roose, the blogger from YVision.kz blog platform in Kazakhstan, has posted [ru] a letter from the government to the principals of schools and colleges of the country containing recommendations to use KazTube.Kz video portal, which was created in February, 2009 at the expense of the state budget. In particular, the principals are urged to post videos about “significant events taking place in their institutions on a regular basis.”

akost has associated [ru] this “marketing approach” with the one that had been applied back in the Soviet times, when “people were forced to work on subbotniks (area clean-ups), and nowadays people are forced to upload videos to inferior video portals”. bakha has suggested [ru] that the reason for that is that “the authorities have dumped a lot of money into that project and now they are looking for the ways to justify it by administrative increase of traffic”. At the same time, Kimberly jokingly notes [ru] that “fun” is the most popular tag on KazTube.

Against the background of the notorious amendments on Internet regulation and their adoption by the Parliament, one may readily suppose that such approach can become a regular practice in the near future. Kazakhstan may deliberately hinder the development of web 2.0 with its user generated content and replace it with the “approved by the government content”.

Kuanyshbek Yesekeyev, the head of IT and Communications Agency, who initiated these amendments, is worried [ru]:

“Internet has to be regulated to some extent. If it flows naturally, then there is a possibility that the events similar to those in Moldova (when popular uprising was organized via Internet) will take place in Kazakhstan.”

So far no criticism has taken due effect. Roundtables held by rights advocates, letters addressed by journalists and politicians to the Parliament, and even the strong criticism of the OSCE and other international organizations failed to stop adoption of this online censorship law. OSCE Representative for the Freedom of Media Miklos Haraszti has said that this law would become a step backwards and asked president Nazarbayev to veto it.

Is Kazakhstan going to remain the country with positive contemporary history, which voluntary abandoned nuclear weapons and put forward various integration initiatives, or is it going to spoil its image and give a green light to censorship despite protests of local and international community? The Parliament of Kazakhstan has already passed the amendments and submitted them to the president for signing.

Also posted on Global Voices

Today’s roundup of blogs from Kazakhstan is dedicated to culture and media and how they come across each other. Of course, it did not go without politics being involved in it, as well as well as in many other things in Kazakhstan.

Megakhuimyak thinks that the main problem of Kazakhstani literature and arts is their irrelevance and lack of topicality [ru]:

“I am talking about satire and caricature – the genres, which are reflecting the current situation. The ones that exist at the moment are restricted by the editorial policy and trite techniques. In my personal opinion, it will be possible to say that our culture comes to life, only when these two genres revive”.

Ehot, a media professional, has tried to watch a weekly news bloc on the state TV-channel. Here is what he thinks about it [ru]:

“I am not sure, whose idea it was to announce the content of the broadcast for entire 5 minutes, but it was too much. What can be said about average TV-viewers, when it was so much boring even for me, the one who deliberately tried to watch the news? I switched off the TV-set before the announcement ended”

A-strekoza has also tried to do her best and watch the film about the incumbent president after she downloaded it from the official web-site of the film’s main character [ru]:

“It’s kind of a disaster. I have no complaints about the cameraman’s work, but the entire movie is a wild mix of an uncovered flattery with bad off-screen voice saying something pathetic and a far-fetched script… I wonder who has decided that such film can improve the image of the country and the president?”

Count-asylum shares his ideas that he has got after participation in the meeting of anime fans in Karaganda. What exactly happened there is that the police was watching closely the group of young fans of the Japanese animation art. The law enforcement was afraid that they had gathered for some unsanctioned meeting [ru]:

“It is necessary to top some pathos and exaggeration over this story to add more drama. Like this: “When they cracked down on the opposition newspapers, I was speechless - I read news on the web. When they put Zhakianov [opposition leader] in jail, I also did not say anything - I was a schoolboy. When they blocked Livejournal, I still did not resent - I know about anonymizers. But when they came for anime fans, nobody has been there to protest”.

Also posted on Global Voices

From June 01 to June 10 school graduates in Kazakhstan were undergoing Unified National Test (UNT) - the first and one of the most important tests in their lives. As Zara, one of our bloggers, writes, the average test result has been 74.9 points, which is 7 points higher than the one for the last year. The number of graduates with excellent marks, who confirmed their knowledge, has increased from 36% in the last year to 54.5%.

“On the whole, the situation with UNT results over the country is more optimistic comparing to the previous years”, she notes [ru].

Sadenova gives her own calculations, based on the officially stated figures, and her conclusions are far less optimistic [ru]:

Analisys of UNT-2009 results shows that every 7th school graduate hasn’t scored the threshold of 45 points, every 9th school graduate scored over 100 points, and only 1 school graduate out of 13,500 scored the maximum of 125 points.

And lord-fame tells about rumored violations during the test. Crib notes and mobile telephones used by the graduates are nothing, comparing to what is described below [ru]:

$ 300 - is the price fixed by local level some education officials and their cronies for not noticing a mobile telephone in the hands of a graduate passing the test. This price is valid for the provinces, and it’s more expensive in Almaty and Astana. By paying $1000 you can be sure that your child will get teacher’s help in case of a difficult question.

Also posted on Global Voices.

Yesterday, June 24, journalists of independent newspapers, media organizations and politicians from the “Azat” party held a silent actions of protest in the downtown of Almaty. They put on scarves on their mouths in a symbolic demand of more freedom of speech. The action went peacefully, but nearly a hundred of police officers were watching it.

The day before the protest, the initiative group disseminaed the statement concerning crackdown on media freedom in Kazakhstan, which listed the cases of persecution of the media outlets:

The 30 million tenge suit has actually led to shutdown of “Tasjargan” newspaper. A new criminal case has been brought against the newspaper’s founder Ermurat Bapi.
Overall charges against “Vremya” newspaper have already exceeded the worth of 1,150 billion tenge. “Svoboda slova” newspaper is currently facing three suits.
A closed trial of the National Security Committee against R. Esergepov, chief editor of “Alma-Ata Info” newspaper is on the way in Taraz. “ART” TV channel has been shut down for the SMS that was sent to the live broadcast by a viewer in Karaganda.
Independent Internet-newspaper “Zona.kz” is still suffering from DDoS attacks. Web-site of “Zhas Alash” newspaper is blocked.
The draft law on regulation of information and communication networks introduces censorship in the Internet and a ban on critical coverage of political protests and inter-ethnic relations for all media.

The majot opposition party “Azat” has filed an application for the rally in support of independent mass media twice – for June 20 and 27. However, the city administration turned them down under the pretext that «a rally would hinder normal functioning of public transportation”. Thus, for the first time in history of Kazakhstan, the public is not allowed to stage a rally in the honor of the professional holiday, the Day of Journalism.

Apart from calling on the journalists and readers to take part in the unsanctioned protest, the signatories - editors, journalists and rights activists - urged all printed media of Kazakhstan to demonstrate journalistic solidarity and to render part of their pages for publication of the materials of independent newspaper “Tasjargan”, which was shut down following a libel suit.

Democratic community of Kazakhstan disseminated a statement in support of Mukhtar Jakishev. The open letter, signed by two dozens of journalists, rights advocates and opposition leaders, expressed concern that “Kazakhstan returns to vicious practice of the Soviet times”.

Nearly a month has passed since the arrest of Mukhtar Jakishev, a longtime head of the national company “KazAtomProm”, but there are still no sufficient information on his state of health and conditions of detention. National Security Committee - the successor of KGB - is denying relatives of Jakishev and lawyers to meet the detainee. It has recently become known that the special service wants the case to be tried in the military tribunal, which means that, most likely, it will be held in closed manner.

Besides, recently Jamilya Jakisheva, a wife of Mukhtar Jakishev, was denied exit to Kyrgyzstan (she is an ethnic Kyrgyz) in violation of the Constitution. According to the democrats, “this is a dangerous precedent, and if it is not precluded, soon hundreds of thousands of freethinking citizens may find themselves in the lists of persons whose exit is denied”. Indeed, restrictions that are applied to Jamilya Jakisheva have no legal ground and are viewed by many as the NSC’s desire to retain a leverage of pressure on her husband.

In conclusion, the signatories called on the authorities to move M. Jakishev under house arrest and ensure fair and unbiased investigation.

Bloggers keep on commenting political situation in Kazakhstan. megakhuimyak reports that according to the new presidential decree, the Financial Police has got extra authority, informers against corrupt officials will be awarded, the civil servants’ property and income will be monitored [ru]:

The bad thing is that now officials will stop working and making decisions at all, being too scared.

Dojdlivoe-leto informs that the largest coal mining enterprise, which forms the city economy in Ekibastuz (Eastern Kazakhstan), will be closed until autumn, and more than one thousand men and women will be left without work and salary for several months. Pribaltkz from the neighboring city of Karaganda continues studying reports of state purchases and finding oddities [ru]:

Gynaecologist center buys petrol saw and axes. I also remember how a tender for holding of Ukrainian Culture Days in Kazakhstan was won by the Tatar culture center!

Neruad is indignant at inertness of the authorities concerning the detention of Kazakh citizens in Uzbekistan [ru]:

Only two months after arrest our authorities showed interest in the fate of 27 citizens of Kazakhstan. Foreign Ministry makes lame attempts to look into the case, official media veil the incident, while relatives of the detained are almost nervously exhausted due to inactivity of the state bodies.

Katelka is surprised by her own increased politization [ru]:

I read Kazakhstani news. Earlier I could do that only twice a year. Now I do it on a daily basis, but still, I trust more to bloggers.

Meanwhile, thousand-pa reflects on a new turn in the personality cult building. The ruling party “Nur-Otan” will suggest naming the international airport of Astana after Nursultan Nazarbayev [ru]:

I think it’s a bit early to name an airport after the incumbent president. They provide a number of examples of “nominative” airports - but they all were named after late personalities…

Also posted on Global Voices

Scandalous details continue to gather around so-called “KazAtomProm case” in Kazakhstan.

Tatiana Kvyatkovskaya (former MP and top member of the “Nur Otan” party), Sergey Yashin (Vice-President of “KazAtomProm”), nuclear scientists and public persons took part in the press conference earlier this week. The briefing has puzzled the people, as it looked like a hastily staged “performance” with the purpose to publicly smash the reputation of the former management of “KazAtomProm”. But the mission was not completed.

Unexpectedly, the speakers started a heated debate with each other. Sergey Yashin quarreled with Tatiana Kvyatkovskaya in response to her statements and accusations against the former management of “KazAtomProm”.

Yashin’s speech was aimed at protection of Mukhtar Dzhakishev, ex-president of “KazAtomProm”, and it’s quite possible that his words can be used against him later on.

Yashin strongly disagreed with the voiced accusations against arrested Mukhtar Dzhakishev, recommended to refrain from harsh statements until the court decision, and reminded of numerous merits and deserts of the former “KazAtomProm” head, his successes and great perpspectives of the company development that became possible in virtue of Dzhakishev’s work. Yashin also stressed that all contracts and other activities of the company were performed by Dzhakishev in strict compliance with all due procedures and didn’t result in transfer of uranium fields to Dzhakishev’s property. Finally, Yashin emphasized the fact that 42% of uranium fields are left in the state property to date instead of 23%, as Kvyatkovskaya stated.

In brief, the entire nature of this public controversy between Kvyatkovskaya and Yashin, excessive emotionality, lack of ethics and inadequacy of remarks made by the former MP and functionary of the ruling party, has left the journalists in bewilderment.

In June 01-10 all school graduates in Kazakhstan were undergoing a Unified National Test (UNT) - the first and one of the most important tests in their lives. Lately the Minister of Education has announced its results.

The average test result has been 74.9 points, which is 7 points higher than the same for the last year. The number of “Altyn Belgi” (”golden medal”, the best pupils) nominees, who confirmed their knowledge, has increased from 36% to 54.5%. The number of graduates that did not succeed in meeting the threshold of 45 points, decreased twice comparing to 2008 results and made up 14%. There was 10.6% of the graduates, who passed the test and scored over 100 points.

Additionally, while summarizing the results of UNT-2009 Minister Zhanseit Tuimebayev has noted that the number of submitted appeals reduced by 94%, which may indicate an overall improve of the test.

At the same time, violations still have been taking place there, which unfortunately became traditional: graduates using mobile telephones and cheat sheets, swindlers selling the test keys, teachers helping some of the graduates. Also there was one incident registered, when a man tried to pass UNT under the different person’s name.

Nevertheless, the entire situation with UNT results is more optimistic comparing to the previous years. Graduates from the northern regions demonstrated the best results in the country: the average result for Kostanai and North Kazakhstan oblasts was, respectively, 82.9 and 81.5.

Only eight graduates had the highest score of 125 points. Zhadyra Essenayeva, a graduate from rural school in Essil village (Northern Kazakhstan), is one of them. The girl, an “Altyn Belgi” nominee, notes that her success became possible due to systematic preparation for the test, which she started two years before her graduation.

Despite the numerous disputes concerning adequacy of the tests, reprsentatives of the Ministry of Education state that they are very resolute to keep on using UNT, improve its content and technical aspects. Hopefully, these efforts will further minimize the number of violations and corruption practices in high schools and universities.

On June 17, President Nazarbayev signed the order on resignation of Danial Akhmetov, the first civil Minister of Defence in the history of Kazakhstan. Nobody is appointed to replace him yet, which is very unusual for Kazakhstan. Traditionally, ministerial posts find their replacement immediately. Mukhtar Atynbayev, one of the former heads of the Ministry, the first Vice-Minister during Akhmetov’s administration, is temporarily assigned as acting Minister of Defence.

Akhmetov is one of the heavyweights in the Kazakhstani government team. His record of the govrnmental work is more than 9 years. He worked at various positions: deputy Prime-Minister, Prime-Miniter and the Minister of Defence. Despite all fair critisism towards Akhmetov, many experts consider him one of the most successful Prime-Ministers in the history of Kazakhstan.

A series of scandals and incidents - explosions at the military supply depots in the South Kazakhstan and Almaty, as well as the most significant incident, when the Vice Minister of Defence was accused of corruption and arrested - preceeded Akhmetov’s resignation.

Now it is intriguing, if Danial Akhmetov finds employment. He has the experience of working as a governor, and it may well be that he either becomes the head of some regional administration, or starts working in one of the national companies. Or whether he is to take a time-out while corruption scandals and other troubles are still on the go?