Central Asia: Mar '09, part 2

An IWPR report on the controversial subject of ethnic identity hit a nerve in Kyrgyzstan, where the story was widely republished and debated.

The article, Kyrgyzstan: Alarm at Tribal Claim to Separate Status (RCA No. 569, 10-Mar-09), looked at a campaign for separate ethnic status by some members of the Kypchak tribe, generally regarded as one of the many that make up the Kyrgyz nation.

Campaigners led by retired teacher Kamchybek Samatov said they would give their language and ethnicity as Kypchak rather than Kyrgyz when they were polled in the national census being conducted between March 24 and April 3.

Although the issue might seem marginal to an outsider, it is a hot potato in this Central Asian state, since it goes to the heart of what it is to be Kyrgyz and what nationhood is about.

At the request of many readers, the piece was translated into Kyrgyz so that it would reach a wider audience, and it was reprinted in Kyrgyz-language newspapers like Aalam, Kyrgyz Ruhu and Kyrgyz Tuusu.

The authors of the article tried to reflect as many views as possible – from those who think it is legitimate for the Kypchaks to seek separate recognition to others who believe their claim sets a dangerously divisive precedent.

The journalist and analysts who read the article praised it for its impartiality and clarity.

“It’s certainly a somewhat sensitive issue, but because a diversity of views were presented, the coverage was balanced and the problem was handled in the right way,” said Ayzada Abazova, the editor-in-chief of Kyrgyz Ruhu. “I liked it a lot.”

Aygul Bakeeva, deputy chief editor of Aalam, said that when she heard IWPR had produced an article on the Kypchak claim, she was initially concerned as reports on controversial issues sometimes fuel tensions rather than reducing them. But after she read it, she changed her mind.

“This is a very relevant topic. If there is a problem in society, it shouldn’t be avoided,” she said. “The authors covered the story as they should have. One of our staff members is Kypchak himself, so the issue is close to our hearts. The article also contained a lot of facts, a range of views, and statistics, which of course give it more weight.”

Among the NGOs that expressed interest in the article, one international group told IWPR, “We want to carry out a study based on your article.”

The organisation, which did not want to be identified, requested further information from the authors so as to follow up on the story.

One of the two authors, Jenish Aydarov, lives in Batken himself and said he received numerous calls from local people after the article was published, reflecting the same mix of opinions about the wisdom of claiming separate ethnic status.

One caller, Erkinbek Kamalov from the neighbouring region of Jalalabad, said the Kypchak campaign would “undoubtedly be damaging to the security of our country and to the integrity of the nation”.

By contrast Muktar Ismailov, who rang in from the Leilek district of Batken region, saw nothing wrong with people seeking out their roots. “After all, everyone in Kyrgyzstan knows the names of their forebears back through seven generations,” he noted.

“Even now we listen more to our village elders than we do to the akims [local government heads] or governors. The idea of tribal division shouldn’t be criticised too much, since it’s in our blood. Kyrgyz people will always state what tribe they belong to and who their forebears were.”

The story also featured in one of IWPR’s short radio pieces broadcast nationally, which can be heard in Russian and Kyrgyz here: Tribe Seeks Recognition in Census.

In a sign of the times, this debate about ancient history and modern identity sparked a lively debate on the social networking site Facebook, where historian Mirbek Jolbun, for example, fulminated, “What happens if every tribe in the Kyrgyz nation wants to become a nation of its own? We’ll have Naymans, Kalmaks, Kypchaks and Mongols. But we are all Kyrgyz.”

As the census got under way, some people used the fact that anything they said would be written down faithfully to identify themselves as Zulus or as the mythical Bigfoot creature Sasquatch

One journalist who wanted to register as a member of the Siberian minority Evenk people, said, “Unfortunately no one visited my home. The census passed me by.”