Tribe Seeks Recognition in Census
As a nationwide census gets under way in Kyrgyzstan, one group in the south of the country is seeking to register as a hitherto unrecognised nation.
Tribe Seeks Recognition in Census
As a nationwide census gets under way in Kyrgyzstan, one group in the south of the country is seeking to register as a hitherto unrecognised nation.
In the latest round in a two-decade struggle for formal recognition of a distinct ethnicity, Samatov and his supporters plan to give their identity – and their language too – as “Kypchak” when the census-takers come round.
Other villagers in Bujum interviewed by reporter Ulukbu Amirova appeared less certain about whether they need separate status, or whether their southern dialect is really a different language.
Census officials say they will write down exactly what people tell them, although that does not mean the responses will form the basis for recording the presence of a Kypchak nation.
(For more on the Kypchaks, see Kyrgyzstan: Alarm at Tribal Claim to Separate Status, RCA No. 569, 10-Mar-09.)
