Following his compliments toward Nazarbayev, a certain dog-whistle chauvinism ran through the rest of Putin’s response. He highlighted Kazakhstan’s large-sprawl emptiness, blatantly underestimating Kazakhstan’s population. He offered a slanted comment about how Kazakhstan must remain within the Russian world, which is part of the “global civilization” – noting, by turn, that Kazakhstan’s culture is apparently not.
On multiple occasions, ethnic Russians in northern Kazakhstan have reminded me of their belief that Central Asian states have never existed. Kazakhstan, one told me, is but a Bantustan, with proper civilization brought only by the arrival of Russians. Putin’s comments fall directly within this vein. Kazakhstan can be identified with the persona of Nazarbayev, but once he’s gone, why would there be any reason to continue with this experiment in statehood?
http://thediplomat.com/2014/09/putins-chilling-kazakhstan-comments/
btw, Putin gone from verbal threats to Kazakhstan to army manoeuvres near borders. Ukraine events were on same scenario.
#putin #kazakhstan #russia #nazarbayev #ukraine
