CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VOLUME VI (1) Contemporary-Eurasia-VI-1-engl | Seite 111

NAREK MKRTCHYAN
simultaneously emphasizes the necessity of the promotion of the state
language and importance of Russian language by mentioning that “No
one can ignore the fact that through the Russian language in centuries
the Kazakhstan citizens gain additional knowledge, increase their
perspective and communications both domestically and abroad” 12 .
Despite the existing discourse on bilingualism, there are
monolingualizing tendencies in Kazakhstan. The monolingualizing
tendencies in Kazakhstan are evident in different practices of society
like the law, education, mass media, etc. According to the 1999
census, approximately 95 percent of ethnic Kazakhs of Kazakhstani
population mentioned that they have proficiency in Kazakhs
language 13 . Of course the results of the census could be contradictory,
but it is obvious that there was a tendency to show their ethnic
aspirations by confirming their proficiency in native language. In the
same way, Bhavna Dave explains the census-based language politics
of Kazakhstan as a demonstration of “the ‘steady success’ of its
ethnolanguage policies” 14 .
Another important policy of national language promotion in
Kazakhstan is the government’s decision to change alphabet from
Cyrillic to Latin. 15 Initially, Latin alphabet was replaced with Cyrillic
one by Russian authorities to ease learning and understanding
processes of Russian concepts 16 . The discourses on alphabet change
12
Official Site of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Events of
14.12.2012, Address by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Leader of
the Nation, N. Nazarbayev, Strategy “Kazakhstan-2050”: New Political Course
of the Established State.
13
Dave B., Kazakhstan: Ethnicity, Language and Power, London: Rutledge,
2007, p. 113.
14
Ibid, p. 114.
15
The Latin Kazakh alphabet consists of 30 letters. There are 9 vowels and 21
consonants in this alphabet.
16
In this context, one should emphasize the influential role of Ibray Altynsarin (1841–
89) in supporting Russianness among the Kazakhs. He was an inspector of public
schools for Turgai oblast (province), where he developed Russian-Kazakh school
system. Furthermore, he made a significant contribution to the development of
translation of Russian literature into Kazakh and introduced Cyrillic alphabet for the
Kazakh language. During the Soviet period, the Kazakh alphabet was changed to
Cyrillic to ease the learning processes of the Russian language. See, Bacon E., Central
Asians under Russian rule: a study in culture change, Cornell University Press,
1966, pp. 101-102.
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