Happy Independence Day

Sixteen years ago today Kazakhstan declared its independence from the Soviet Union. In fact, it was the last of the Soviet republics to do so. Sadly, Kazakhstan has been inhabited since the Stone Age, from Attila the Hun to Ghengis Khan to Joseph Stalin.

It was during the nineteeth century that the Russians started marching in. The tsars ruled over most of the territory belonging to what is now the Republic of Kazakhstan. After Stalin took power in 1924, the Kazakh population declined by 22%, due to starvation, violence and mass emigration. During this time, many renowned Kazakh writers, thinkers, poets, politicians and historians were slaughtered on Stalin's orders, as a way to suppress Kazakh identity and culture. (Sound like anyone else we know?) In 1936, Kazakhstan officially became a Soviet republic. During this time millions of Soviets were exiled to Kazakhstan due to their ethnic heritage or beliefs and were interned in prison camps.

Two years after the end of the war, the Semipalatinsk Test Site (the USSR's main nuclear weapon test site) was founded near the city of Semey. The bomb testing had a catastrophic ecological and biological effect, which was felt generations later—and Kazakh anger toward the Soviet system escalated into mass demonstrations in the 1980's.

Despite the fall of communism, democracy hasn't improved much since 1991. For instance this past June, Kazakhstan's parliament passed a law granting President Nazarbayev lifetime powers and privileges, including access to future presidents, immunity from criminal prosecution and influence over domestic and foreign policy.

It seems some things never change.