The Diaspora Policy of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Gulnara Mendikulova
Understanding the politics of the Kazakh diaspora in the Republic of Kazakhstan requires
knowledge of the general features of the diaspora and irredenta. The latter is an ethnic group thatoccupies its own lands, but as a result of conquests or annexations of territories their homeland is
now under the rule of foreign governments. 1 The global Kazakh population in 2009–2010
exceeded 14 million. Table 1 shows more than 10 million living in Kazakhstan,2 1.250 million in
China,3 870,000 in Russia,4 nearly 900,000 in Uzbekistan,5 145,000 in Mongolia, 15,000 in
Turkey, and the remainder in more than 43 countries.6
Ranking

Official data

Field study data 2007–2009

Kazakhstan

10,301,165

10,301,165

2

China

1,250,500

1,413,500

3Uzbekistan

899,195

1.3-1.5 million

4

Russia870,000

1.2 million

5

Mongolia

145,000

6

Turkey7

43 other countries

1

Country

15,000

Table 1. Global Kazakh population 2009-2010

Based on several statistical studies and my own research, Table 1 shows that among the 4
million Kazakhs living abroad, approximately 800,000 are the Kazakh diaspora. The remainder are
people of the irredenta who have not so much left their homeland as been separated from the main
body of their ethnic group by state borders. Kazakhs are both the irredenta and diaspora in Russia,
China and Uzbekistan. In Russia, the Kazakh diaspora lives in Moscow and St Petersburg. The
irredenta has taken form in the provinces (oblasti) of Astrakhan, Kurgan, Volgograd, Orenburg,
Omsk, Cheliabinsk and Gorno-Altai, territories incorporated into Russia as a result of the colonial
1

Milton J. Esman, “Ethnic Pluralism and International Relations,” Canadian Review of Studies in Nationalism 17,
no. 1-2 (1990), pp. 83-88.
2
Demographical Annual Report of Kazakhstan in 2009: Statistical Reports (Astana: Agency on Statistics of the
Republic of Kazakhstan, 2010) (in Russian); Kazakhstan in the years of Independence (Almaty: Agency on
Statistics of the Republic of Kazakhstan, 2007) (in Russian); Ethno-Demographical Annual Report of Kazakhstan:
Statistical Reports (Almaty: Agency on Statistics of the Republic of Kazakhstan, 2006) (in Russian).
3
http://www.stats.gov.cn
4
Demoscope № 439 – 440. 18-31 October 2010 [http://demoscope ru] (in Russian).
5
Population of Uzbekistan 2002-2006: Statistical collection (Tashkent: State Committee on Statistics, Republic of
Uzbekistan, 2007) (in Russian).
6
The Data of the World Association of the Kazakhs.

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Gulnara Mendikulova

conquests since the sixteenth century. Further division of the Kazakh people occurred in the first
decade of the twentieth century, particularly during the early Soviet period, with the national-state
territorial demarcation between Kazakhstan and Central Asia in 1925. 7 In China, while theKazakh diaspora has settled in the central regions, the irredenta lives in the Sinkiang-Uighur
autonomous region. The latter situation is a result of historical events in the eighteenth andnineteenth centuries, including territorial delimitation of Central Asia between Russian andChinese empires in the second part of the nineteenth century.8
According to Gabriel Sheffer, “Modern diaspora are ethnic minority groups of migrant origins
residing and acting in host countries but maintaining strong sentimental and material links with
their countries of origin – their homelands.”9 The Kazakh diaspora is not a large one – they are
just small groups of ethnic Kazakhs in host countries in Western Europe and North America. This
is of little concern to those who live in Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan, where their small presence
has enabled them to show a desire for joint settlements and ask for relevant policies from their hostcountries. Although the Kazakh diaspora as an ethnic minority has never occupied a politicallysignificant place in host countries, this does not preclude them from thriving there economicallyand socially. Drawing on the nomadic life of ancestral Kazakhs through the millennia, they havefacilitated their social-psychological and physiological capability to perceive the surrounding
world and to adapt themselves to the highly competitive multi-ethnic, multi-cultural andmulti-religious conditions.
The Kazakhs’ Labour, Cultural and Trade Diaspora in the West10
The Kazakhs have dispersed to form worldwide diaspora mainly from Kazakhstan, China,
Turkey and Afghanistan. Since the 1960s, the diaspora has been characterized by the voluntary
migration of individuals. When this new trend emerged, some people were part of the Turkish
labour migration to Western Europe. These Kazakhs had worked primarily as manual labourers
before they climbed up to achieve higher social and educational status in host countries. Today the
Kazakh diaspora in the West consists of office employees in large corporations, hotels and otherservice industries. Many run their own businesses, with approximately one-third managing
manufacturing companies in Western Europe and the United States. By the 1990s, many Kazakh
scholars, artists and musicians left Kazakhstan to work in the West at the invitation of various
governments.
Despite social, economic, legal, cultural and educational terms differences within the Kazakh
diaspora, there are some common features of it in Western countries. They are an ethnic minority
7

Gulnara Mendikulova, “The Kazakh Irredenta in Russia (History and Modernity),” Eurasian Community 8(1995), pp. 70-80 (in Russian).
8
Gulnara Mendikulova, The Historical Fates of the Kazakh Diaspora: Background and Development (Almaty:
Gylym, 1997) (in Russian).
9
Gabriel Sheffer, ed., Modern Diasporas in International Politics (London: Croom Helm, 1986), p. 3.
10
For further details, see Gulnara Mendikulova, The Kazakh Diaspora: History and Modernity (Almaty: World
Association of Kazakhs, 2006) (in Russian).

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The Diaspora Policy of the Republic of Kazakhstan

in each host country, usually numbering no more than a few hundred families. They do not, andhave never, played a significant role in the politics of the countries where they settled. Living inurban areas has provided them with good opportunities for jobs and education. They also haveremarkable adaptation capability, allowing them to thrive in new climatic and social environments,
including quick acquisition of fluency in the host country language. Many are also tri-lingual or
multi-lingual. Those from Kazakhstan speak Kazakh, Russian and their host country language;
those from China speak Chinese, Kazakh and their host country language; and those from Turkey
speak Turkish, Kazakh and their host country language.
While urban conditions are to some degree unfavourable for the preservation of their ethnic
identity, these small Kazakh communities have strongly embodied this in their daily activities,
celebrations and customs. Given the possibility to participate in Turkish associations in the hostcountries before 1991, they had not thought it necessary to have their own organizations for
improving economic, social and political-legal conditions. Nor did they think it necessary to do sofor transmitting important cultural heritage to younger members of their communities, and further
developing national culture in alien environments. After 1991, the diaspora has fostered strong
sentimental and maternal links with the Republic of Kazakhstan, which would have been
impossible during the Soviet period.
Which aspect is the most important to the people of the Kazakh diaspora: assimilation,acculturation, preservation of ethnic identity, or repatriation? The diaspora has attempted topreserve and develop its ethnic identity while living as aliens in the West and longed for a returnback to Kazakhstan. First steps were taken within Kazakh families: they taught their children to
speak Kazakh and know their traditions, and mono-ethnic marriages were encouraged. While
Kazakhs in Western Europe and North America live in small family units consisting of one
married couple and their children, those in Turkey and other Eastern countries prefer to live with
their extended family. Here parents live with their unmarried children and married sons,daughters-in-law and grandchildren. Given the high cost of housing and land, it is reasonable forlarge extended Kazakh families to live together. In Turkey, it is more economical and convenient
to share a household, especially when one’s married son and family do not have enough means topurchase a house.
The preservation of the Kazakh identity and repatriation became increasingly attainableoptions after Kazakhstan’s declaration of independence in 1991. Some decided to leave the West to
end the process of acculturation. Others who decided to stay began to establish Kazakh cultural
centres. The Kazakh Cultural Centre was established, for instance, in the United Kingdom in 1992.
During 1995 and 1996, Kazakhstan’s State Program of Support for the Kazakh Diaspora, which I
took part in, was aimed at the development and consolidation of multi-faceted communications
with the Kazakh diaspora and irredenta. In January 1998, the government raised the issue of thecreation of a European cultural centre for the diaspora. Kazakh representatives from many
European countries were also involved in the forum, which resolved to found a cultural centre forEuropean Kazakhs in Cologne, Germany. The process continues to grow. In autumn 2010, an
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Gulnara Mendikulova

Kazakhstani Association in France. I congratulated him and the new association, one that accepts
all Kazakhstan citizens as well as ethnic Kazakhs. This is a very timely and useful organization toaccommodate and develop a new strategy for Kazakhstan’s diaspora policy.

Kazakhstan Meets the Kazakh Diaspora
After the declaration of independence, Kazakhstan began to invite the highest representativesof the Kazakh diaspora and irredenta to convene Kurultays (assemblies) with a view toward
coordinating joint activities of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Kazakhs abroad. On 29 September
1992, when the First World Kurultay of Kazakhs took place in Almaty, delegations came fromTurkey, Germany, France, Sweden, Norway, Mongolia, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan andUzbekistan.11 Delegates from the People’s Republic of China could not participate in the forum as
the Chinese authorities did not allow them. The significance of the First World Kurultay should be
more emphasized because a variety of historical fates had deprived the Kazakh diaspora andirredenta of the opportunity to visit the land of their ancestors for decades. The Kurultay resolved
to reinforce the multilateral communications of the Republic and foreign Kazakhs, declaring thatthe young state of Kazakhstan was a protector of all Kazakhs worldwide. It was this Kurultay that
decided to establish the World Association of Kazakhs (WAK) as an organization coordinating
activities of all Kazakh communities worldwide. It also aims to investigate historical,
ethnographical, cultural and linguistic questions, as well as the present situation of the Kazakh
diaspora and irredenta and various state policies towards them.
With N.A. Nazarbayev, president of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as the chairman of its
Presidium, WAK engages in cultural, educational and business activities. For example, in 1994 a
WAK business centre opened in Almaty to further the many facets of WAK activities. This wasmade possible by sponsorship support from Kazakh business elites in Turkey, Russia and othercountries. In the same year, WAK, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, invited 40
Kazakhs living abroad to study in Kazakhstan. The following year, 150 students from the Kazakh
diaspora studied there. Pre-training and training courses (e.g., language and adaptation measures)
were created especially for these students. Young Kazakhs from Turkey, China, Mongolia, Iranand Russia have been able to begin their study in Almaty, Jambul, Turkestan and Taldykorgan. On
18 May 2005, WAK established the Centre for Students within its structure. At that time, thecentre discussed issues around the study and living conditions among the students from the
Kazakh diaspora and irredenta.
In the 1990s, smaller Kurultays took place in Russia, China, Mongolia and Uzbekistan, where
the largest Kazakh communities exist. These smaller forums served as a preparatory work for theSecond World Kurultay of the Kazakhs. On 20 July 2002, the prime minister of the Republic of
Kazakhstan, I.N. Tasmagambetov, signed the Cabinet Minister’s decision about holding this event.
The decision stipulated that a governmental commission be formed to take the planned measures.
11

The Archive of the World Association of the Kazakhs.

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The Diaspora Policy of the Republic of Kazakhstan

The Second World Kurultay of the Kazakhs was held in Turkestan on 23-24 October 2002
where, according to WAK, more than 400 delegates came from 34 countries, with the largest
number from Uzbekistan.12 A distinctive feature of this particular Kurultay was the presence of
Kazakhs from China for the first time. The main agenda discussions were about creating a new
government program of support for Kazakh compatriots living abroad. Issues about therepatriation of Kazakhs wishing to return to their historical homeland were of special note. Afterthe Kurultay, approximately 800 Kazakh families, solely from Mongolia, expressed the desire to
return. In recent years, more and more Kazakhs are coming back. In 2004 and 2005, a limit of
15,000 was placed on the number of returning families, and approximately 3 million Kazakhs
living abroad today are said to have an intention to return to Kazakhstan.
In 2005, WAK was involved in preparations for the Third World Kurultay of Kazakhs in
Astana. On 1 August 2005, with the prime minister’s signature, the government of the Republic of
Kazakhstan passed Decision No. 797 about the preparation and hosting of this event. On 28-30
September 2005, over 300 delegates from 32 countries participated in the Kurultay, as well as
more than 200 representatives from all regions of Kazakhstan and the cities of Almaty and Astana.
There was also a significant media presence. Many young people, business people, scientists,teachers, doctors, students and artists attended the Kurultay. These people are famous andimportant figures whose activities in social, economic, cultural and educational spheres are wellknown in each host country of residence. Among the Kazakh delegates from abroad, there were 20
doctors of science, five members of parliament, one government minister, eight heads of regionaland rural administrations, and 39 chairpersons of Kazakh national cultural centres.
The efficiency of the Kurultay was clearly evident from the first day with four sections
dealing with the following questions: 1) the cultural development among the Kazakh diaspora; 2)
the creation of conditions for training the people of the diaspora in Kazakhstan; 3) realizing theinvestment through repatriating the diaspora to their historical homeland; and 4) the migration
policies and Oralman (Kazah returnee) difficulties. Representatives from the following
government agencies attended these workshops: the Ministry of Culture, Information and Sport,
Ministry of Education and Science, Migration Committee at the Ministry of Labour and Social
Protection of Population, as well as the Ministry of Industry and Trade Work. Naturally, hot
debates arose over many issues.
The decree of the president of the Republic of Kazakhstan announced on 21 November 2005,
No 1673 “A State Program of Support for Compatriots Living Abroad, 2005-2007,” is an
important document heralding a new stage of the development of mutual relations between the
Kazakhstan state and the Kazakh diaspora. Analysing various aspects of the modern developmentof worldwide Kazakhs communities, it clarified basic directions of the program and the way it is
implemented. It declared as one of the main goals “the creation of a state system of social andeconomic, legal protection and support for compatriots living abroad, as a component of the united

12

The Archive of the World Association of the Kazakhs.

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Gulnara Mendikulova

Kazakh nation.” To ensure its success, the president of the Republic of Kazakhstan recommended
specific targets: 1) improving a strong legal base for the support of compatriots living abroad; 2)preparing for the adjustment of intensive economic contacts with them; 3) establishing regular
cultural-humanitarian communications with them; 4) providing them with information support; 5)creating conditions for their training in educational institutions of the Republic of Kazakhstan; and6) assisting the consolidation of the Kazakh diaspora and irredenta. Based on this accepted state
program, WAK planned a number of long-term actions directed at the consolidation of the Kazakh
diaspora and irredenta in science, education, cultural-spiritual and social and economic
development, as well as in the public life of Kazakh cultural centres. These actions will serve as
favourable conditions for the preservation of the ethnic identity of Kazakhs living abroad,promoting their study and preservation of the native language and Kazakhstan history, andfamiliarising them with national traditions and culture.
Kazakhstan’s attempts to gather historical and contemporary information about the worldwide
Kazakh diaspora and irredenta have encountered several difficulties. First, their total number is notclear. The official data released from countries with a Kazakh population tend to underestimate
their number. In some countries this is due to ethnic minority policies, and in others it is simply
that an accurate statistical census about Kazakhs has not been undertaken. Concerning research
conditions, we have had both achievements and failures. In November 2004, WAK arranged ameeting with experts studying difficulties faced by foreign Kazakhs where those present(including scholars Gulnara Mendikulova and Makash Tatimov and journalist Uakap Kydyrkhan)
discussed technical issues around research conditions, proposed future academic agendas, andmade varied recommendations and statements. The meeting resolved to found the Research Centreof Diaspora Studies within WAK. Thus we created a new field in Kazakhstan social science,
Diaspora Studies, with specialists examining the history of the Kazakh diaspora and irredenta
worldwide (G. Mendikulova), in Uzbekistan (K. Koblandin),13 China (B. Atantyaeva14 and A.
Samaev15), and European and Arabic countries.16 Thanks to the State Program of the Formation of
13
Kalybek Koblandin and Gulnara Mendikulova, History and Contemporary Development of the Kazakhs of
Uzbekistan (Almaty: DKK, 2009) (in Kazakh).
14
Gulnara Mendikulova and Bakhyt Atantaeva, History of Migrations between Kazakhstan and China in
1860-1960s (Almaty: SaGa, 2008) (in Russian); Bakhyt Atantaeva, “Kazakhs in the States of Eurasia:
Contemporary Analyze of Ethnic Politics,” Center of Eurasia, 4 (17) (2009), pp. 18-22. (in Russian); Bakhyt
Atantaeva, “Border Factors of Migrations in the Central-Asian Region at the End of the 19th Century,” V mire nauki,
kul’tury, obrazovaniia 1 (2011) (in Russian); and many others.
15
Aidar Samaev, “Creation of the Kazakh Irredenta in China,” Center of Eurasia 1 (2009) (in Russian); Aidar
Samaev, “The Kazakh Societies abroad and the Problems of Their Repatriation,” Proceedings of the International
Conference “Citizen, Society, State: Timely Questions of Interaction” (Semipalatinsk, 2006), pp. 264-268 (inRussian); and others.
16
Gulnara Mendikulova, “The Kazakh Diasporas and Irredentas,” World Turkish Forum: Turkish Council, Turkish
Diaspora and Socio-Economic Cooperation (Istanbul: TASAM, 2012), pp. 203-223 (in Turkish); Gulnara
Mendikulova, “Kazakh Women: The Impact of Three Different Socio-Political Systems within Two Centuries,” in
Gender Politics in Central Asia. Historical Perspectives and Current Living Conditions of Women (Köln: Bohlau
Verlag, 2008), pp. 21-35; Gulnara Mendikulova, “Kazakhstan’s Relation with the Gulf,” in Russian and CIS
Relations with the Gulf Region: Current Trends in Political and Economic Dynamics (Dubai: Gulf Research Center),pp. 183-211 (with co-author); and others.

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The Diaspora Policy of the Republic of Kazakhstan

the National Idea, we had a marvellous opportunity in 2007-2009 to conduct various researches
including field works and the collection of archival documents in several countries. Unfortunately,
the worldwide financial crisis diminished funds for conducting further necessary field works andresearch trips to collect relevant material. In 2013, we are expecting to receive new financial
support from the Ministry of Education and Science of Republic of Kazakhstan.
The substantial diversity of the Kazakh diaspora itself to some extent hampers Kazakhstan’s
endeavour to integrate the dispersed communities. These Kazakhs hailed mainly from Kazakhstan,
China, Turkey and Afghanistan where they acquired different languages, scripts and cultural norms.
A variety of memories around emigration and the divided frontiers of their historical motherland
make it difficult for them to communicate with each other. The difference in languages andalphabets especially works as an obstacle to spread literature and printed material from Kazakhstan
to the Kazakh communities in the countries concerned. While Kazakhstan uses the Cyrillicalphabet, Kazakhs in Turkey write in Latin script and those in China, Afghanistan and Iran in
Arabic script.
Nonetheless, the Kazakh diaspora has not only survived, but thrived in alien environments,
striving to preserve their ethnic identity, which has been all the more promoted by their growing
connections to the historical homeland. The situation for Kazakhs changed after the declaration of
the sovereignty and independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which led the diaspora andirredenta to take huge pride in belonging to the Kazakh nation. Even from Western Europe, somefamilies are planning to move to Kazakhstan and settle there permanently. Since the 1990s, theincreasing number of Kazakh associations has been established in different countries, facilitating regularunions and arranging joint cultural and sport events. This collectivity enables the Kazakh diaspora to
maintain their strong ethnic identity.
The Republic of Kazakhstan is responsible not only for the consolidation and unification ofits multi-ethnic citizens, but also for the integration of the Kazakhs dispersed around the world.
WAK is the embodiment of Kazakhstan’s endeavour to forge the highest level of cooperation withthe latter in all spheres of life. Its activities are appreciated by Kazakh communities abroad, suchas facilitating Kazakhstan policy about the diaspora and irredenta. Kazakhstan’s interactions withthese foreign Kazakhs have been developed to include: 1) the study of their history and ancestralability to live in various climatic, social, economic and cultural conditions; 2) state protectionism
for compatriots within and outside Kazakhstan; 3) the organization of repatriation; 4) assistance inhumanitarian help (sending textbooks, literature and periodicals in the Kazakh language to hostcountries); and 5) the creation and development of multilateral assistance to Kazakh cultural
centres abroad.17 Despite certain modifications, over time the main goal remains unchanged – toimprove the living conditions of Oralmans in their historical homeland and Kazakhs living abroad.

17

Gulnara Mendikulova, “Timely Questions of the Diaspora Studies in Kazakhstan,” Otan Tarikhi 3-4 (2000), pp.
37-42; Gulnara Mendikulova, “The Kazakh Diaspora and the Republic of Kazakhstan: Problems and Perspectives,”
Kazakhstan-Spektr 1 (1998), pp. 73-77.

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