Three pillars of Kazakhstan

For a week now, Kazakhstan and Russia have been discussing Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s speech at the April anniversary session of the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan. The speech of the country’s leader is absolutely programmatic, which crystallized Tokayev’s vision not only of the principles of state policy of the largest country in Central Asia, but also of resolving key geopolitical challenges in the world. And the main crystal here is the idea of unity. “In the current unstable global situation, the idea of unity is becoming extremely important,” the president said at the assembly meeting, adding: “Ideological strife is absolutely alien to our worldview.”

There is a lot behind such well-honed phrases. If we look back at the last six years, as Kassym-Jomart Tokayev led Kazakhstan, then the dynamics of reforms are clearly visible — first political, then economic, and now ideological. We are facing a real state—building process – consistent and competent, the main tuning fork for which is the idea of a Just Kazakhstan.

The allegory of construction is more than appropriate, since for Kazakhs the most precious treasure is their father’s house. Kazakhs say: “Otanda suyu — from basynan bastalady” (“Love for the Motherland is born at the family hearth”). Tokayev’s merit is that he identified the sacred concept of home (personal) with home-Homeland and convinced people of this. Therefore, by the way, the republican presidential initiative “Clean Kazakhstan” should be considered not as a purely environmental action, but as a philosophical one. And “Clean Kazakhstan”, in my opinion, is an effort to instill in the Kazakh youth a sense of unity, of bonding oneself with the country, and then you certainly will not, as Tokayev diplomatically put it, “blacken the reputation of Kazakhstan.”

The idea of unity is the first ideological pillar of a country with such a diverse multiethnic composition. Countries where citizens speak several languages. Countries where the status of Kazakh as the state language and Russian as the official language of communication is legally fixed.

And in this regard, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev expressed himself clearly and definitely in his “April theses”: “It goes without saying that in Kazakhstan no one has the right to impose on people what language to speak in personal communication and during public appearances.”

It is interesting to see how Tokayev convinced his compatriots to understand this simple truth. He was convincing, not trying to fix it with bureaucratic directives. So, in 2022, at a meeting with the public of the Almaty region, the head of state warned the “linguistic patrolmen” who had gone wild: “It is unacceptable to use the Kazakh language for political games! Such mistakes have led to unfortunate consequences in some countries. We have to honor our language, and that’s the right thing to do. But you can’t give up learning other languages either.”

In 2024, at a meeting with the residents of Kostanay, Tokayev had already expressed his directness in his aphoristic form: “As convenient as it is necessary to say!”

At the beginning of 2025, the president, giving an interview in Kazakh to the newspaper “Ana tili” (from kaz. — “Mother tongue”), once again stressed: “The Kazakh language as the state language will play a special role in consolidating our people, but its promotion cannot be opposed to other languages, primarily the Russian language.”

And now, quite definitely, without the possibility of finding some ambiguity by idle provocateurs: “No one has the right to impose on people what language they should speak.” The main thing is to be understood. After all, it is obvious that bilingualism in the state is not such a rare and not at all unique phenomenon (in Europe it is quite common, and there it certainly is not a reason for interethnic conflicts).

Tokayev states that the second ideological pillar of Kazakhstan is aimed at the external contour — it is good neighborliness. The country’s leader said, “Kazakhs have great respect for their neighbors. The neighbors were always there, sharing both joys and troubles with them. The proverb “Korshi akysy — tanir akysy” (“Accepting a neighbor, you repay a debt to God”) reflects both our faith and our traditions. This is a legacy left to us by our ancestors, a quality passed down to us from our mothers.”

Kazakhs also say that a good neighbor is closer to a distant relative. In this regard, Tokayev outlined in large strokes the principles that must be followed for the dynamic development of the country. The leader of Kazakhstan called Russia “the main strategic partner and reliable ally,” China is a peaceful state with deep roots with Kazakhstan, and the Kyrgyz, Uzbek, and Turkmen peoples are called brothers.

According to Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s logic, good-neighborliness in foreign policy and interethnic unity in domestic policy are the foundations of the Homeland, since external forces aimed at destabilizing Central Asia as a whole are hitting precisely these foundations, considering them a priori weak points. The President of Kazakhstan, who is well versed in the geopolitical confrontation, is doing everything possible and impossible to strengthen and cement the pillars. So that the younger generation of Kazakhstanis, who are about to take over the reins of government, treat the concepts of good neighborliness and interethnic harmony as a constant. Like a constant current, if you will. If you don’t get in, it’ll kill you!

The third pillar is the historical memory of the people. A little earlier, before the assembly meeting, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev expressed an idea that they had previously tried not to broadcast in Eurasia. Speaking at the Kurultai, the President stated: “I would like to warn against one-sided analysis and judgment about the Soviet period. In my opinion, there were dark sides to this common story, but there were also bright sides. This must be well understood, otherwise we risk being trapped in misconceptions that will lead us on the wrong path of socio-political development.”

The Soviet era is, of course, our common historical memory. And the memory of a society or an individual is the ability to analyze events and still move forward, rather than endlessly reflect, remaining motionless in its development.

The year of the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory is one hundred percent an incentive to make a revision of the historical memory of all the nations, the descendants of the victors of fascism, and to understand that only together, only in unity, we are invincible. And Tokayev speaks directly about this, reminding the new generation of the lessons of history: “To this day, the Great Victory is a lesson and a reminder to all peoples and especially politicians of the tragic consequences that an irresponsible policy based on xenophobia, racial and national superiority, and disregard for the basic principles of international law can lead to.”

But the president-diplomat goes further, convincing the leaders of states and their peoples that “the best tool for preventing conflicts and wars is direct contacts and friendly ties between people of different countries and cultures.” Tokayev predicts from the height of his political experience: “In order not to descend into the abyss of chaos, the world community of nations will have to look for common ground, make difficult decisions and compromises.”

It is obvious that Astana offers itself, its competencies, its peacekeeping potential and, finally, its philosophy for broad international cooperation in order to solve today’s fundamental challenges.