The Russian Empire – Is Kazakhstan Next?.
Astana’s language and nationality policies have put Kazakhstan at risk of becoming a second Ukraine in 2015, according to Ilya Namovir, a Russian linguist who edits the “Russians in Kazakhstan” portal. The next twelve months are likely to be critical because, as a result of changes in laws and treaties, ethnic Russians in Kazakhstan will find it easier to move back to the Russian Federation and ethnic Kazakhs to move back to Kazakhstan. Moreover, the opening of a presidential election campaign in Kazakhstan will provoke the kinds of political declarations that will trigger concerns about the future among those ethnic Russians and Russian speakers who remain (Stoletie.ru, December 11).
In a commentary for Stoletie.ru, a Russian nationalist site based in Moscow, Namovir argues that “the Russian question” has never disappeared from political discussions in Kazakhstan but that in the wake of the situation in Ukraine, it has “again become more important.” This trend, he notes, shows no sign of changing given both the absence of any positive answer to it from Astana and the lack of either an organized Russian opposition or clear backing from Moscow. Either factor, according to the Russian linguist, might force Kazakhstani officials to change course.
