<
https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/04/04/language-russia-kyrgyzstan-central-asia-empire/>
"One of the most powerful tools of imperialism is cultural and linguistic
erasure. In the Soviet Union, a policy of “Russification” was applied to every
territory, with the goal of consolidating control over diverse ethnic groups.
The policy gained popularity in the 1920s when the Soviet Union was solidified
under Joseph Stalin. Despite being an ethnic Georgian, Stalin brutally
repressed minority ethnic groups, and pushed a unified Soviet identity over any
individual ethnic one, resulting in the imposition of the Russian language as a
lingua franca over Soviet territories.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, many Ukrainians have made a
concerted effort to only speak Ukrainian, even if their native language is
Russian. This phenomenon is not unique to Ukraine; in fact, efforts to
dismantle Russian linguistic influence have taken root over the past three
decades in many former Soviet republics—especially in the Baltics. But in
Central Asia, shifts in language policy are a relatively new phenomenon;
Uzbekistan’s decision to switch fully from the Cyrillic alphabet to the Latin
one in 2021 was an early sign.
When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Kyrgyzstan was one of the first
countries to welcome Russian migrants, many of whom left to avoid conscription
or to protest the war. Kyrgyzstan began offering a digital nomad visa, which
many Russian citizens applied for. The sudden surge in Russian relokanty
changed the makeup of Kyrgyzstan and greatly increased the number of Russian
speakers.
In 2022, 273,000 Russian citizens registered in Kyrgyzstan, 30 percent more
than did in 2021. Shortly after the war began, private so-called law firms
popped up, advertising assistance in obtaining Kyrgyz citizenship. They
highlighted Kyrgyzstan’s strong historical ties to Russia and its
Russian-speaking population as benefits for easy, comfortable living. In
addition, they marketed Kyrgyz citizenship as a way to more easily access
Western countries. After naturalizing more than 7,000 Russian individuals in
2024, Kyrgyzstan halted applications for citizenship from Russians earlier this
year. (By comparison, only about 400 Russian nationals applied for Kyrgyz
citizenship in 2021.)
This influx of Russian speakers in Kyrgyzstan has ignited a debate over how to
protect indigenous languages and traditions against what many perceive as a new
wave of Russian imperialism, especially as Central Asian leaders seek to
distance themselves from Russia by remaining officially neutral on the war in
Ukraine."
Via
What Could Go Right?
https://theprogressnetwork.org/democracy-brazil-south-korea/
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
