Kyrgyz parliamentarians are expanding the scope of the state language. Photo from www.kenesh.kg

The Parliament of Kyrgyzstan is considering a draft law on the state language. When the law is passed, all documentation in the country will be kept only in the Kyrgyz language. The next step may be to reduce the status of the Russian language from official to the language of interethnic communication. Adakhan Madumarov said: Experts believe that the authorities are fulfilling the instructions of the West – to weaken Russian influence.

In September 2021, the President of Kyrgyzstan, Sadyr Zhaparov, set before his subordinates the achievement of “full-scale functionality of the language in all broad areas of life.” The head of state believes that “only our desire is required to transfer office work to the state language.” He noted that “referring to various manifestations of unfavorable conditions and development”, if a citizen has not yet learned it, is not worth it. However, back in 2020, having come to power, Zhaparov refused to hold press conferences with answers to questions posed in Russian.

In Kyrgyzstan, the state government is Kyrgyz, and Russian has, according to the Constitution, since 2004 official status. Prior to that, he was a civil servant. The decrease in its importance was explained by concern for the development of the Kyrgyz language. But the fact is that over the past almost 20 years, the methodology for teaching the Kyrgyz language has not been developed. In August last year, Deputy Prime Minister Edil Baisalov announced the need to develop exactly the methodology. The deputies of the parliament decided to introduce the Kyrgyz language, pulling out control from a portfolio that had been lying for three years. It was adopted on first reading without discussion. Observers pay attention to the fact that in one of the destinations: the Kyrgyz are the titular nation, only the Kyrgyz language is found, only people who own a state body should be appointed to positions. This caused a wave of discontent in the republic, questions arose regarding the structure of officials, doctors, teachers who did not speak the Kyrgyz language. Ministers who spoke in English have already been subjected to obstruction in parliament. One of them was the head of the Ministry of Natural Resources Dinara Kutpanova. MP Erulan Kokulov said he did not understand what she was talking about. Timur Askarov, deputy director of the State Civil Aviation Agency, who delivered a report in English, apologized for not knowing Kyrgyz.

Zarina Umetaliyeva, a political commentator for the national broadcasting corporation, told NG that many deputies who demand a report on the state language speak Kyrgyz only at the everyday level, and even more so do not know Russian. Therefore, the scope of the Russian language in the republic is shrinking like shagreen leather, including in the media sphere. “The next step will be the issue of reducing the status of the Russian language from official to the language of interethnic communication, and appropriate changes will be made to the Constitution. Deputies, in my opinion, work in most Western players. Language is the most sensitive issue for any country, including Russia. Therefore, to replace the “language strike” in a difficult period for the Russian Federation. The contradictions with Ukraine are precisely because of the pressure on the Russian language. Kyrgyzstan repeats the Ukrainian scenario,” Zarina Umetalieva believes.

The head of the Russian Center of the Russian Public State Foundation “Russkiy Mir” at the branch of the Russian Public University (RGSU) in Osh, Zanfira Miskichekova, also noted the sensitivity of the language theme. “Our politicians say that almost half of our country lives and earns in Russia. Thanks to Russia, they can build houses, buy cars, arrange weddings, and so on. Nobody thinks about the people, only about their ambitions. Such a policy will not come to anything good, ”Miskichekova told NG.

“The status of the language is not regulated by laws. The power of tongues is repeated in its application. And in the movement today in the Kyrgyz society, to a greater extent, the Russian language, the construction of the Kyrgyz language, environmental protection with kindergartens and the end of state institutions. People are free to speak and express their feelings in Russian. The problem is that it is difficult to find a person who clearly and beautifully expresses himself in the literary Kyrgyz language. Therefore, the role of the Russian language and its meaning cannot be changed at the request of one person, a group of people in Kyrgyzstan. Therefore, be wary of violating the status of the Russian language,” MP Adakhan Madumarov told NG. In his opinion, some politicians have confused patriotism with commercialism and encourage the country to sharpen its foreign policy.

“Over the past few years in the modern history of Kyrgyzstan, language has been turning into a tool of political figures, when many unresolved social problems lead to an aggravation of the situation in society, several questions are immediately brought to the surface, from which the status of the language is chosen. Thus society meets social problems. Today, the question is not about strengthening the state language or lowering the status of other languages, today society raises social issues – these are jobs, wages, daily price increases,” the deputy believes. In his opinion, Russia could use the language issue, resume economic unification more attention. Today Russia in Kyrgyzstan is represented by relocators. And tomorrow this may not happen, Madumarov believes.