Kazakhstan recognized the characteristics of many ethnic groups as they were, and the government was even taking the lead in helping them find their identity.
Central Asian countries had historically been in a geopolitical position where many people were forced to coexist, so it was also unreasonable to insist on being identified as a particular ethnic group.
‘Kazakhstan’ meant ‘the land of Kazakhs’ but Kazakhs only occupied a little more than half of the population. Moreover, because Kyrgyzstan became a federal state recently, the Kazakh people were less than half of the whole national population. Naturally, some called to change the name of the country.
The problem was the reaction of the ethnic Kazakh people.
This place had long been the land of Kazakh people, no matter how many other ethnic groups came in.
In the wake of such a move, Youngho flew to the capital to convene a ministerial meeting.
It was not the time to waste national energy on such useless disputes.
“I don’t know who asked to change the name of the nation, but it’s only going to split the public opinion. It is unacceptable to play public opinion on the matter that needs social consensus. This land is Kazakhstan period.”
“Your Highness. Calm down. The name change was mentioned during the previous presidency. It’s a matter that we’ve approached in a very specific way although it didn’t fall through because of the sudden change of government.”
“I’ve never heard of it before.”
“I am sorry to mention the former president, but he used various channels to gather opinions to change the name to ‘Kazakh Eli’ after judging that the nation is being disadvantaged by the name ending in ‘stan’.”
“I wonder how Kazakhstan was disadvantaged by its name.”
Former President Nazarbayev was said to have always disapproved of the nations of Central Asia ending in “stan” and tried to remove “stan” to differentiate Kazakhstan from other impoverished Central Asian countries.
However, the name ‘Kazakh Eli’ which meant ‘the homeland of the Kazakh people’ invited criticism from representatives of other ethnic groups in the nation.
“So why is it being brought up again if it’s a finished discussion? Isn’t somebody trying to divide our national opinion? Isn’t it only natural to call it Kazakhstan as it has been? Changing the name of the country doesn’t make much difference. Please sort this out immediately.”
“Your Highness, it has already risen to the surface, and it won’t just go away. Why don’t we take this opportunity to make a public statement? I think we can have a consensus with a few valid names.”
“There are a lot of issues. I’m afraid we’ll get caught up in changing the country’s name.”
“I’m saying this now that Kyrgyzstan has become a federal state. Kyrgyzstan still has a status of an independent state in the international society, so it will be great if there’s a name to call both Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.”
“Okay. Then let’s listen to the people’s opinions. We should never do it hastily. If anyone is against it, you should fully explain why we should change the name so that we can eliminate any trouble later on. Then we’ll put it to a referendum and decide. And let’s announce this time that we will hold an annual national convention in the future.”
“Your Highness, it’s too expensive. It is also a national loss to bear the heavy expense of the royal family each time. Please reconsider it.”
“The cost can’t be a problem when creating a place for all ethnic groups to unite. The Royalty has plenty of money, so don’t worry too much. If there is a way for Kazakh people to become one, I will give up anything.”
At the end of Youngho’s words, all the ministers at the meeting stood up and clapped. While Youngho was puzzled by their reaction, Prime Minister Kasim came forward to thank him.
“Your Highness, thank you for leading us to the light. It is a great blessing for our Cabinet members to work with you. If all ethnic groups unite as one, the future of Kazakhstan will be secured.”
“Oh, you embarrass me. I’m only doing this to show off our unity to other nations.”
The reason why he wanted to spend his precious money and set the stage for national unity was because he wanted to show it to the world. No country would dare to cross a country with a united people.
***
As Kazakhstan regained stability throughout its society, each ethic group began to move actively. Among them, a significant number of Kazakh people who lived overseas began to return to their homeland. It was good news that a large population is coming in.
This meant that Kazakhstan was becoming a better place for them to live.
Youngho was looking at the report submitted by Suh Min-seok and found something unusual.
“What do you mean North Afghans applied for immigration? Are you saying that ethnic Kazakh people are living there as well?”
“Yes. Your Highness. It turns out there are about 30,000 people living there. They’ve applied for migration since the previous government, but it’s been ignored, so they applied again.”
“Why wouldn’t the previous government accept them?”
“They left the time of the Soviet Union to avoid the persecution of Islam. Maybe that’s why the previous government didn’t accept it.”
Most of them would be literate if they were to turn their backs on their home country because they did not like the communist system. President Nazarbayev must have not wanted to accept such a defiant group under his dictatorship.
“Call Director Park. The intelligence service must be checking the status of overseas Kazakhs.”
“I’ve already asked. He said that there’s not much information about the Afghan Kazakhs.”
“Didn’t we send our agents to Afghanistan?”
“They’re only deployed to the areas where the IS groups are, so we don’t know anything about the people living in the northern part of the country.”
“There must be any group or relatives who remit money there? I’ll ask Director Park myself. Meanwhile, you should visit the Arirang Island. Find out how much progress has been made in the work of the relic collection. Bring all of them when you return home.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll go at once.”
His response was unusually swift. It seemed that Suh Min-seok was expecting to get a few gold coins himself.
***
North Afghanistan was a region that had been firmly withstanding the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan since 1979. It was where the coalition of the Afghan opposition forces were located as the area had launched joint operations with the U.S. and British forces against the Afghan government, which refused to extradite bin Laden.
For that reason, the previous government refused to accept the immigration request from Kazakhs who lived in Afghanistan. Russia was also not fond of them either.
Kazakhs living in northern Afghanistan had also been members of the Northern Alliance for decades.
Afghanistan was known as a fierce country that had broken away from being a British colony early on and defeated Soviet aggression.
In any case, they should be taken as a matter of course that Kazakhstan was now stable.
Since they left the country in opposition to dictatorship, they must be a helpful force in the current political system. It was clear because they still chose to come although the country had adopted a constitutional monarchy now.
What intrigued Youngho the most was the people’s fighting power that had been accumulating for a long time.
“You need to hope for something more feasible. How many Afghan residents do you think would have played as combatants?”
“They survived decades of civil war and prevented Soviet aggression. This might be a chance for us to get great combat power.”
“Of the 30,000, only 3,000 must be combat-experienced. I don’t know if they’ll be an addition to our military. Somehow, they’re our people, so we should take them anyway, but don’t expect too much.”
The fact that they were able to deter the formidable armed forces of the Soviet Union only with rifles and portable rocket launchers was probably due to their good use of the terrain, but without the determination to defeat their enemy, it would not have been possible.
There must be a reason why the U.S. and British regular forces had partnered with the Northern Alliance to carry out the operation to arrest bin Laden, who led the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
“You sent agents to the area, right?”
“I sent them right after hearing from Suh Min-seok, so we’ll be hearing from them soon. I told them to find out their religious and political tendencies. If they’re a hard-line Islam, they’ll be just a pain in the neck even if they’re brought here.”
“They left because they didn’t like the communist system. And they’ve tried to come back to their home country repeatedly.”
They were forced to flee their homeland and take root in civil war because they were in northern Afghanistan and were later forced to fight Soviet troops. If they had lived with deaths all around them for decades, it was about time to get sick and tired of war.
Although Park Jong-il dismissed them as a few combat forces, Youngho believed that their experience of numerous battles over death would be more powerful than any other weapon.
Although the Kurds were enrolling in the military in large numbers, Youngho was still feeling hungry for the weak military power of Kazakhstan.
