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Kazakhstan Country Page

Kazakhstan Data

Kazakhstan Summary

NCSJ report (below)

CIA World Factbook

U.S. State Dept. - background

U.S. State Dept. - Human Rights

U.S. State Dept. - Religious Freedom

Kazakhstan Embassy

U.S. Embassy Astana

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Population: 15.4 million

Ethnic Composition: Kazakh 53.4%,Russian 30%, Ukrainian 3.7%, Uzbek2.5%, German 2.4%, Uygur 1.4%, Tatar1.7%, other (Chechens, Poles,Belarusians, Koreans) 4.9%

Religion: 47% Muslim (mostly Sunni),44% Russian Orthodox Christian, 2%Protestant, 7% other

Jewish population: 15,000-30,0002009 Aliyah(emigration to Israel): 160

Size: 2,717,300 sq kmCapital:AstanaMajor cities: Almaty, Karaganda,Chimkent

Freedom House Rating:Not Free

Currency: 148 tenge = $1

GDP: $107 billion (2009 est.)GDP per capita: $11,400 (2009 est.)GDP Growth: -1.8% (2009 est.)

Head of State: PresidentNursultan A.Nazarbayev

Head of Government:Prime MinisterKarim Massimov

Foreign Minister:Kanat Saudabayev

Ambassador to United

States:Erlan A. Idrissov

U.S. Ambassador to

Kazakhstan:

Richard E. Hoagland

Chronology of all U.S.
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envoys to Kazakhstan

SUMMARY

The ninth-largest country in the world, independent Kazakhstan is moving

quickly to overcome its Soviet legacy of underdevelopment and large-scalesettlement by Russian-speakers. Although affected by the breakup of theSoviet Union, Kazakhstans economy has since recovered and is now oneof the most robust in Central Asia, thanks to substantive market economicreforms, strong government stewardship, significant foreign investment,and abundant energy and mineral resources

Kazakhstans long-serving President Nursultan Nazarbayev in power

since 1989, and reelected in December 2005 to a new 7-year term hasused his countrys strategic location and extensive energy reserves to

balance skillfully among Russia, China, Europe, and the United States, andhas positioned Kazakhstan as an aspiring regional leader. Achievingsustainable economic development outside the oil, gas, and mining sectorsis another near-term challenge, as is reversing the Soviet legacy ofextensive environmental pollution and the drying of the Aral Sea.

Thanks to its large size and surging economy, Kazakhstan enjoys growingleverage over other central Asian states. Relations with key neighbors

Russia and China are good and feature growing economic and securitycooperation. The United States has praised Kazakhstan for its cooperation

on U.S.-led non-proliferation, security, and counter-terrorism efforts. TheU.S. has also maintained a positive relationship with Nazarbayev despite

allegations leveled against his government of human rights and electoralviolations, harassment of opposition and independent media, and endemiccorruption.

The Jewish community of Kazakhstan is composed both of long-settledBukharan Jews and more recent Ashkenazic immigrants from the era of

Russian rule. Jewish relations with the Kazakh government are good, andthere have been no recent reports of anti-Semitic acts. Kazakhstan

maintains cordial relations with Israel, and President Nazarbayev is anadvocate of interfaith dialogue, moderate Islam, and peaceful resolution of

the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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KAZAKHSTAN

INTRODUCTIONPOLITICAL SITUATION Religious Situation Foreign Policy

IsraelECONOMIC SITUATION

JEWISH COMMUNAL LIFEU.S. POLICY

Kazakhstan is the second-largest Soviet successor state after Russia, andthe ninth-largest country in the world. As large as Western Europe, andnearly four times the size of Texas, Kazakhstan hosts dozens of ethnic

groups and religious denominations. It borders Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan,Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and the Caspian and Aral Seas.

Long dominated by Central Asian nomads and their khanates (especiallyMongols and Turks), Kazakhstan was annexed piecemeal by Russia in the18th and 19th centuries, incorporated into the Soviet Union by 1920 andraised to Union Republic status in 1936. When it gained its independencein 1991 after the fall of the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan held more ethnicSlavs than ethnic Kazakhs, a legacy of Tsarist and Soviet policies ofdeportation and state-sponsored population resettlement. Kazakhstanssparsely populated northern steppes in particular were intensively settledwith Russian-speaking farmers by Soviet leader Khrushchev in his Virgin

Lands campaign during the 1950s and early 1960s.

In Soviet-era Kazakhstan, the large Russian-speaking population enjoyedpreferential treatment over ethnic Kazakhs. After 1991, ethnic tensionsand official policy (such as requiring Kazakh language proficiency forgovernment jobs) led many Russian-speakers to leave Kazakhstan,ultimately shrinking its population by a million; likewise, Kazakhs returnedhome from other regions of the former Soviet Union, gaining automaticcitizenship. Ethnic Kazakhs now enjoy majority status in their owncountry, although Russian speakers still form almost a third of thepopulation.

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POLITICAL SITUATION

The Kazakh constitution, adopted by referendum in 1995 and supersedinga version passed in 1993, established a bicameral parliament, a judiciary,and an executive branch headed by a popularly elected President whoserves a 7-year term. The upper house of parliament (the Senate) has 39representatives serving six-year terms while the lower house (the Majilis)has 77 representatives serving for five years. The constitution and

subsequent presidential decrees have concentrated power in the executivebranch, with little power granted to or practiced by the legislature, thejudiciary, or local administrationsthey, who are appointed and dismissedby the President, as are the prime minister and all other members of the
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cabinet. However, in May 2007, parliament approved, and PresidentNazarbayev signed into law, a series of constitutional amendmentsdesigned to reduce the powers of the presidency, boost parliamentarypowers, and raise the number of parliamentarians to 154. Theamendments, which take effect in 2012, also eliminate term limits forNazarbayev himself, whose current term ends in 2012, but reduce futurepresidential terms from seven to five years.

The most recent legislative election took place for the Senate in December2005, and was described by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) cited instances of official harassment of theopposition and pervasive pro-government media bias.

Kazakhstans politics since independence (and even before) have beendominated by one man: Nursultan Nazarbayev, its powerful President andformer Communist Party chief. Nazarbayev was originally appointed headof the Kazakhstan Communist Party in 1989 by Soviet leader MikhailGorbachev, who considered making Nazarbayev his prime minister duringthe last year of the Soviet Union. Even as the USSR collapsed, Nazarbayev

was elected Kazakhstans first President for a 5-year term in December1991. Following flawed legislative elections in 1994 that were ultimatelyinvalidated by the Constitutional Court, Nazarbayev dissolved parliamentand initiated a national referendum in April 1995. Official results showed95 percent of voters supported Nazarbayevs proposal to extend his termuntil December 2000; another referendum held in August 1995 andboycotted by some oppositionists approved a new constitution that greatlyexpanded executive powers. Parliamentary elections held in December1995 for a new bicameral legislature resulted in a sweep for pro-presidential candidates.

In October 1998, parliament approved Nazarbayevs proposal toreschedule presidential elections from December 2000 to January 1999,and to extend the presidential term from 5 to 7 years. Nazarbayev easilywon reelection with a reported 80 percent of the vote, although his chiefchallenger, a former prime minister, was banned from running, and theOSCE declared the election non-democratic and below internationalstandards.

Parliamentary elections to the lower house (Majilis) held in September2004 produced an overwhelming win for the presidents Otan (Fatherland)party and two other pro-presidential parties. Although opposition partieswere registered and competed in the elections, they won only one seatand refused to take it in protest, alleging government harassment duringthe campaign, leading the OSCE to describe the elections as falling short

of international standards.

Kazakhstans most recent Presidential election was held in December 2005in conjunction with the parliamentary election to the Senate. Officialresults showed that Nazarbayev won another 7-year term with 91 percentof the vote, though independent exit polls suggested this number wasinflated. Several opposition candidates competed in the election, althoughOSCE monitors reported opposition complaints of government harassmentand interference in their campaigns.

During the run-up to the 2005 presidential election, the governmentassumed greater powers to combat vaguely defined extremism, and

imposed new restrictions on civil society in the name of enhancing nationalsecurity. Observers suggested that these steps were taken partly inresponse to popular uprisings in Georgia, Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan in


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2003-2005, in which opposition groups, NGOs, and independent mediaplayed key roles in the overthrow of unpopular authoritarian regimes.Reported threats and attacks against the opposition were more numerousin 2005, culminating in the execution-style murders of two leadingopposition figures in late 2005 and early 2006 that further chilledKazakhstans political environment.

The OSCE criticized Nazarbayevs government for its conduct during thecampaign and election, which it claimed limited meaningful politicalopposition and contributed to an atmosphere of intimidation. The OSCEdetermined that the 2005 presidential election did not meet democraticstandards, despite some improvement over past elections. At the sametime, many observers noted President Nazarbayevs genuine popularity athome, buoyed by growing prosperity and relative stability under his rule inan region roiled by open ethnic, political, and religious conflict.

President Nazarbayevs eldest daughter, Dariga Nazarbayeva, hasemerged as a powerful political figure in her own right. The former head ofthe countrys state-run news agency and a successful businesswoman,

Nazarbayeva had led her own political party and was elected toparliament, where she was at times critical of her fathers regime.However, Nazarbayeva merged her party with the Presidents Otan(Homeland) party in 2006 after Nazarbayevs reelection, and has redefinedherself as a strong supporter of the current political system. Some havesuggested that Nazarbayeva may be attempting to carve out a role as herfathers designated successor during what may be his last term in office.Both Nazarbayeva and Nazarbayev have called publicly for an anti-corruption drive and a government shake up, which some have interpretedas an opportunity to purge potential opponents of the Nazarbayevs frompower.

In February 2007, Nazarbayev outlined his national priorities in his annualreport to parliament, stressing the need for a strategy to ensure thecountrys global competitiveness. Nazarbayev also called fordemonopolization of the economy, described economic integration withregional groupings such as the CIS and the Shanghai CooperationOrganization as important, and said Kazakhstan will pursue its own

Kazakh way of gradual political reform and will not rely on foreignexperience or abstract theories. In a break with tradition, Nazarbayevsaddress was not televised live but was recorded prior to its broadcast.

In 1994, President Nazarbayev proposed moving the capital of Kazakhstanfrom Almaty, its largest city and Soviet-era capital close to the Kyrgyz andChinese borders, to Astana in north-central Kazakhstan (formerly known

as Akmola and then as Tselinograd, or Virgin Lands City.) The move,completed by 1997-1998, may have been made in part to enhancenational security by placing the capital away from the Chinese border andin the middle of the largely Russian-populated north, some of whoseresidents agitated for union with Russia following Kazakhstansindependence in 1991. After the move, Nazarbayevs governmentlaunched an ambitious, multi-billion dollar development project to turnAstana into an impressive capital, world-class city, and symbol of nationalpride and identity. Current plans envisage Astana ultimately doubling itspopulation to one million and hosting a leading national university.

The Kazakh government has been accused of discouraging independent

political activity, and freedom of association and assembly is limited bystate regulations. Freedom of the press, although protected by theconstitution, is not always respected in practice, and security services such


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as the KNB (Committee for National Security) have been accused ofhuman rights abuses. The government generally allows opposition activity,including peaceful demonstrations. However, opposition groups alsoroutinely report harassment, interference, and persecution by theauthorities, including imprisonment and electoral disqualification, which issaid to increase in the run-up to national elections.

The murders of two opposition figures in 2005 and 2006 tarnished thecountrys reputation. Kazakhstan is slated to chair the OSCE in 2010.

President Nazarbayev is a strong advocate for non-proliferation ofweapons of mass destruction. Since taking office, he has dismantledKazakhstans nuclear arsenal, formerly the fourth largest in the world afterthe fall of the USSR, and has signed various treaties to reduce arms. InApril 2007, the Kazakh parliament ratified an international treaty banningthe use, production, or storage of biological weapons. The governmentused the occasion to call on the international community to help fund therehabilitation of Kazakhstans extensive Soviet-era nuclear, chemical, andbiological weapons-testing areas, whose residual toxins contribute to

continued high rates of diseases and genetic disorders in nearby regions.

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Religious Policy

Human rights organizations have condemned official intolerance towardsreligious minorities in state documents, in officials' public comments, andin state-inspired hostile media coverage. National security legislationpassed in 2005 gave the government wider scope to designate religiousgroups as extremist and ban them, and also to ban all activities byunregistered religious groups, creating another lever of state control.

Kazakhstan's controversial amendments to various laws affecting religionor belief reached the Senate in September 2008. Among numerousrestrictions, if adopted in the current form the Law would for the first timeexplicitly ban unregistered religious activity. It would also ban anyonefrom sharing their beliefs without both the written backing of a registeredreligious association and also personal state registration as a missionary.The restrictive new draft Law amending various laws on religion wasreturned to the Majilis (Lower Chamber of parliament) by the Senate(Upper Chamber) with further changes and amendments in November2007. The draft text now requires permission from both parents forchildren to attend any religious event, and religious groups would be

allowed to only teach, propagate religious doctrines, and hold religiousceremonies and rituals in their own circle, i.e. they would be banned fromspreading their faith. The law does not clarify what "their own circle"means. It is also unclear if new people join a group whether it will beregarded as missionary activity. The law must pass through the Senateand then be approved by the President before it comes into effect.

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Foreign Policy

Since independence, Kazakhstan has pursued with a large measure ofsuccess equally good relations with Russia, China, Europe, and the UnitedStates. Past disputes with Russia over the treatment of Kazakhstans
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ethnic Russians, Russian leasing of the Baykonur Cosmodrome for rocketlaunches, and pipeline routes for Kazakh oil has rocked their relationshipbut are now resolved. In June 2006, Kazakhstan launched its firstcommercial satellite, KazSat 1, from Baykonur atop a Russian-builtbooster rocket. In January 2006, Nazarbayev and Russian President Putinmet in St. Petersburg and signed an understanding dividing the northernCaspian Sea between their two states, with an eye to future joint oil field

development in that area.

NASA

1975 Soyuz lift-off: Russia

continues to launch space flights

from Kazakhstan's Baykonur

Cosmodrome.

Border disputes with neighboring Uzbekistan have been peacefullyresolved, and a 2006 summit meeting between the presidents of bothcountries appeared to improve relations and reduce latent rivalry betweenCentral Asias two biggest states. Drought and the ongoing desertificationof the Aral Sea have triggered disputes over water rights among all theCentral Asian nations; Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan have yet todetermine their boundaries in the Caspian Sea. Kazakhstans relationshipwith China has been growing, boosted by Chinese interest in transportingand receiving Kazakh oil and investing in the Kazakh economy, and jointsecurity cooperation. Kazakhstan is a member of NATOs Partnership forPeace and is working towards accession to the World Trade Organization.

In September 2001, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO),consisting of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, andUzbekistan, signed a memorandum on increasing cooperation in economicpolicy, foreign trade and investment, and made a joint statement pledgingcooperation in the war against terror. Kazakhstan has been an active andwilling participant in this regional organization, and has staged jointsecurity exercises with both China and Russia.

In June 2002, 15 countries established the Conference on Interaction andConfidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Almaty. PresidentNazarbayev had lobbied strongly for the creation of CICA as a forum

similar to the OSCE, to defuse tensions and resolve conflicts. The CICAfounding document is the Almaty Act. The CICA Declaration onEliminating Terrorism and Promoting Dialogue Among Civilizationscommits member states to cooperation in the war on terror.

In February 2003, the Kazakh government hosted the InternationalConference on Peace and Harmony, which brought together Central Asianand Caspian leadership, and representatives of Jewish and Muslim groupsfrom many nations, to promote interfaith tolerance while condemningterrorism and extremism. A follow-up conference in September 2003brought together political and religious delegations from all regions of theworld, including the United States. In September 2006, Kazakhstan hosted

the Second Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions,which attracted religious leaders from around the world, including the twochief Rabbis of Israel. Nazarbayev has described hosting such multi-confessional meetings as his contribution to global security.
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In the fall of 2006, President Nazarbayev presented his foreign policy goalsfor the future. His three main priorities are increasing integration withRussia, improving cooperation with China, and establishing long-termstable relations with the United States. The opening of important new oilpipelines from Kazakhstan to Russia and to China since 2000 have

symbolized the Nazarbayev governments balanced foreign policyapproach. Likewise, senior American officials, including the Vice President,the Secretary of State, and other cabinet members, visited Kazakhstan in2006, while President Nazarbayev paid a state visit to Washington, D.C.and met with President Bush at the White House in September 2006.

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Israel

Israeli President Peres visited Kazakhstan on an official visit in June, 2009,

where he met with the upper political echelon, first and foremost with thepresident, Nursultan Nazarbayev, with Prime Minister Karim Masimov, andwith Senate Speaker Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev. President Peres discussedvarious diplomatic and security issues as well as the potential foreconomic-technological cooperation between the two states. In addition,Peres was invited to be the keynote speaker at an inter-religiousconference with hundreds of Muslim leaders and religious figures from theMiddle East and around the world.

President Nazarbayev and Jewish

leaders visiting Israel

Kazakhstan has good relations with Israel. Diplomatic ties wereestablished in 1992, and the countries have reciprocal embassies. Between1989 and the present, an estimated twenty thousand Kazakh Jews havemade aliyah.

Israels Center for International Cooperation, MASHAV, has partnered withthe U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to develop Kazakhagriculture and micro-enterprise. MASAV partnered with USAID to assist inthe building of a dam to help restore the Aral Sea. In addition, MASAVsupplements agribusiness training centers and administers health clinicsthroughout Kazakhstan.

In April 2000, President Nazarbayev led a Kazakh delegation on his secondofficial visit to Israel. Focusing on bilateral economic ties, the twocountries agreed to establish a joint committee to promote cooperation,including a customs agreement; 3,000 trees were planted in the Jerusalem

vicinity in honor of President Nazarbayevs visit.

Numerous Israeli companies are involved with projects in Kazakhstan.Israel has participated in CICA, including the 2002 Summit where it signed
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the Almaty Act. The Israel-Kazakhstan Parliamentary Friendship Leaguehad 20 parliamentary members in 1999. Kazakhstan was among thosecountries interceding on behalf of 13 Jews who were put on trial in Iran in2001.

In October 2006, Kazakhstans Deputy Prime Minister visited Israel to take

part in diplomatic and business meetings aimed at increasing cooperationbetween the two states. Included in the talks was discussion of building anoil pipeline from Kazakhstan to Israel that would run through Turkey. TheDeputy Prime Minister emphasized his Islamic states ability to get alongwith Israel and the Jews within its borders. He expressed a desire forKazakhstan to be seen by other Islamic countries as a positive model ofpeaceful cooperation and coexistence with Israel.

In 2008, three new artillery systems developed by Israeli defense firms forKazakhstan armed forces were demonstrated in early July. These systemsprovide real time aerial reconnaissance and target data. Because all threesystems utilize advanced target location data, Kazakhstan hopes that all

military tasks will be performed using less ammunition with lessinvolvement of troops.

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ECONOMIC SITUATION

The breakup of the Soviet Union led to a severe economic contraction inKazakhstan in the early-to-mid 1990s. In response, the governmentaccelerated privatization and economic reform in the mid-1990s and, withsupport from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank,halted further decline and laid the foundations for later growth.

In 2000-2001, Kazakhstans GDP growth rate hit double digits, slowing toa still-impressive 8.5 percent 9.5 percent growth each year since 2002.From 2001 to 2009, estimated GDP has grown from $22.6 billion to $141billion.

Growth is attributed to Kazakhstans profitable energy sector, economicreforms, good harvests, and increased foreign investment. Inflation hasremained stable at around 6-8 percent. However, inflation jumped to 18%in 2008.

In 2000, Kazakhstan became the first former Soviet republic to pay backits $400 million in loans to the IMF, seven years ahead of schedule. In2002, the U.S. government graduated Kazakhstan to market economystatus under U.S. law, and Kazakhstan became the first post-Soviet stateto receive an investment-grade credit rating from a major internationalcredit rating agency, the same year. Due to the success of the Kazakheconomy, monetary aid from international organizations has significantlydecreased.

Despite significant increases in GDP, Kazakhstans growing prosperity isnot equally shared. The unemployment rate hovers around 7 percent - 8percent, and an estimated one-fifth of the population lives below thepoverty line.

Kazakhstan has major mineral reserves and massive fossil fuel reserves. Itis a major exporter of raw materials and industrial goods. Much ofKazakhstans industry depends on resource processing. In order to avoid
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over-dependence on its energy and mining exports, Kazakhstan ispromoting the growth of its other sectors, such as machine-building andlight industry in general.

Since its independence, Kazakhstan has been working towards reformingand privatizing its economy. In June 2003, Kazakhstan passed legislation

allowing private ownership of land.

Since independence from Soviet rule, Kazakhstan has receivedapproximately $13 billion in foreign investment in its oil and natural gasindustries, primarily from foreign oil companies. The U.S. accounts forclose to one-third of the foreign direct investment in Kazakhstan (27percent of total FDI in 2006)). The oil industry currently accounts forapproximately 30 percent of Kazakhstan's government budget, and oilaccounts for half of Kazakhstan's exports. Kazakhstans proven petroleumreserves are estimated at 5.4 billion barrels of oil, and its potentialreserves at 30-50 billion barrels. According to Kazakh officials, theoffshore Kashagan field alone contains 7 to 9 billion barrels of available oil.

Kazakhstan also has proven reserves of 65 trillion cubic feet of naturalgas.

Economic relations between Russia and Kazakhstan are close. Kazakhstandepends on the use of Russian pipelines to export much of its oil, andRussia is Kazakhstans largest export partner. In March 2001, Kazakhstanopened a pipeline that leads from the Tenghiz oil field through Russianterritory to the Black Sea port of Novorossisk. The Tenghiz oil field is thesixth-largest in the world, with six to nine billion barrels worth of oil, andproduces 530,000 barrels of oil per day, with plans to produce one millionbarrels of oil per day by 2012. This is the first pipeline to connect Caspianoil reserves to international markets, and is expected to generate

substantial revenue for Kazakhstan. The increase of oil-related foreignfunds has put upward pressure on the Kazakh currency, but inflation hasbeen kept steady. Kazakhstan is set to join the worlds top ten oilproducers in the next decade.

In an effort to expand and diversify its oil export capacity, Kazakhstan isworking with China to extend a major pipeline from the Tenghiz field intoChina. In return, China has sold a majority of its oil fields in Kazakhstanback to the state.

As one of the Caspian Seas five littoral states (along with Azerbaijan,Iran, Russia, and Turkmenistan), Kazakhstan has been involved inlongstanding disputes over control of potential Caspian Sea oil reserves. InMay 2002, Russia and Kazakhstan signed an agreement dividing severalnorthern Caspian oil fields on an equal basis.

In 2005, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan agreed tobegin definitive boundary demarcation; by 2006 demarcation of theKazakh-Kyrgyz border was already complete. Delimitation of a seabedboundary with Turkmenistan in the Caspian Sea remains unresolved, andother issues remain outstanding with other littoral states, including Russiaand Azerbaijan.

Despite economic progress, environmental pollution in Kazakhstan iswidespread and represents a serious threat to public health and future

development. The Kazakh government faces the prospect of a massiveenvironmental cleanup to deal with Soviet-era pollution, including nuclear,chemical, and biological weapons test sites, failed agricultural projects,


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and weak industrial pollution controls.

Kazakhstans most pressing ecological issue is the plight of the Aral Sea.Once a principal source of irrigation and drinking water for the region, thisinland sea has shrunk dramatically since the 1960s, creating seriousenvironmental, health, and economic hazards. Beginning in the 1930s, the

Soviets diverted the tributary rivers of the Aral Sea in order to irrigatecotton; while cotton production in the region increased dramatically, so didpoverty, disease, and lack of water, causing many rural Kazakhs to lookfor work in the countrys cities. By 2000, the Aral Sea was a quarter of itsoriginal size, divided into separate North and South portions, and stillshrinking.

In 2003, the World Bank and the Kazakh government began workingtogether on the Kokaral Dam to reverse evaporation and improve waterquality in the Seas northern portion (the southern portion lies largely inUzbekistan). Completed in 2005, the dam proved highly successful, raisingwater levels in the North Aral Sea, enabling the local fishing industry to

resume, and helping to reverse the regions population loss. Reports in2007 suggested that the Aral Sea, or at least its northern half, isbeginning to recover, but noted that additional international funding isneeded.

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JEWISH COMMUNAL LIFE

Today, Kazakhstan is home to between 15,000 and 30,000 Jews, most ofwhom are descendants of 19th and 20th century Ashkenazi immigrantsfrom Europe and European Russia. Only an estimated two thousand areBukharan and Tat Jews, who have resided in Kazakhstan for up to twothousand years. Many Kazakh Jews are descendants of Russian armyconscripts sent to Kazakhstan during the Russian Empire. The countrysJewish population increased during the Soviet period, in part due to theSoviet practice of exiling politically and economically suspect elements,especially during Stalins rule. An estimated 8,500 Jews escaped toKazakhstan from Eastern Europe during World War II to escape theGerman occupation and the Holocaust. Almaty has the greatest Jewish

population, with 11,000 people. Smaller communities exist in other bigcities, including Karaganda, Chimkent, Astana, Semipalatinsk andKokchetav.

The Kazakh Jewish community enjoys a stable environment and well-organized religious and cultural life. Established in 1992, The MitzvahAssociation coordinates the social services and cultural and religious workof 15 Jewish cultural associations, 12 welfare organizations, and 12 Jewishcommunity centers. The welfare organizations, funded by the AmericanJewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC/ Joint) help 10,000 Jews inmore than 90 cities and towns through soup kitchens, home care for theelderly, medical services, and summer camps.

The Jewish Congress of Kazakhstan was created in December 1999 to helpunify the Kazakh Jewish community, with billionaire businessman andphilanthropist Alexander Mashkevich named as its president. In March
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2002, Mashkevich assumed the presidency of the new Euro-Asian JewishCongress, which is concerned with the state of Jewish communities acrossthe former USSR. Mashkevich, who holds both Kazakh and Israelicitizenship, plays an influential role in the Kazakh Jewish community. Hehas contributed substantial funds to the Jewish community and has beenthe primary donor for the construction of new synagogues in Kazakhstan.

Mashkevich has also been active in organizing interfaith dialogues, both inKazakhstan and internationally. In 2005, he organized a meeting with allthe religious leaders of the country that included President Nazarbayev,who hosted this interconfessional dialogue between Jews and Muslims.Mashkevich has made various visits to Islamic states to meet withgovernment officials, and reportedly is planning a visit to Iran. His closeties to President Nazarbayev have helped give the Jewish communityprestige and acceptance in Kazakh society, but have also raised concernsabout the communitys future in a post-Nazarbayev Kazakhstan. In March2007, Mashkevich received the United Jewish Appeal Global LeadershipAward from U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, in the presence of the KazakhAmbassador to the United States, during a ceremony in New York City. In

his remarks, Mashkevich stressed the role of the Euro-Asian JewishCongress in promoting inter-religious and inter-ethnic dialogue inKazakhstan, and promoted such efforts as a necessary precondition foreffective peacemaking in the Middle East and elsewhere.

The Association of Jewish Communities of Kazakhstan, a Chabad Lubavitchorganization, plays an active role in Kazakhstans Jewish community.Chabad Lubavitch operates a Jewish center called Beis Menachem (theHouse of Menachem) and conducts services at synagogues in Almaty,Astana, and Chimkent. The Chabad offers Jewish day school, fooddistribution services, elderly care, and summer camp for Jewish children.

The Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) maintains an office in Almaty andactively participates in Jewish life throughout Kazakhstan, promotingJewish identity while working with other Jewish organizations. JAFIsponsors Jewish youth centers throughout Kazakhstan, the largest ofwhich is in Almaty. These centers serve as a hangout for Jewish teens aswell as a forum for teaching Jewish culture. In July 2001, 120 teenagersfrom Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan attended a ten-day summer seminarabout Israel and Judaism.

Jewish education and cultural activities have expanded steadily sinceindependence. Fourteen Jewish supplementary schools operate inKazakhstan with more than seven hundred students in attendance.Chabads Ohr Avner Gershuni Jewish Day School enrolls nearly 100

children. In 2000, the Jews of Uralsk established a Jewish Culture Societyand have since received offers of material and financial aid from the localgovernment.

Jewish leaders in Kazakhstan characterize their relationship with thegovernment as positive. President Nazarbayev personally presentedhistorical records on the late Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersons father who was exiled to Kazakhstan during the Soviet period and is buried inAlmaty to Lubavitch leaders in a December 1999 visit to New York.

Many government officials, as well as the U.S. Ambassador, attended thefounding session of the All-Kazakhstan Jewish Congress in December

1999. At a Washington, D.C., ceremony in October 2003, KazakhstansNational Security Committee opened part of its archives to the UnitedStates Holocaust Memorial Museum. The documents detail the prosecution


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of Nazi collaborators in Kazakhstan after World War II.

In September 2006, the largest synagogue in Central Asia was dedicatedin Almaty. Funded by Mashkevich and named after his mother, Beit Rachelis large enough to accommodate all five hundred of Astanas Jews. Also in2006, a new synagogue and community center opened in Ust-Kamenogorsk, a new Torah scroll was completed for the first time in the

history of Kazakhstans Jewish community, both chief rabbis of Israelvisited Kazakhstan, and the countrys first-ever Association for HebrewSpeakers was formed.

Though Kazakhstan has long embraced its Jewish community, anti-Semiticsentiment also exists locally. Incidents of anti-Semitic violence are rare,and none have been reported recently. In the wake of the widely releasedand successful 2006 comedy film Borat, which portrays Kazakhstan as ahot-bed of anti-Semitism, Kazakh officials are expanding outreach effortsto explain to the world that Kazakhs are in fact very tolerant of Jews, andthat there is little anti-Semitism in Kazakhstan. In 2006, the Kazakhgovernment issued a stamp honoring the historic Almaty Synagogue and a

postcard of the new Astana Synagogue.

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U.S. POLICY

Defense Department photo:

Helene C. Stikkel

November 2001: U.S. Deputy Defense

Secretary Paul Wolfowitz (right)

escorting Foreign Minister Erlan Idrisov

into the Pentagon

The United States was the first country to recognize Kazakhstan as anindependent country when it declared its independence in December 1991,and opened its embassy in Almaty in January 1992. Between 1992 and2006, the U.S. provided $1.2 billion in foreign assistance to Kazakhstan. InFY2006 alone, overall U.S. assistance to Kazakhstan was estimated at$50.4 million, with the vast majority budgeted for market reformprograms and security and law enforcement programs.

Since 1993, USAID has administered funds designated to enhancecommunications and political reform, education, health care, micro-enterprise, and community development, and market reforms. In 2006,Kazakhstan became the first state to share in the funding of a USAIDproject, contributing $15 million of the $40 million total to an economicproject aimed at achieving Kazakhstans development goals.

Participating for the first time in international peacekeeping efforts, inAugust 2003 Kazakhstan contributed 27 soldiers and other personnel tothe U.S.-led peacekeeping coalition force in Iraq.

Early U.S.-Kazakh relations were marked by significant cooperation in

security and non-proliferation. With U.S. assistance and encouragement,Kazakhstan renounced its Soviet-legacy nuclear weapons in 1993 andremoved them in 1995, sending more than a half-ton of weapons-grade
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uranium to the United States. Kazakhstan has signed all majorinternational arms control treaties. The United States has spent $240million to help Kazakhstan in eliminating weapons of mass destruction andtheir infrastructure. In addition, stockpiles have also been reduced throughsuch programs as Cooperative Threat Reduction, and Nazarbayev hasbeen commended for his success. U.S. funding also supports thestrengthening of border security.

With the advent of the international anti-terrorism coalition, the UnitedStates has pledged to expand democracy initiatives while enhancing itscommitments to security and law enforcement programming.Approximately 120 Peace Corps Volunteers currently are workingthroughout Kazakhstan providing basic education and promoting NGOdevelopment. In FY2006, an estimated $26.4 million of total U.S.assistance was budgeted for security and counterterrorism.

During the 2001 conflict in Afghanistan, Kazakhstans support for the U.S.-led mobilization included emergency landing and fly-over rights. The twocountries have engaged in joint military exercises and training for several

years. In 2005, U.S. Central Command conducted 45 bilateral militarycooperation events with Kazakhstan, double the amount of events in 2001.

At a White House summit in December 2001, Presidents Nazarbayev andBush issued a joint statement supporting Kazakh economic developmentand democratic reform, Kazakhstans entry into the World TradeOrganization, and its graduation from the Jackson-Vanik Amendment. Aspart of the 1974 U.S. Trade Act, the Jackson-Vanik amendment imposedtrade restrictions on the Soviet Union in response to its inadequate humanrights policy, particularly restricting emigration of religious minorities, andanti-Semitism. The amendment stated that non-market economies thatcontinue to impose emigration restrictions on their citizens would not begranted permanent normal trade relations or most favored nation statuswith the United States. In March 2002, the U.S. granted Kazakhstanmarket-economy status, though as of publication, Kazakhstan has notgraduated from Jackson-Vanik.

Concerns about government corruption have generated tension betweenthe two countries. An ongoing U.S. federal grand jury probe has raisedallegations that American oil companies, competing for Kazakh oil and gasproduction rights, may have paid hundreds of millions of dollars in bribesto senior Kazakh government officials, including President Nazarbayev. Ina separate corruption scandal involving the Kazakh government, Americanbusinessman James Giffen is being prosecuted in the United States forforeign bribery involving Kazakh oil.

It is suspected that, through Giffen, President Nazarbayev and the head ofthe oil ministry may have received millions of dollars in bribes. Although ofserious concern to Kazakh authorities, who have prosecuted local

journalists attempting to cover this ongoing case, it does not seem to havedampened U.S.-Kazakh relations.

In September 2006, President Nazarbayev paid a state visit to the UnitedStates and met with President Bush. Despite criticism over Kazakhstansimperfect electoral record, state restrictions on news media, its decision toshut down two American democracy organizations, and alleged humanrights violations, Bush praised Kazakhstan as a free nation. He touted

Kazakhstans role as an important U.S. ally that helps to promote regionalstability and security. Topics of discussion during Nazarbayevs visitfocused on energy diversification and democratization. While in


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Washington, Nazarbayev also unveiled the Monument of the Independenceof Kazakhstan at the Kazakh embassy. Also during his visit, Nazarbayevmet with Jewish community leaders and spoke of his desires to promoteinter-ethnic peace.

In February 2007, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Southern andCentral Asia Richard Boucher met with President Nazarbayev and later

described the United States and Kazakhstan as strategic partners.Boucher welcomed of political reforms underway in Kazakhstan, said theUnited States supports the diversification of the Kazakh economy, andreiterated the U.S. interest in bilateral counternarcotics and antiterrorisminitiatives.

U.S. Department of Defense

U.S. Marines training Kazakh

soldiers at Camp Lejeune, North

Carolina (June 1998)

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