Origins of Kazakhstan identity and modernization of public consciousness

Abstract

One of the most important priorities in the formation and development of multinational Kazakhstan as an independent and competitive state was the promotion of the idea of interethnic harmony and stability in the young state. The first President – Elbasy N.A. Nazarbayev has repeatedly emphasized that harmony in society, unity of the people and stability are the main assets that form the basis of Kazakhstan’s statehood. Kazakhstan, being a unique example of interethnic harmony, peace and stability in the Central Asian region and the world space, has managed to attract the attention of public and state figures, scientists from many foreign countries with its achievements in the field of interethnic relations. This is evidenced by various articles and works of many well-known foreign figures who draw attention to the Kazakhstani model of interethnic harmony, rightly called the model of Nursultan Nazarbayev. In this article, the authors tried to find key arguments in favor of the methodological merits of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan – N. Nazarbayev’s Kazakhtani model of interethnic harmony and civil unity. Gives the author’s definition and concept of «identity». The authors assigns a special role to the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, as the most important institution for instilling Kazakh patriotism among our youth. The authors concludes: «the civilizational choice made by Kazakhstan in favor of preserving cultural diversity turned out to be deeply thought out». He draws an interesting analogy between the concepts of «identity» and the concept of «civilization». Another advantage of this article is the assertion of its author about the indisputable role of N. Nazarbayev’s programmatic article – «Course towards the future: modernization of Kazakhstan’s identity». Today, according to him, the modernization of the consciousness of Kazakhstan is the formation of a modern perception of the world is the most important task. Without the implementation of this presidential task, it is impossible to carry out economic reforms, political modernization and, of course, it is impossible to create the foundations of Kazakhstani identity.