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Paper short abstract:

This paper is an attempt to understand the Kazakh diaspora’s activism during and before January of 2022 events called ‘Bloody January’, and the overall diaspora’s attitude towards political development of homeland. The paper uses observations of Kazakh diaspora activism in Europe and Turkey cases.

Paper long abstract:

Diaspora is believed to have a certain capacity to impact political processes in their original homelands through diaspora activism, mobilization, and bring democracy. The literature that looks at diaspora political activism perceived it as diaspora actions related to their country or place of origin, which are non-democracies or there is a struggle for independence, sovereignty. Brutal events, revolutions, uprisings, emergencies play the role of triggers of diaspora mobilization.

The beginning of January of 2022 for Kazakhstan became one of the darkest pages in the history of independence. The peaceful rallies against the policy of the ruling authorities turned to violence and looting that kept people in fear and feeling of helplessness. Demands expressed during rallies included social-economic, as well as political claims. However, the reasons and nature of the January events are still in debate and discussion.

In this period of turbulence in Kazakhstan, the Kazakh diaspora mobilized and tried to help and support their co-ethnics. In this sense, this paper is an attempt to better understand the Kazakh diaspora’s activism during and before January of 2022 events called ‘Bloody January’, and the overall diaspora’s attitude towards political development of homeland. It seeks to understand the factors of mobilization, the types, the motivation, and the barriers for the diaspora’s activism. Moreover, one of the aims of this study is to advance understanding of the complexity of the relations between Kazakhstan and its diaspora and make input to broaden the literature on diaspora issues in the Central Asia region as interaction between post-socialist states in Central Asia and their diasporas remain understudied.

The paper uses observations from the cases of Kazakh diaspora activism in Europe and Turkey. The study is mostly based on a qualitative method of data analysis. Using media publications and social media of diaspora organizations and influencers the article tents to answer the main research question of the study: how and why did Kazakh diaspora mobilize during the January events in Kazakhstan?