Astana, Kazakhstan, Oct. 28
By Daniar Mukhtarov - Trend:
The US will support the independence and territorial integrity of any country in Central Asia, including Kazakhstan, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Hoagland said Oct. 27 in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Hoagland noted that he can't predict and comment on a hypothetical future, saying the US government has a firm policy, i.e., to support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of any country in Central Asia, including Kazakhstan.
He made the remarks while answering to a reporter's question whether the events in Kazakhstan will develop like in Ukraine.
Some Internet resources have recently published statements, which said that it is needed to create the so-called people's republics in the north and east of Kazakhstan, by analogy with those created in Ukraine's eastern regions.
Hoagland urged not to trust some media reports.
The US official said that while he respects journalists, one doesn't always have to believe some media outlets.
He said any country has politicians who express their own opinions, but it does not mean that this is their countries' stance.
Hoagland also noted that he knows that everyone in Kazakhstan, starting from the country's president and ending with each citizen, respects the country's sovereignty and the current borders.
In his opinion, such reports are either provocations or a single person's imaginations.
Previously in Feb. 2014, the members of Kazakh parliament's lower chamber sent an official statement to Kazakhstan's PM. In the statement the MPs were asking to prohibit the Russian LDPR political party's leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky to enter Kazakhstan.
Earlier, Zhirinovsky delivering a speech in Moscow proposed to create a "Central Asian federal district" of Russia, with the city of Verny (former name of Almaty) as its capital.
Zhirinovsky proposed to include Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan into this "federal district".
Earlier, before Zhirinovsky's speech, Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry prepared a note asking the Foreign Ministry of Russia to officially assess the politician's statement.
Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry also made an official comment on the Russian opposition leader Eduard Limonov's statements on a possible annexation of parts of Kazakhstan to Russia.
Limonov previously wrote on his Facebook page that given the unrests in Ukraine and devaluation in Kazakhstan, he advises Russia's government to take the advantage and think about annexing a part of Ukrainian lands and Kazakh territories near the border (northern Kazakhstan).
"We have taken note of Eduard Limonov's statement on the possibility of annexing certain regions of the Republic of Kazakhstan. We understand that Limonov is not an official and does not express the Russian Federation position," the Foreign Ministry of Kazakhstan said.
The ministry said Limonov's statement doesn't have any serious grounds.
"Nevertheless, we felt the need to prepare a note to the Russian Federation's Foreign Ministry to clarify the Russian side's official stance on Limonov's statement," the ministry said adding that the note will be sent via diplomatic channels.
"Russia is our friend, ally and strategic partner," the Foreign Ministry noted. "Limonov's absurd statement can't have any relation to the Russian state's foreign policy with regard to Kazakhstan."
"We don't have any doubt that our Russian partners will give an appropriate assessment to the shocking antics of Limonov," the ministry said.
The ministry noted that its note is meant to inform all the foreign figures that the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Kazakhstan are inviolable, and an appropriate response will be given to any attempts, including the verbal ones, to undermine these important foundations of Kazakhstan's statehood.
The statement said the Kazakh diplomats could have ignored Limonov's statements, but "the matter lies in such sacred concepts as sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country."
"So we couldn't have left this statement unanswered," the Foreign Ministry of Kazakhstan said.
Edited by CN