29 February 2004 17:16
Envoy to Kyrgyzstan says Russian not "outlawed" by language bill
The Russian ambassador to Kyrgyzstan has said that the country is not technically ready yet to provide simultaneous
interpretation from Kyrgyz into other languages, commenting on the recent language bill. Shmagin also said some
provisions of the bill contradicted the OSCE's policy on ethnic minorities. The following is an excerpt from the
article by Aleksandr Bannikov entitled: "Houses are built for years and destroyed in no time", published by
Kyrgyzstan edition of Russian newspaper Moskovskiy Komsomolets on 18 February; subheadings inserted editorially:
After stormy and long discussions, on 12 February 2004 the Kyrgyz parliament's Legislative Assembly [lower
house] adopted the bill on the state language and sent it for President Askar Akayev's signature.
However, some MPs were against its approval and said that they would appeal to the constitutional court since, in
their view, this bill contradicts the Kyrgyz constitution. Article 10, which says "the government determines the
list of people who must know the state language in the Kyrgyz Republic", especially aroused their strong
reaction.
According to State Secretary Osmonakun Ibraimov, all the representatives of the state structures must know the Kyrgyz
language. The media was not excluded [from this] either. If the president signs the bill, the state-run TV must
broadcast 50 per cent of its programmes in the state language [i.e. Kyrgyz]. Opposition media has already described the
bill as anti-Russian.
Russian Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Yevgeniy Shmagin expressed his opinion on the adoption of the new bill on the state
language in an exclusive interview.
Supports language bill in general
[Correspondent] Yevgeniy Alekseyevich, what are your comments on the new bill on the state language adopted by the
Kyrgyz parliament's Legislative Assembly?
[Shmagin] It is not the business of an ambassador of a foreign country, even of one connected with Kyrgyzstan by a
partnership and allied relations, to assess legislative documents adopted by your MPs. Moreover, I am not authorized to
make any official statements in this regard. However, if you want to know my opinion as a Russian citizen and a sincere
friend of your country, then I will not remain silent. I fully support the striving to show concern for the state Kyrgyz
language and to create conditions to expand its daily use. State structures, the government and especially parliament
should have long ago designed a harmonious and financially supported system of measures for by all the citizens of the
country to learn the Kyrgyz language. It is strange that this has not been done.
The [version of the] bill that the president submitted for the consideration of the Legislative Assembly corrected,
in my view, these shortcomings. It did not have answers to all the questions but still outlined the country's
future language structure. It clearly observed the policy of further strengthening a real bilingual policy, giving a
clear priority to the Kyrgyz language, which is written in the Kyrgyz constitution anyway. That version of the bill on
the whole was in line with President Askar Akayev's concept "Kyrgyzstan is our common home" and
"Kyrgyzstan is a country of human rights". During the parliamentary debates, where a small group of MPs set
the tone, these ideas resulted in being lost for the most part.
Technical difficulties
[Correspondent] The version of the bill adopted by the MPs says that Kyrgyz will be the main language of teaching and
training and all the state functions will be only in Kyrgyz. What do you think? Will it not affect the Russian-speaking
population in the country?
[Shmagin] In my view, the sphere of the use of the Russian language has considerably narrowed. Moreover, I think that
a principle constitutional rule of not allowing violation of the rights and freedoms of citizens for not knowing the
state language was infringed. For instance, why should veterans, doctors or power engineers be forced to hold their
meetings only in the state language, being fully aware that at present it is technically impossible to provide
simultaneous interpretation into the official language in Kyrgyzstan. There is no equipment, and surprisingly enough, no
interpreters. I was also invited to the Second Congress of Peoples of Kyrgyzstan together with other ambassadors. It was
held entirely in Kyrgyz. It was a top state function.
[Ambassadors] were supposed to brief their capitals on it. However, it turned out to be impossible to provide
simultaneous interpretation even for a dozen ambassadors. We all left this important function not understanding its
content. Maybe MPs intended consecutive interpretation? Then it would of course have some sense but would arouse
questions of another kind. The use of the state language in official relations with foreign countries is definitely
impracticable (except in the CIS). Is it really not known to MPs who have travelled round the world speaking Russian
that the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry cannot yet provide translation from Kyrgyz into Chinese, Hindi, Japanese and many other
languages. Do they know that there are difficulties even when translating from Kyrgyz into Russian, English, German etc.
What does the requirement to make Kyrgyz as the main language of instruction, for instance, at the Kyrgyz-Russian
Slavonic University, which is partially financed from the Kyrgyz budget, mean? Why should the head of the Kyrgyz
government [Prime Minister Nikolay Tanayev], who does not know Kyrgyz fluently but is a wonderful professional, patriot
of his country, who has done and is doing for its sake ten, a hundred times more than some MPs, resign from the moment
of the publication of the law?
[Passage omitted: Shmagin wonders how military commands would sound in Kyrgyz]
Might affect ethnic minorities
[Correspondent] Is the fact that all the street signs and sign-posts will be written in Kyrgyz not an infringement on
the rights of ethnic minorities?
[Shmagin] It is absolutely unclear to me why MPs needed to make it compulsory for the city administration in Bishkek,
town and village administrations in the country to change street signs, which from now on must be written only in
Kyrgyz. Do they know how much this will cost? Do they know, for instance, that the OSCE standards on ethnic minorities
provide for writing topographic names in the language of ethnic minorities?
[Passage omitted: Shmagin says that in Europe there are private TV and radio companies broadcasting in the language
of ethnic minorities]
Language bill does not outlaw Russian
[Correspondent] What do you think? Will the adoption of this law not put the Russian language in the position of
"being outlawed"?
[Shmagin] I do not think the law declares the Russian language "outlawed" as some media is reporting.
Neither do I see any signs of rude and open violation of the rights and freedoms of the Russian-speaking population, in
contradiction of the international obligations which Kyrgyzstan undertook. However, I do not rule out that some
unreasoned, premature and half-finished provisions of the law are capable of causing an undesirable reaction from not
only the Russian-speaking population. I as a Russian citizen would not strongly want such a development.
Incidentally, we happened to hear the elaborators of the bill, after its adoption, saying: "Do not take it to
heart, it will not work anyway, it is nothing more than a declaration of intentions." I repeat again I have no
right to give any recommendations but can allow myself one remark. Kyrgyzstan is building a legal state, assuming that
"the law is the law" and this must be strictly observed. One cannot build a strong house of defective bricks.
They will sooner or later have to be removed. I recently made a speech at the Assembly of Peoples of Kyrgyzstan and said
in my capacity as ambassador: "For goodness sake, save our common home - Kyrgyzstan. Houses are built for years,
decades and centuries and destroyed in no time." I want to repeat this very thesis now as a Russian citizen who is
temporarily living on this blessed soil - Kyrgyzstan.
[Moskovskiy Komsomolets v Kyrgyzstane] |
RUSSIA IN FACTS
