THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE PAST IN THE PROCESS OF NATION BUILDING IN KAZAKHSTAN A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY ALİ DENİZ USTA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN EURASIAN STUDIES SEPTEMBER 2007 Approval of the Graduate of Social Sciences ________________________________ Prof. Dr. Sencer Ayata Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Master of Art. ________________________________ Assist. Prof. Dr. Oktay F. Tanrısever Head of the Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts. ________________________________ Assist. Prof. Dr. Ayşegül Aydıngün Supervisor Examining Committee Members Assoc. Prof. Dr. Recep Boztemur (METU, HIST.) ____________________ Assist. Prof. Dr. Ayşegül Aydıngün (METU, SOC.) ____________________ Assist. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Şen (METU, SOC.) ____________________ I hereby declare that all information in this dissertation has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last Name : Ali Deniz Usta Signature : iii ABSTRACT THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE PAST IN THE PROCESS OF NATION BUILDING IN KAZAKHSTAN Ali Deniz Usta M.A., Eurasian Studies Supervisor: Assis. Prof. Dr. Ayşegül Aydıngün September 2007, 155 pages In this thesis, the purpose is to analyze the path that the nation building process in Kazakhstan has been following in the post-Soviet period through examining the various policies implemented and the official rhetoric and discourses stated by the Kazakh policymakers. The ethno-symbolist approach of Anthony D. Smith and the views of Walker Connor and Willfried Spohn on nationalism and national identity have been utilized in the analysis of the research. The Soviet Nationalities Policy is examined to be able to better understand the post-Soviet nation-building, because the policies implemented under this comprehensive project, which had been outlined by the Bolsheviks, had deep political, cultural, demographic and linguistic impacts on the process in Kazakhstan. The ethnic situation has also been laid down in order to highlight under which ethnic circumstances the nation building process has been taking place. After analyzing the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the post-Soviet policies about language, education, employment, culture and national symbols, the statements of the President Nursultan Nazarbayev and the move of capital, this study claims that post-Soviet nation building process and nationalism in Kazakhstan have both ethnic and civic components whereby the nation building process in Kazakhstan is a more ethnic process than it is civic. Keywords: Nation building, nationalism, Kazakh, Kazakhstan, nation, national identity, Soviet Nationalities Policy, ethno-symbolism, ethnic, civic. iv ÖZ KAZAKİSTAN’DAKİ MİLLET İNŞASI SÜRECİNDE GEÇMİŞİN YENİDEN İNŞASI Ali Deniz Usta Yüksek Lisans, Avrasya Çalışmaları Tez Yöneticisi: Yrd. Doç. Dr. Ayşegül Aydıngün Eylül 2007, 155 sayfa Bu tezde amaç, Kazak siyasetçiler tarafından izlenen politikaların, resmi söylemlerin ve yapılan açıklamaların incelenerek, Sovyet sonrasındaki dönemde Kazakistan’daki millet inşası sürecinin izlediği yolun analiz edilmesidir. Bu çalışmanın analizinde, Anthony Smith’in etno-sembolist yaklaşımından ve Walker Connor ile Willfried Spohn’un milli kimlik ve milliyetçilikle ilgili görüşlerinden faydalanılmıştır. Bolşevikler tarafından şekillendirilen Sovyet Milletler Politikası kapsamında yapılan uygulamaların, günümüz Kazakistan’ına demografik, kültürel, politik ve dil bakımından yaptığı derin etkiler nedeniyle ve bugün Kazakistan’da uygulamaya çalışılan millet inşası sürecinin daha iyi anlaşılabilmesi amacıyla, Milletler Politikası incelenmiştir. Millet inşası sürecinin hangi etnik durum içerisinde sürdüğünü aydınlatmak için, Kazakistan’daki etnik durum ortaya konulmuştur. Kazakistan anayasasının, Sovyet sonrası dil, eğitim, işe alma, kültür ve milli semboller ile ilgili politikaların ve devlet başkanı Nazarbayev’in açıklamaları ile başkentin taşınmasının incelendikten sonra bu çalışmada savunulan düşünce, Kazakistan’daki Sovyet sonrasında millet inşası sürecinin ve milliyetçiliğin, hem etnik hem de yurttaşlıkla ilgili unsurlar içermekle beraber, daha ziyade etnik unsurlar içerdiğidir. Anahtar sözcükler: Millet inşası, Kazak, Kazakistan, millet, milli kimlik, Sovyet Miletler Politikası, etno-sembolizm, etnik, yurttaşlığa dayalı. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I express my sincere appreciation to my supervisor Assis. Prof. Dr. Ayşegül Aydıngün for her advice, guidance and patience. As a student with a business administration background, I could not convey a draft into this dissertation without her guidance. I also want to thank to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ceylan Tokluoğlu for introducing me with the nationalism theories. I am also grateful to all my professors; Assis. Prof. Dr. Oktay Tanrısever, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Recep Boztemur, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pınar Akçalı, Assis. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Şen, and Assis. Prof. Dr. Ayça Ergun, for their contributions to my academic gaining of new perspectives in this master program. My further thanks are to my superiors in my company for their tolerance to me in completing this program. I thank to my friends in Eurasian Studies for sharing a pleasant atmosphere in this program. I am also grateful to my special friends who were always with me and I am indebted to my precious family for their supports. vi For my father, Mahmut N. Usta (1938 – 2001), always trusted in me, and for my precious family. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT................................................................................................................iv ÖZ ................................................................................................................................ v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..........................................................................................vi TABLE OF CONTENTS..........................................................................................viii LIST OF TABLES......................................................................................................xi LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................xii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introducing the Study......................................................................................... 1 1.2 Methodology ...................................................................................................... 8 2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK: APPROACHES TO NATIONAL IDENTITY AND NATIONALISM........................................................................... 10 2.1 National Identity .............................................................................................. 11 2.2 Nationalism ...................................................................................................... 18 2.2.1 Types of Nationalism................................................................................ 19 2.3 Main Perspectives on Nationalism................................................................... 21 2.3.1 Modernity of Nation and Nationalism ...................................................... 21 2.3.2 Pre-Modernity of Nations ......................................................................... 25 3. THE IMPACT OF THE SOVIET NATIONALITIES POLICY ON THE KAZAKH IDENTITY ...................................................................................... 30 3.1 Pre-Soviet History of Kazakhs......................................................................... 32 3.2 Soviet Nationalities Policy............................................................................... 34 3.3 Demarcation of National Borders .................................................................... 36 3.4 Soviet Policies in Practice................................................................................ 38 3.4.1 National Language Creation Policy.......................................................... 38 3.4.2 Collectivization and Sedentarization Efforts of the Soviet State.............. 40 3.4.3 Culture....................................................................................................... 45 3.4.3.1 Policies towards Islam ....................................................................... 46 3.4.3.2 Formal Education and Non-Formal Education .................................. 50 viii 3.4.3.3 Industrialization and Urbanization..................................................... 52 3.4.3.4 National Arts...................................................................................... 55 3.5 Rediscovery of Culture and National Identity in the Post-Stalin Era .............. 58 3.6 Prevailing Traditional Sub-Ethnic Identities Despite Soviet Policies ............. 64 3.7 Historical Background of Ethnic Structure in Kazakhstan .............................. 69 4. ETHNIC STRUCTURE AND NATION BUILDING POLICIES IN THE POST-SOVIET KAZAKHSTAN ..................................................................... 74 4.1 The Inter-Ethnic and Intra-Ethnic