KZBlog

Kazakhstan.neweurasia has an interview up with Merkhat Sharipzhan, director of the Kazakh language service of RFE/RL. Very interesting look into attitudes toward Kazakh langauge–by Kazakhs (“I was unpleasantly surprised to see a “Who wants to be a Millionaire” show in Kazakh, where the majority of questions were about the nomadic way of life. Why not ask about James Bond in Kazakh?”), the freedom of press in Kazakhstan, social attitudes toward the first President (“Sooner or later the government will change – the second president will not be the “First” anymore and the society will know how to deal with him better.”) and the death of his brother, a journalist and critic of Nazarbayev.

The interview can be found in English or in Russian.