DISINFO: Gulag in Kazakhstan: The West pushes Kazakhstan to reject its Soviet past
SUMMARY
The West’s agents in Central Asia are taking serious steps to condemn the Soviet past. This process is most active in Kazakhstan. Those behind the policy of rejecting the past and attempting to turn Kazakhstan away from Russia are shaping a new national consciousness. The list of alleged crimes attributed to the Soviet Union keeps growing. The history falsifiers operate at the behest of foreign NGOs and governments that openly declare their goal – to portray the Soviet past as the darkest period in Kazakhstan’s history.
RESPONSE
A mix of pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives claiming that the West is waging a hybrid war against Russia in Central Asia. This narrative fits into the broader disinformation theme about the West’s allegedly belligerent and hostile agenda against Russia, and about its alleged plans to destabilise and encircle Russia. The article promotes a recurring disinformation narrative about alleged promotion of Russophobia in Central Asia.
An independent view of one's own history, and the study of all the gaps, facts, and events of the past, is an important process for every country.
President Tokayev started and initiative to create a new seven-volume academic publication on the history of Kazakhstan. In this work, Kazakhstan's and foreign scholars have revised, supplemented, and reinterpreted certain historical aspects and facts in the country’s history.
The development of this new academic publication involved five research institutes and over 300 scholars. It marks an important step in Kazakhstan's self-reflection. By implying that foreign NGOs and governments are forcing Kazakhstan's hand on this issue, also denies Kazakhstan's choice to independently think about its own identity.
Over the years, the government of Kazakhstan has supported a variety of projects related to the topic of political repression during the Soviet era and the legacy of this violence.
Since 1997, 31 May has been designated as the Day of Remembrance for the victims of political repression and famine in Kazakhstan. President Tokayev marked that “The crimes of totalitarianism have left a deep mark on the self-awareness of our people. It is important to continue studying these dark pages of history, restoring justice for all who suffered innocently.”
There were 11 GULAG camps on Kazakhstan's territory, to which more than 5 million people were sent by soviet regime.
Similar cases claiming that the West falsifies and attacks Central Asian history, West attempts to manipulate Soviet history in Kazakhstan, that West increases pressure on CIS countries to break old ties, that the West caused the Ukraine coup, Belarus colour revolution and that Ukrainian authorities constantly oppress and infringe Russian-speaking people. Also the article: Five myths that helped Russian colonialism remain hidden in plain sight.