Decolonising Central Asia

Experts from across Central Asia came together at a three-day event in Almaty to discuss how the region could move away from its Soviet past and reinforce independent national identities.

Although Central Asian states have been sovereign republics for more than 30 years, Russian influence remains strong across fields including culture, urban design and the economy.

The dominance of Russian narratives also continues, centred on the concept of Russia as the region’s key trade partner and guarantor of security.

Aizirek Almazbekova, Kloop.kg project coordinator, said that Kyrgyzstan was particularly vulnerable, with Russian outlets dominating the media scene and regarded as local, rather than foreign sources of information.

“We see that decolonisation issues are being discussed now more than before,” Almazbekova said. “But these processes are not very widespread, we are in the process of it.”

Experts also collaborated on recommendations for the authorities, international organisations, media and civil society and discussed ways of rethinking the Soviet past through art and culture.

The issue of local languages, suppressed for a long time because of the domination of Russian, remains very sensitive for Central Asia.

Editor-in-chief of Steppe & World, Nazgul Kozhabek, noted that 2023 had been declared the year of the Russian language in Kazakstan. More needed to be done to support national languages, she continued.

“The Kazak language becomes literally the 100 per cent word-for-word translation of the Russian language. It loses its identity. Now we write Kazak words in the Russian language style because we use Russian grammar,” Kozhabek said.

Academic Ainash Mustoyapova, author of the book Decolonisation of Kazakstan, noted that mental attitudes were key.

“It is possible to free territory, it is possible to break away from economic, political dependencies. It is possible if there’s the will,” she said. “But it is much more difficult to get rid of colonial thinking. If we don’t decolonise our thinking, the authorities will not understand that steps should be taken to free from the colonial dependency in politics, education, information field, etc.”

Gender issues and women’s rights were an important part of decolonisation, explained Aizhamal Bektenova, co-founder of the Zhetishet Kyrgyz feminist movement.

Dialogue was part of this process, she continued, adding, “Now decolonisation to me is like a tool of communication even with patriarchal men. When you communicate with them about what decolonisation is, that we are for us, not against, their attitude changes.”

Experts noted that decolonisation did not mean de-Russification, but rather the process of national states reinforcing their own identities. This required the participation of civil society and the media as well as the authorities.

“It should not be the matter of professionals behind closed doors and decision-making experts. It is a complex and even intuitive and therapeutic process, which could take us decades,” said Asel Yeszhan, architect and co-founder of Urban Forum Kazakstan.

Aigul Omurkanova, a lecturer in international journalism at the Kyrgyz Russian Slavic university in Bishkek, said that participants agreed the key impetus came not from the authorities, but through popular and inspiring projects in urban, linguistic and cultural spheres.

“Most researchers said that decolonisation is an attempt to look at yourself by yourself, not through someone else’s eyes,” she said. “Without relying on the northern neighbour [Russia], or on the collective West."