Kazakhstan Celebrates People’s Unity Day

Kazakhstanis gathered throughout the country on Monday to celebrate People’s Unity Day, a public holiday meant to draw attention to and strengthen inter-ethnic harmony amongst the country’s more than 15 ethnic groups.

President Nursultan Nazarbayev joined in the nationwide celebrations and congratulated his compatriots with this holiday, mentioning that everyone on this day pays tribute to the friendship of country’s citizens.

“The nation’s unity and solidarity are the firm foundation of all our achievements and victories,” Nazarbayev said.

“We have become an honored and strong state owing to mutual understanding of the country’s different ethnic groups, united in a single unit under the arches of the Kazakh shanyrak,” he added, referencing the circular opening at the top of traditional portable homes, called yurts, nomads once used.

Astana, the country’s capital city, hosted an open-air festival in front of the “Kazakh Eli” monument, a high column located in the Independence Square.  The colorful show, which brought together hundreds of residents, featured a theatrical play with the participation of national and cultural associations, artists from the State Academic Philharmonic of Astana, as well as dance groups and famous singers. A special play meant to mark the occasion, entitled “I Wish My Country...,” was staged at Astana’s opera and ballet theater.

Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest metropolis and which served as the country’s capital until 1997, did its part by hosting a large-scale exhibition in front of the Palace of Republic. There people enjoyed events that showcased different ethnicities and national costumes, arts and crafts, foods and music.

Kazakhstan, which is one of Central Asia’s five post-Soviet republics, has been celebrating People’s Unity Day since 1995, when President Nazarbayev replaced the USSR’s International Workers’ Day with a national holiday meant to foster intercultural dialogue.

With a population of over 18 million, Kazakhstan includes more than 100 ethnicities including Kazakhs, which make up 63 percent of the population, Russians, Uzbeks, Ukrainians, Uighurs, Tatars, Germans, and many others. Many nationalities migrated to the country not of their own will but driven by political repression and persecution.

During the era of Joseph Stalin, who served as the Premier of the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1953, the country absorbed about 1.5 million political prisoners from Russia and other regions of the USSR.

The country’s Oskemen or Ust-Kamenogorsk hosted an open-air festive event to celebrate People’s Unity Day. / Viktor Abakumov / yk-news.kz