Thanks to the for posting this news.

President Nazarbayev gave an interview to Reuters last Friday. In it, he touched upon the crisis in the banking sector, NATO, foreign relations, and the energy sector. He also discussed the issue of succession, saying:

I would like to clarify this nonsense that the first president, that is me, can stay in power for an unlimited number of terms. That does not mean I will be here forever. After a five year period I will have to take part in an election in 2012. And if the people give me their support, I can stay. But I have been in this job for so many years and after all I might hand it over to the next generation, so to say, when I see that we need new, fresh people and so on. This is an electoral process…We have a lot of them here. … I think I should not give any names now to avoid upsetting anyone.

Obviously he is trying to deflect criticism that he has been named President for Life, but the hint that he may not seek another term is a rare comment heard in this country.

Other excerpts can be found here. Probably most interestingly, on the problem of Kazakhstan banks which owe collectively 4 billion dollars due this year to various lenders, Nazarbayev said,

The government has not extended a single kopeck to support banks’ liquidity itself. And the banks themselves did not need it. Of course they wanted us to boost their liquidity using state money but we will not do this. They have to deal with it themselves.

This seems to belie the fact that the government was urged to cut its budget at the end of last year to free up 4 billion dollars. Perhaps that money is being used a reserve. Or some have suggested that that money will be given to banks in the form of a development fund for small and medium businesses to boost the domestic economy and give banks some business. In the interview the President does cite the government mortgage program which has spent 1 billion dollars to give people low-interest mortgages and assist in affording housing.

In answer to those who believe Kazakhstan is nationalizing its oil industry, Nazarbayev offered reassuring words:

…Kazakhstan has no desire to nationalise any assets like in Latin America…If investors break their contracts themselves, and Kazakhstan sees that the country is losing out on something with regard to a certain contract … then we’ll say: ‘Dear friends, either pay us compensation or give us shares back to compensate for the money we lost’. Kazakhstan does not want to nationalise or take anything away from anyone

And now for the lighter side of the news: The Olympic Torch will pass through Almaty on 2 April on its way out from Beijing to Istanbul. I wasn’t aware that the torch starts its trip in the host country (after being lit in Greece at Olympia of course) , in this case China, and then travels around the world and back.

The torch was lit on 24 March and is currently in Greece.

According to local news, the torch will be run through the main streets of Almaty before being put on a plane to Istanbul. You can check out the the relay schedule and get photos and video of the torch at each stop. The official Olympic relay page for Almaty: City of Apples has facts, photos and history of Kazakhstan and the city itself.

Already the city is decorated with billboards featuring Kazakhstan’s Olympic athletes (and if I could find the cord that attaches my cellphone to my computer I’d have some of them up here!) and a clock counting down the days to the torch relay in front of KBTU.

Kazakhstan expects to get 10 medals this year and the government will pay $250 000 to each gold medal winner.

Unfortunately I won’t be able to be in Almaty for the relay so I am counting on local bloggers to recount the event for us. Leave me links in the comments, please!

According to the 14 March edition of The Kazakhstan Monitor, Joint Stock Company Khabar, the television service of the government of Kazakhstan, will be fully nationalized. 50.001% of the shares of Khabar (a slim majority) was owned by the government and 49.999% owned by a private investor.

This week, State Holding Company Samghau bought the remaining shares, ensuring full government control. Sources indicate that the State Budget for this year included transferring money to Samghau for the purpose of buying these shares. As The Kazakhstan Monitor indicated, the offer was made publicly on the open market but the 570 848 shares were sold as a lot and only category A investors were qualified to participate. Conditions of the sale also included a advance deposit of 2 billion tenge. Often such conditions are imposed to ensure that a designated buyer is the only one willing and able to purchase the shares.

It is widely believed that the private investor was Rakhat Aliyev who was recently sentenced to two 20 year sentences for conspiracy, plotting to overthrow the government, fraud and other crimes. Following these convictions it is understandable that the government would not want him to have control of the government news portal. It is unclear whether Aliyev agreed to the sale or whether the shares were sold without his consent.

The Minister of Culture and Information, Yerpmukhamet Yerisbayev, in the The Kazakhstan Monitor article claimed that nationalizing Khabar had been a long time goal since the TV channel’s founding in 1995.

Other media holdings of Mr. Aliyev were sold or transferred to his ex-wife Dariga Nazarbayeva, who is the daughter of the President of Kazakhstan. Nazarbayeva also managed Khabar and the couple’s media holdings until 2005 when she began a political career, founding the Asar Party and running for member of Parliament. At that point she gave up her position to avoid conflicts of interest.

The Khabar company comprises not only the Khabar television station, but also Khabar.kz, a satellite TV station Caspio Net and the Kazakhstan language El Arna station. It is the official portal for government news. Khabar means “news” in Kazakh.

Following his conviction for kidnapping, criminal conspiracy, misuse of state property and fraud and sentence of 20 years in prison, Rakhat Aliyev, former son-in-law of President Nazarbayev, former Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, and former head of the KNB, among other posts, was tried and convicted by a military tribunal. Because the trial involved discussion of state secrets, the trial was closed to the public and the press. Aliyev was sentenced to 20 more years on charges of plotting to take over the government through force.

Alnur Musayev, who has held various security positions including head of the National Security Committee and head of the Presidential Guard (as did Aliyev formerly) was also convicted for conspiring with Aliyev. Musayev is allegedly also in Austria with Aliyev. Both men would begin their sentence were they to return to Kazakhstan or be extradited.

According to the report from the Office of the Prosecutor, shown on Khabar television last night, starting in 1996 Aliyev and Musayev used their positions in security organizations to assemble a military force with the goal of overthrowing the government violently. These men were spread throughout police and military organizations such as the Presidential Guard, the KNB, and the Financial Police to disguise their purposes. Aliyev personally paid them to ensure their loyalty to him.

The prosecutor mentioned that Aliyev had put together a media empire that covered the entire territory of Kazakhstan (until the sale of these assets to his ex-wife Dariga Nazarbayeva and/or their nationalization) and had Internet resources ready to spread propaganda.

Aliyev and Musayev apparently also developed a new kind of poison,which may have been tested on human beings, and prepared over 1000 doses for the purpose of assassinations. Toward this end he prepared James Bond like pens that also can shoot poison. Furthermore the two were assembling radioactive material.

When you add to this the telephone calls that Aliyev allegedly recorded from bugs in the phones of various high government leaders, Aliyev seems to have had quite a bit of power and reach. It’s probably for the best that he is sequestered in Austria at the moment.

Neweurasia follows up on an attack at the end of January on B.N. Pegasus, a Turkish construction company. According to Neweurasia, Tahsin Akkash the CEO of the company and a well-known Turkish architect, is being detained in Almaty, apparently without charges being laid against him. According to a forum posting, Tahsin was taken into custody, but is currently hiding in amnesty in the Turkish Embassy in Almaty. It claims that the whole thing is engineered by Marya Nazarbayeva, presumably the wife of the brother of the President. Elsewhere claims have been made that the B.N. in B.N. Pegasus refers to President Nazarbayev’s brother. The post further claims that both the Jan attacks and this arrest are engineered by Mrs. Nazarbayeva and that she has armed guards waiting at the embassy gates.

A few things are a bit weird here. I’m not clear on how he was taken into custody but ended up at the Embassy. Also surely the Turkish government has the right to clear armed guards from its gates. There isn’t a clear motive listed anywhere. And finally, if the initials indicate an alliance with the Nazarbayev family then why is the CEO under attack? But there is a large campaign going on in Turkey with many websites reporting on this and there is promise of a book exposing mafia involvement in Kazakhstan business.

I have no idea what is factual and what is not. It seems to me the heart of the matter is all the comments from Turks saying that Kazakhstan is corrupt, that Turks are mistreated and all the Kazakhs commenting that Turks are dirty and corrupt and mistreat Kazakhs. Whoever is involved, wherever it is happening, there does seem to be serious tension between Turkish and Kazakhstany people which explodes periodically. It seems to me that some serious study needs to be done into why this is happening.

Ferghana.ru reports that there are 16 431 domains that end in .kz, but of those only around 1 000 are actually functioning. Many of the idle .kz domains were bought in the hopes of selling them. According to the article, these domains bought on speculation often use pretty words or popular brand names-in the hopes that pleasant domains will sell fast or that nike will buy nike.kz now that it has opened stores here.

It’s sort of a fun to try to guess which domains might be bought but not used given these parameters.
For example Nike.kz doesn’t appear to exist in any way. Asem.kz is used by Asem, the stationary/office supplies/computer store (asem means “beautiful” in Kazakh. which was why I tried it). Mercedes.kz is in use.

As for prestigious names which might be in-demand Nazarbayev.kz is up for grabs and so is President.kz.

Finally after all that searching (plus a lot of brand names I’m not listing here), I found a site up for sale: Cool.kz From there you can see a bunch of other sites up for sale:, including Welcome.kz, Euro.kz, Tvshop.kz.

But, dear reader, I ask you: What does cre and ucb mean?

Happy Nauryz! On the 22nd of March will be the vernal equinox, the Persian-Muslim New Year, the Kazakhstan national holiday Nauryz! One of my favorite holidays here because it’s one of the few where they do more than just make a big concert of alternating pop hits and old Kazakh songs. The same songs every holiday! They actually make kumys and display hunting hawks and national crafts and play national sports occasionally. We’re going to Almaty and hopefully I’ll have a chance to talk to some people or do some interviews on Kazakh culture.

Of course you have to love Astana. I asked my colleagues what they plan to do over the long weekend to celebrate. “Sleep” was the universal reply!

A weird little article on the website of the Sydney Daily Herald, about Allco, an Australian bank that had planned to invest in Kazakhstan. According to the article, in 2007, Allco planned to open a fund with Kazyna, the Kazakhstan State development holding, with each donating $50 million. The Allco Kazyna Foreign Investment would have been open to foreigners, presumably providing investments to attract more direct investment in Kazakhstan. And then, shortly after the Parliament elections, Allco pulled out saying it was “too risky”. But there doesn’t seem to be much insight into what exactly happened.

Just an interesting footnote I thought might get passed over.

A nice piece appeared in the Edinburgh News about a Kazakh lead singer in a Scottish band.

Gulzhan Ibrayeva who was the lead singer for the apparently popular Kazakh cover-band Kinky Durakee (Query to readers: Is this band famous? I’ve never heard of it). Now that Gulzhan has moved to Scotland with her husband Paul Finnie, the band has changed its name to Universal You and is hitting the top hot spots in Edinburgh.

The band started two years ago when Finnie came to Atsai as a contract administrator for British Gas and Ibrayeva was working as a translator. They got married and started Kinky Durakee. They have picked up a bass player and a guitarist and hope to become Edinburgh’s next local sensation.

Check out the Universal You website to hear their music or even buy the MP3s.

An Iranian website has put up a list of historically significant women in and near Iran and Khanum Boraksin, the wife of Batu, son of Chinghis Khan, makes the list.

1255-57 Regent Dowager Khanum Boraqcin of Hwarizim Sahi (or the Khanate of Kipchak) (Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan) She was the widow of Batu, who was khan (1227-55). When he died in 1255 his son and heir, Sartaq, had gone to pay court to Grand Khan Mongka, his father’s friend. But he died before he could return home to the Khanate of Kipchak. Mongka nominated the young prince Ulagci, who was either the brother or son of Sartaq, and made Boraqchin regent of the Mongol tribe (The Golden Horde) in West Turkistan, roughly covering present day Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

According to some sources, women in the Mongol empire were quite powerful, especially the wives of the children and grandchildren of Chinghis Khan because while the men were off warring, the women were left in power. They also displayed great skill at political maneuvering to try to ensure power for their children and often ruled as regents when their sons were not yet of age.