Author Hasan Oraltai worked for 18 years for Radio Liberty, retiring from his post as Director of the Kazakh Service of Radio Liberty in 1995. His 1998 autobiography �Yelim-ailap otken omir� included his personal recollections of many representatives of the Kazakhstani elite. The following editorial, broadcast on Radio Liberty, describes the book and how it has been censored.
To all appearances, freedom of speech exists in Kazakhstan only verbally. Newspapers, TV channels and radio stations criticizing either the government or other authorities of the country may be closed any time. In the last 5 years, about 10 media organizations have been closed. One such case was the sharp-tongued newspaper Dat This paper was subject to numerous examinations by the tax police; representatives of the newspaper were acted against institutionally. They had to pay penalties of many millions tenge, until at last, the newspaper folded. Many people especially remember the anti-media campaign during the presidential and Parliamentary elections.
One of the facts demonstrating the lack of free speech is the recent prohibition against distributing the book Yelim-ailap otken omir (My Life Spent Among Kazakhs) by Hasan Oraltai, the retired director of the Kazakh Service of Radio Liberty, and a famous Kazakhstani writer. The concerned authorities claimed that the book would negatively influence it�s Kazakhstani audience and returned all copies of the book to Turkey.
In 1995, Hasan Oraltai retired as he reached pension age. In the same year, he began to write his memoirs. In 1940, Hasan Oraltai�s father, Kalibek Hakim, was one of the leaders of the national-liberation struggle against Chinese colonizers in Eastern Turkistan. At that time Oraltai was 13. In his book, he describes his 50 years of life since that time. The memoir narrates how his family had to flee from Eastern Turkestan via India and Turkey, and how their life was long and difficult. To settle in a new place was also difficult; adapting to new conditions, learning a language, and participating in the social-political life of Turkey are all described in a fragmentary narrative style. Oraltai relates how he was employed by Radio Liberty and describes the working conditions there, simultaneously telling how Kazakhstan became independent. The author describes his impression of 12 tours to Kazakhstan.
Oraltai completed the 791-paged book in 1998, after three years of writing. His next goal was to deliver the book to a Kazakhstani audience. Hence, it was translated into Russian. Then, with support of Professor Turan Yazgan, director of the Turkic World Research Fund, 1,000 copies of the book were printed in Istanbul. Hasan Oraltai printed his book completely at his own expense., which cost him DM 18,000 (US $9,900). The book weighs 1 kg 400 g; it is a not a small book.
But it is a problem to deliver it to Kazakhstan. At first, about 100 books were sent by ordinary mail to different addresses. As the book was heavy, mail charges were high�he had to spend DM 10 (US $5.50) per book. Publication of one copy cost US $10, including delivery to Kazakhstan. The author had to seek a cheaper way to send the books. The Kazakh-Turkish University in Turkestan receives books, magazines, and textbooks sent from Ankara via a private lorry. Having agreed with the University administration, Haseken shipped 379 books on this truck. The books successfully crossed through the Turkish-Kazakh frontier, but when they reached Turkestan they faced an obstacle. Representatives of the local KNB (formerly the KGB) came to the University and told heads of the Turkish party that �the book by H. Oraltai has been sent to you. It is a dangerous book that defames the Kazakhstani authorities. If it is distributed in the country, it will spoil relations between Turkey and Kazakhstan.� After that, the University administration decided to send the books back. All 379 books were sent back to Ankara.
Let�s consider the book�s �dangerousness�. One third of the book devoted to Kazakhstan, to the period when it gained sovereignty. From 1991 to 1997, Oraltai visited the country a dozen times. He wrote about everybody whom he had met here, and what they had discussed.
Among the heroes of his book is President Nursultan Nazarbaev and his wife Sara Alpysovna. The author mentions personages who once had occupied high posts as well: Yerik Asanbaev, Olzhas Suleimenov, Kanat Saudabaev, Omirbek Zholdasbekov, Murat Auezov, Satymzhan Sanbaev, Myrzatai Zholdasbekov, Sherkhan Murtaza, Kamal Smaiylov and others. The author describes these characters truly, especially relating how they had lived and behaved abroad. Former party functionaries who surprised westerners by their actions are especially notable. Possibly, the Kazakhstani authorities namely disliked these episodes. It was the first time a book was banned in independent Kazakhstan. This obvious example of the present authoritarian system is another step toward a dictatorship.
26 November 99
Translated by THE GLOBE from the Kazakh Service of Radio Liberty
Aidar AKHMETOV
ALMATY, Nov 26 (THE GLOBE)
Prominent Kazakh author and Kazakhstani Ambassador to Italy Olzhas Suleimenov appealed this week to the new Parliament, calling for Deputies to implement a sweeping land reforms which would transfer the ownership of all public lands and all natural resources, making them the exclusive property of the Kazakhstani people.
To achieve such reform, Suleimenov asked for a supplement to the Constitution and the establishment of a new parliamentary association to be called �Land to People!�
At a subsequent Almaty press conference on November 26th, some parliamentarians expressed their opinions on Ambassador Suleimenov�s appeal.
Deputy Isakhan Alimzhanov agreed that the Kazakhstani land should belong to the people. He called both the land and its reserves integral and belonging forever to the country�s people.
Deputy Serik Abdrakhmanov disagreed with Alimzhanov, stating that it was unacceptable to further squander land reserves or to transform them into �the propriety of some dodgers.� According to Deputy Abdrakhmanov, federal territory along with the land had become the �property� of corresponding Akims.
�We do not need any separate changes to the Constitution, but a new Constitution,� said Deputy Gani Kasymov. In his opinion, the ripening of the new Parliament depends on the settlement of most urgent issues, including land reform.
Deputy Amansha Gunashev described the new Parliament�s role as historical, stating that at present, interests of the state and the people do not coincide, including the problem of land reform
Overall, the deputies expressed approval for establishing the new parliamentary association.
Kuanysh ZHUMANGAZINOV
ALMATY, Nov 27
(THE GLOBE)
The National Party Otan has become the majority party in Parliament, and will support and follow the President�s policies, acting Otan party chairman Sergei Tereschenko announced immediately after an Almaty meeting of the party�s Political Council on November 27.
�Soon, the Otan party will establish its own political faction,� Tereschenko emphasized. This faction will not include representatives of other parties, according to Tereschenko, although the faction will cooperate with others in discussions of individual bills.
Nine members of Otan were elected to the Senate, and 38 to the Mazhilis (Lower House of Parliament)�including by the party�s count 4 deputies in single-mandate districts, 21 other deputies, and 13 self-nominated candidates.
Otan, along with the Industrialists and Businessmen Union of Kazakhstan, plans to hold a national event to support local producers. Tereschenko said that this event is meant to protect and improve realization of local products. In addition, Otan will establish a youth group �Zhas Otan,� and a special Council on Women�s Problems.
Trofim LOBACHEV
Nov 29 (gazeta.ru)
Recently the situation with Boris Yeltsin and his �virus bronchitis� has been clarified, or perhaps complicated. On Friday, November 26th, a working day for Russian informational agencies started with the distribution of a sensational rumor that Yeltsin had had apoplectic stroke. Then the same agencies officially refuted the rumor.
Yeltsin�s press secretary Dmitry Yakushin played a solo that day. According to him, Yeltsin has �a virus infection complicated by an acute bronchitis�, and �no special medical treatment need be prescribed to him�. Moreover, Yeltsin was getting better. In the opinion of the deputy of the Kremlin administration Igor Shabdurasulov�s, Yeltsin�s illness and his rest from active public affairs will last for two weeks. Moreover, on December 6, he will meet President of Ukraine Kuchma.
As far as signing of the Russian-Byelorussian agreements foiled on Friday is concerned, nothing is clear. On one hand, most officials (even the opposition leaders) publicly deny any connection between President�s illness and Lukashenko�s cancelled visit to sign the agreement. On the other hand, nobody explained properly why a President with bronchitis who had not been hospitalized had not been able to sign the document previously prepared and agreed. For the time being, a new date of Lukashenko�s visit is unknown. The Kremlin assumes �in about two weeks.� Lukashenko is suspiciously keeping silent.
Meanwhile, Yeltsin�s illness and his temporary absence coincided with another event, the beginning of the so-called �third phase� of the anti-terrorist campaign in Chechnya. It is supposed to annihilate gunmen at all and prove the final victory of Russia in Chechnya. The mood of Russian heads of armed forces, as well as of the Prime Minister are obvious: they wish �to finish off the vile creature� in its lair and are decisive. Possibly, they notified the President of this idea at the two-hours meeting, after which the president �was getting worse� and left for the Central Clinical Hospital and then � to his country residence. Possibly, the President completely supported the idea. Possibly, at the meeting he did not even mention any international difficulties (mass criticism of the Moscow�s position in Chechnya) that he had faced at the OSCE summit in Istanbul. Possibly, all of them unanimously decided that the treat of the international isolation is nothing in comparison with the Russian army� resentment, if it was stopped on its way toward Grozny. Might Yeltsin�s opinion differ and he was along?
Anyhow, the army will defeat Chechnya (if it defeats) as if without Yeltsin. Probably, this is just a coincidence. Maybe he was persistently advised to undergo a cure and not to interfere in that thing. It is high time to make way for successors�
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