Kazakhstan MP responds to Vladimir Putin's statement on lack of statehood in Kazakhstan

Maulen Ashimbayev, Chairman of the Majilis Committee for International Affairs, Defense and Security, has commented on the much-talked-about statement on Kazakhstan’s statehood made by President Vladimir Putin of Russia, Tengrinews reports.

In his Q and A session on August 29 Russia's Putin praised President Nazarbayev for creating a state "in a territory that had never had a state before" and maintained that "the Kazakhs had no statehood" before. This statement raised a rumble among the population of the neighbouring Kazakhstan that felt that their history was being misinterpreted. 

“I believe it is incorrect to assert that there had been no statehood at Kazakhstan's territory. Maybe the statement was taken out of the context in which it occurred. Maybe it was an impromptu statement, rather than a carefully prepared one. However, I believe it is wrong to say there was no statehood in Kazakhstan”, Mr. Ashimbayev told the journalists before the joint sitting of the Parliament today.

“We are all aware our statehood goes back to centuries ago. The roots of the statehood go back to the era of the Great Turk State. After that we were part of the Golden Horde, which was followed by periods of individual Kazakh khans. All these were distinct milestones of the statehood in Kazakhstan’s territory. Therefore we cannot agree that Kazakhstan had no statehood,” he said.

At the same time he warned against overly dramatising the situation. “The political situation is rather emotionally charged over the developments in Ukraine. Some phrases might have been taken out of context,” he added.

“I strongly believe Kazakhstan’s statehood goes back to centuries ago, and the country’s current independence rests on the statehood that has been forged by our ancestors for many centuries,” Mr. Ashimbayev said.

He also commented on the statement made by Kazakhstan’s President on the possibility of the Central Asian country's exiting integration alliances if the alliances pose a threat to the country’s independence.

“President Nazarbayev didn’t mean Kazakhstan might exit the Customs Union over certain events in Ukraine. He meant that Kazakhstan is always free to exit any signed agreements, any international organizations. If the reached agreements are not duly respected within the Eurasian Economic Union, and if any factors start affecting Kazakhstan’s independence and national interests, Kazakhstan is free to exit the Eurasian Economic Union. That is what the President was talking about,” Mr. Ashimbayev said.

The statement “didn’t mean that Kazakhstan is thinking of exiting right away or considering such an exit”, but just emphasises availability of a mechanism to exit such agreements, he added.

Some of Russian and Ukranian media have been asserting that President Nazarbayev’s statement on Kazakhstan’s possible exit from the Eurasian Union was his answer to President Putin’s statement on Kazakhstan made at Seliger-2014 Youth Forum of Russia.

However, this cannot be true, as President Nazarbayev made his statement in an interview for Khabar TV on August 24, five days before President Putin spoke about Kazakhstan's statehood at Seliger on August 29.