How long has kazakhstan been a country

Aliyev denies the charges, saying they are politically motivated. This means a blogger could break the law by expressing a view. Mr Zhovtis and rights groups said he had not been given a fair trial.

Kazakhstan also agreed to allow French military supplies to pass through on their way to Afghanistan. President Nazarbayev signals a change in emphasis from rights to security. The OSCE had criticised the ban. The government declares a state of emergency.

The authorities accuse Mr Kozlov of inciting violence during the Zhanaozen protests in December. Mr Kozlov says the sentence is politically motivated.

The UK is the third largest investor in the oil-rich central Asian nation. He denies the charges and says he will appeal. The Eurasian Economic Union aims to create a shared market and integrate economic policy across the three former Soviet countries. People from more than ethnic groups and 40 different religious denominations live peacefully with each other in Kazakhstan, and none are discriminated against or abused.

Kazakhstan has stable relationships with all of its neighbors. Home About Kazakhstan. Mr Tokayev has been a senior official since independence. Image source, AFP. See full media profile. Oil money is driving the development of Astana, which became Kazakhstan's new capital in Read full timeline. Related Topics. Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev. This tardiness in declaring independence was attributed to Nazarbayev's concern to preserve the delicate inter-ethnic balance between Russians and Kazakhs in the republic and also to prevent further discussion of the cession of northern territories to the Russian Federation.

Nazarbayev was the only candidate in elections to the republican presidency, in which he won Some 5, opposition supporters demonstrated in Almaty against continued communist predominance, demanding the government's resignation and the formation of a new, coalition Council of Ministers.

It may be mentioned that the CPK was dominated by ethnic Russians, who naturally preferred to continue their rule through the old apparat. The new Constitution guaranteed secularism as a pillar of the Republic. It also invoked the language law and required that the President of the Republic be a fluent speaker of Kazakh. Russian Foreign Minister A. Kozyrev paid an official visit to Almaty to discuss Russia-Kazakh relations.

Because of such concerns, Russians have been reluctant to become Kazakhstan citizens. Fewer than 5, have applied for citizenship, according to diplomats at the Russian Embassy in Almaty. At the same time, an estimated , Russians have left Kazakhstan in the two years since independence. By law, Russians who remain in Kazakhstan automatically become citizens in March , but Bukanov and other activists demand that dual Russian and Kazakhstan citizenship be an option.

Russia is supporting the dual citizenship concept, as Foreign Minister made clear in talks with Nazarbayev recently. But Kazakh President is adamantly opposed: "Imagine what would happen if we agreed. If Russians get double citizenship, 1 million Germans will need it, 1 million Ukrainians will need it, , Uzbeks will demand it, , Tatars will need it, , Koreans will need it And then everyone with a foreign passport in his pocket will be looked upon as a stranger in Kazakhstan, as an alien.

These people will put themselves outside the law by this move. What kind of state will it be? Bukanov believes it will be a war-torn state unless Kazakhstan's government makes Russians feel more welcome and secure: "Sometimes I compare the Russians to the Serbs in Bosnia. But then those who are left will feel desperate and take up arms. They will have no alternative" Ibid. Ethnic Russians in Kazakhstan have been pressing the Kazakh government to grant them autonomy.

A recent 12,strong rally in Ust-Kamenogorsk in the republic's east, organized by the Society of Slavonic culture, appealed to the government to give "national autonomy to ethnic Russians.

Last year a Cossack community in eastern Kazakhstan too demanded the establishment of "a national-territorial autonomy" there. These sentiments are fueled by the fact that in east and north are majority are Russians. They border on Russia with which local Russians maintain close contact. This document, following the example of the Baltic states and Moldova, declared a single language to be the state language The younger generation of Kazakhs has absorbed an atmosphere of hatred for Russians A considerable part of Russians living in Ukraine and Kazakhstan are ready to acquire their citizenship, according to Stanford University scholar Jan Bremmer.

A poll of 4, residents said there was no difference between living standards of Russians in Kazakhstan and Ukraine and the local population. Russians are largely politically apathetic. The President of Kazakhstan strongly reacted over recent remarks by Russian Foreign Minister Kozyrev that Moscow would act tough if necessary to protect the rights of Russians in former Soviet republics.

A handful of smaller parties won 10 seats in all.