NATIONALITY POLICIES IN POST-SOVIET KAZAKHSTAN A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY DENİZ DİNÇ IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF EURASIAN STUDIES SEPTEMBER 2010 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences _______________________ Prof. Dr. Meliha Altunışık Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. _______________________ Prof. Dr. Pınar Akçalı 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 _______________________ Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Şen Supervisor Examining Committee Members Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Şen (METU, SOC) ___________ Assist. Prof. Dr. Ayça Ergun Özbolat (METU, SOC) ___________ Assist. Prof. Dr. Işık Kuşçu Bonnenfant (METU, IR) ___________ I hereby declare that all information in this document 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: Signature: iii ABSTRACT NATIONALITY POLICIES IN POST-SOVIET KAZAKHSTAN Dinç, Deniz M.A., Eurasian Studies Supervisor : Assoc. Dr. Mustafa Şen September 2010, 141 pages This thesis attempts to analyze the continuity of nationality policies of Kazakhstan between Soviet and post-Soviet periods. As for the Soviet past the Soviet template of nationality policies was deeply rooted in Kazakhstan. Considering the Soviet template of nationality policies, this study conceptualizes the structure of it as first among equals under Russian hegemony. With regard to post-Soviet period, this thesis claims that the nation building policies were not born out of its ashes contrary to the mainstream arguments. This study aims to reveal how the post-Soviet nation building in Kazakhstan is still proceeding along with the Soviet template. Evaluating nation building process of independent Kazakhstan, this study emphasizes the rising titular hegemony of Kazakhs. In other words, this study attempts to analyze the transformation of first among equals taking into account the ethnic and civic aspects of nation-building oscillations. Keywords: Nation building, Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Nationalism, Soviet Union iv ÖZ SOVYET SONRASI KAZAKİSTAN’DA ULUS POLİTİKALARI Dinç, Deniz Yüksek Lisans, Avrasya Çalışmaları Tez Yöneticisi : Doç. Dr. Mustafa Şen Eylül 2010, 141 sayfa Bu tez Kazakistan’ın ulus politikalarındaki sürekliliğini Sovyet ve Sovyet sonrasi dönemler arasında analiz etmeye çalışmaktadır. Sovyet geçmişine baktığımızda, Sovyet şablonu ulus politikaları Kazakistan’da derince kök salmıştır. Sovyet şablonu ulus politikalarını düşününce bu çalışma, ulus politikalarının şablonunun yapısını Rus hegemonyası altında eşitler arası birinci olarak kavramsallaştırır. Sovyet sonrası dönemle ilgili olarak, ana akım argümanların aksine ulus inşa polikaları küllerinden doğmamıştır. Bu çalışma Sovyet sonrası dönemde Kazakistan’daki ulus inşasının Sovyet şablonuyla birlikte nasıl ilerlediğini aydınlatmayı amaçlar. Bağımsız Kazakistan’ın ulus inşa sürecini değerlendirirken Kazakların yükselen yerli hegemonyası vurgulanır. Başka bir deyişle, bu çalışma ulus inşa süreci salınımlarının etnik ve sivil yönlerini göz önüne alarak, eşitler arası birincinin dönüşümünü analiz etmeye çalışır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Ulus İnşası, Orta Asya, Kazakistan, Milliyetçilik, Sovyetler Birliği v To My Grandfather, Niyazi Dinç (1931-2010) vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author wishes to express his deepest gratitude to his supervisor Assoc. Dr. Mustafa Şen for his guidance, advice and patience. Without his guidance and tolarance it would be very difficult to finish this thesis. The author would also like to express his deepest appreciation to Assist. Prof. Ayça Ergun for her support to his academic development. The author learned new perspectives of Eurasian Studies in her courses. The author is very grateful to Assist Prof. Işık Kuşçu for her support and comments about his dissertation. The author is also very grateful to Dr. Yunus Emre Gürbüz for his encouragement, comments and history course. His contributions were very significant for the author to learn new arguments in the literature. The author would like to thank Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pınar Akçalı, Assoc Prof. Dr. Oktay Tanrısever, Assist. Prof. Dr. Pınar Bedirhanoğlu and Assist. Prof. Dr Hayriye Kahveci for their contributions to his academic life. Finally, the author would also like to thank to his parents, brother and friends for their encouragement and motivation. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM……………………………………………………………………...İİİ ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................... İV ÖZ ............................................................................................................................... V DEDICATION………………………………………………………………………Vİ ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................... Vİİ TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................ Vİİİ LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................... X LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................... Xİ LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................... Xİİ CHAPTER 1.INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 2.FORMATION OF SOVIET NATIONALITY POLICIES ....................................... 7 2.1. LEGACY OF CLASSİC MARXİST APPROACHES ON NATİONAL QUESTİON ............ 7 2.1.1. Marx and Engels on the National Question in the pre-1848 period: ..................... 9 2.1.2. Breaking point of 1848 on the Nationalism Perception of Marx and Engels ... 10 2.1.3. Considerations of Marx and Engels in the era of Post-1860’s: Irish Break ...... 11 2.2. DEBATES ON SELF DETERMINATION RIGHTS AMONG MARXISTS BEFORE BOLSHEVIK REVOLUTION ........................................................................................ 13 2.3. BOLSHEVIK NATIONALITY POLICIES FROM REVOLUTION TO THE STALIN ERA . 21 2.3.1. Debates on Demarcation of Borders ............................................................................. 26 2.4. SOVIET NATIONALITY POLICIES IN THE STALIN ERA: FROM NATIVIZATION TO DEPORTATIONS OF NATIONS ................................................................................... 28 2.4.1. Deportation of Nations ...................................................................................................... 32 3.IMPLEMENTATION OF NATIONLITY POLICIES IN SOVIET KAZAKHSTAN ........................................................................................................ 35 3.1. THE EMERGENCE OF NATIONALIST CONSCIOUSNESS AMONG KAZAKHS .......... 35 3.1.1. Nomadic life style of Kazakhs ........................................................................................ 35 3.1.2. Russian Colonization and the Effects for Kazakhs ................................................... 38 3.1.3. The Emergence of Kazakh Intelligentsia and Alash Orda Movement ................ 41 3.2. NATION BUILDING PROCESS IN THE SOVIET KAZAKHSTAN .............................. 44 3.2.1. Nationality Policies under the NEP Era 1921-27 ...................................................... 44 viii 3.2.2. Collectivization or Liquidation of Nomadic life in Kazakhstan ........................... 46 3.2.3. Virgin Land Campaign and Nationality Policies in the Period of Khrushchev 49 3.2.4. The Rising Status of Kazakhs under the Brezhnev-Kunaev Period..................... 52 3.2.5. December Incidents of 1986: Zheltoqsan .................................................................... 54 4.THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF NATION BUILDING STRUCTURE OF POST-SOVIET KAZAKHSTAN .............................................................................. 57 4.1. NATION BUILDING THEORY .............................................................................. 57 4.2. ITEMS AND TOOLS OF NATION BUILDING ......................................................... 65 4.3. NATION BUILDING STRUCTURE OF POST-SOVIET KAZAKHSTAN ...................... 68 4.3.1. The Impact of Soviet Heritage ........................................................................................ 68 4.3.2. Oscillations of Post-Soviet Nation Building Models of Kazakhstan .................. 74 4.3.2.1. Ethno-Nationalist Nation Building .................................................... 75 4.3.2.2. Civic Nation Building, Multiple Reethnification Model and Kazakhs First Among Equals ........................................................................................ 78 5.NATION BUILDING POLICIES IN THE POST-SOVIET KAZAKHSTAN ...... 83 5.1. DEMOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY AND CITIZENSHIP ................................................... 83 5.2. LANGUAGE POLICIES ........................................................................................ 88 5.3. STATE SYMBOLS AS AN IMPORTANT MIRROR OF THE NATION BUILDING ......... 96 5.3.1. National Flag of Independent Kazakhstan .................................................................