Role of APK in transformation of country’s ethnic makeup

The Assembly is an advisory body under the President of Kazakhstan, whose main goal is to preserve and strengthen the national unity and consent.

Concerning the prerequisites for the initiation and establishment of the institution, the polyethnic nature of Kazakhstan society is in the center, since the regulation of interethnic relations, the maintenance of the climate of mutual understanding, tolerance and consent is one of the main tasks of the state administration. Speaking about the prerequisites and conditions for the creation of the APK, it should be noted that in the late 80's and early 90's of the XX century, the national question was updated, which was primarily conditioned by the polyethnic composition of the population of the country, as well as by the lack of attention on the part of the official authorities to the problems of the ethnic/national self-identification of the population.

According to the Committee on Statistics of Kazakhstan, the population of the country in 1991 was more than 16 358 thousand people. According to the population census in 1989, Kazakhs, Russians, Germans, Ukrainians and others predominated numerically in the ethnic structure of Kazakhstan (Figure 1).

Thus, at the time of gaining independence, a large number of ethnic groups resided in Kazakhstan, which, in turn, actualized the issue of respecting the interests and rights of the large population with different ethnic backgrounds, as well as the formation of their own national policies.

When considering the question of the census whether the inhabitants of the Kazakh SSR consider the language of the ethnos as their native language the representatives of which they are, high rates of positive answers among the Kazakhs, Russians, and also the Turkic and Caucasian peoples can be distinguished (Figure 2).

According to the census data, it is obvious that the policy of publicity and restructuring in the USSR in the early 90’s of the 20th century intensified the issue of the ethnic self-determination.

It should be noted that the ethnic composition of the population of Kazakhstan has undergone a number of changes under the influence of certain factors:

- reduction and increase in the birth rate;

- economic recession of the 90’s;

- increase in emigration from the country;

- policy of other states on the return of ethnic diasporas to their historical homeland;

- diasporal policy of Kazakhstan on resettlement of ethnic Kazakhs, etc.

As of early 2017, 17 918.2 thousand people lived in Kazakhstan. In comparison with the population census of 1989, there are changes in the ethnic structure of the population:

firstly, the share of the Kazakh population has grown substantially;

secondly, the share of the Russian and, in general, the Slav population as well as the Germans has decreased;

thirdly, the Uzbek ethnicity has occupied the third position in the representation, which is promoted by the high birth rates, migration, and emigration of the Slavic and German population (Figure 3).

It can also be noted that the Slavic population is more represented in the northern, central regions of the country, as well as in the regions bordering the Russian Federation (West Kazakhstan, East Kazakhstan, North Kazakhstan regions, etc.). While, for example, most Uzbeks and Tajiks are concentrated in South Kazakhstan region, Uighurs live in Almaty city and Almaty region. Thus, it can be noted that the existence of a specialized structure regulating the issues of maintaining interethnic harmony is a necessary condition for maintaining stability, due to the multi-ethnicity of society and the complex ethnic composition of the population in the context of the regions.

In addition, it should be noted that one of the key factors in the creation of the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan is the political component, namely, the democratization of society and the state. After gaining independence, Kazakhstan faced the task of determining its own position in the formation of its own model of inter-ethnic consent and unity. Having chosen the path of democratic development, the county proclaimed its commitment to support all ethnic groups living in Kazakhstan, their right to develop and use their own language and culture. That is, thus, Kazakhstan undertook to provide conditions for the representatives of various ethnic groups to preserve and develop their own distinct culture. In this vein, it is the centralized institution that has made it possible to provide the necessary systemic mechanisms and tools for implementing these principles. In addition, taking into account the unitarity of the state structure and the centralized management system, it seemed expedient to create the centralized institution in the field of inter-ethnic relations.

Thus, the multi-ethnicity of the society is one of the main prerequisites for the creation of the Assembly. Moreover, it is also the main factor determining the relevance and significance of this institution. In addition, it should be noted that the ethnic composition of the population is constantly influenced by certain factors - migration, identification demographic, socio-economic processes, which act as additional risks to the implementation of the state national policy.

The APK is called upon to harmonize interethnic relations on the basis of such principles as the protection of human rights and freedoms, pluralism, the development of cultures, traditions, languages ​​of ethnic groups residing on the territory of the country. Moreover, it can be noted that the Assembly was created with the aim of ensuring the integrity of the state and creating stable interrelations between the state and society. In order to achieve this goal of the APK (Friendship Houses, Public Consent Councils, Scientific Expert Councils, Mothers' Councils, "Kogamdyk Kelisim", etc.) operate on the basis of the extensive organizational structure, represented in all regions of Kazakhstan, respectively, which allow to react quickly to the ongoing processes in countries.

Amina Urpekova

Collage: Nadezhda Linnikova