kazakhstan has expanded to include historical discourse, with a Russian historian suggesting that pre-Russian Revolution, there were no ethnic groups like Kazakhs, Uzbeks, and Azerbaijanis, sparking debate within both countries' media and politics.
  2. In the realm of general news, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry's decision to bar Russian TV star and Gazprom-Media executive Tina Kandelaki from entering the country follows a series of comments made by her criticizing Kazakhstan's cultural shifts, which have been met with strong reactions from Kazakh businesspeople and politicians.
  3. The ongoing Kazakhstan-Russia diplomatic spat has extended beyond the initial dispute over railway station names, with the business world also expressing opinions. For instance, Kazakh businesswoman Togjan Qojaly questioned the fuss over minor name changes, while the political implications of this disagreement have been discussed by Sergei Yershov, a member of Kazakhstan's upper house of parliament, who views it as an attempt to stir up instability in the region.

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