– The Russian language successfully performs the functions of an official language and is used alongside the Kyrgyz language in document management and modern social practice. But recently, the question of his place and his status in the new Kyrgyz society has been the subject of lively discussions. The reason for this was the initiatives of the republic’s Jogorku Kenesh and individual deputies regarding language policy and aimed, as reported in the media of the Kyrgyz Republic, at strengthening the role and functions of the state Kyrgyz language to support its development. Including – to strengthen its functions within the country in all organizations and institutions, regardless of the form of ownership.
At this stage, we know the opinions and proposals of representatives of official bodies, as well as certain experts and political scientists. In other words, we only see the tip of the iceberg. The position of the government of Kyrgyzstan is still limited to evasive statements about the desire to maintain friendly relations with Russia, but at the same time there is no clarity about the possible consequences of the planned changes in the language legislation. Thus, the underwater part of the debatable issue is hidden from the attention of the majority of the citizens of the country, and it seems to me that this is the most important to understand the real reasons for what is happening.
Until recently, there were no contradictions in the language legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic that could cause public disputes and require urgent changes in laws until the current Constitution of the country. Doesn’t this mean that the aforementioned initiatives are not driven by internal reasons, but by external ones? Why is this happening now and why has the language issue suddenly become so acute, and at times conflicting, almost simultaneously in several Central Asian countries and in Kazakhstan? I come to the unequivocal opinion that this is dictated by someone’s interests hidden from us, aimed, above all, at driving the peoples of the region away from Russia and, in the long term, tearing apart within the multinational communities of our countries.
The geopolitical situation in the world is changing rapidly, affecting Russia and its immediate environment in Eurasia. Therefore, the aggravation of the issue of language policy in our republic cannot be considered a purely internal problem. Moreover, the position of the Russian language in our country has always been the central support of Kyrgyz-Russian cooperation, the roots of which are the historically established multilateral ties between the two states and their peoples.
I hope that the representatives of the Legislature of Kyrgyzstan are well aware that the issues of inter-ethnic relations and guarantees of the preservation of the mother tongue are closely linked. They belong to the category of the most important issues in the life of society, concerning all citizens, regardless of their nationality and their degree of involvement in the processes of making important government decisions. Therefore, the language issue belongs to the category where it is very important to ensure the consistency of the positions of all interested parties.
In today’s uncontrolled information space, one can trace the presence of a dangerous line aimed at destroying the core values ​​and priorities of the Eurasian peoples, who developed on the idea of ​​community and unity of historical destiny. No one is going to hide the fact that the main cementing role in this space is still played by the Russian Federation, in which the Russian language has successfully fulfilled and continues to fulfill the mission of interethnic communication and the development of intercultural ties. Therefore, an attempt to weaken them – by reducing the functions of the Russian language – can only meet the interests of those members of modern society who have fallen into the propaganda zone of Nazi ideas.
My personal fate was such that I grew up in a Kyrgyz family, where the values ​​of traditional national education prevailed. My Kyrgyz mother tongue has accompanied me since my birth and shaped my soul. It entered my flesh and my blood from early childhood with the songs and tales of the people. But at the same time, the Russian language began to actively enter my world from the school bench, which played a huge role in forming a person and influenced the choice of profession.
For example, I think and write as well in Russian as in Kyrgyz, and I’m not the only one! We are numerous ! We are several generations of people who were educated in the schools of Soviet Kyrgyzstan, where wonderful teachers taught. Huge gratitude and respect to them. Thanks to school and university teachers, Russian has become more than just an official language for many of my fellow citizens. In fact – to parents who opened the way to the heights of scientific knowledge and the treasure of world culture.
The role of the Russian language in the formation of scientific potential and the development of the cultural fund of the Kyrgyz people is unlimited and invaluable. Most of the representatives of the creative and scientific intelligentsia of Kyrgyzstan had an extremely talented command of the Kyrgyz language, and at the same time they were quite well educated in the Russian language. Through him they discovered the beauty and grandeur of the works of the classics of world literature of the East and West. The great writer Chyngyz Aitmatov was a vivid example of Kyrgyz-Russian bilingualism, which gave his talent a unique taste and color.
I would also like to draw attention to the fact that many people living in Kyrgyzstan do not speak the Kyrgyz language at a good level. One of the objective reasons is that for some of them their mother tongue is their own, which has no status in our friendly country. For representatives of the majority of ethnic groups living on the territory of modern Kyrgyzstan, the Russian language has also long since become both official and native. No one has also annulled its important function as a language of interethnic communication.
It is not necessary to reduce all the problems of the development of the state language to restrictive measures and a narrowing of the scope of the state language. On the contrary, it is necessary to reflect on the real priorities and trends in the development of modern Kyrgyz society. More important to us are such legislative initiatives which will contribute to the process of strengthening the true bilingualism of our citizens, who were and are almost all representatives of the generation of our fathers. We must also think that the constitution and laws support the aspirations of the new generation to be multilingual and fluent in Kyrgyz, Russian and English. If you doubt and think this is impossible, then listen carefully to our children and grandchildren. They speak Kyrgyz and Russian since school, and computer English has already become a reality and the standard of communication for them. Also take a look at students studying in Kyrgyzstan from rapidly developing Asian countries such as China and India. For them, English has become a powerful locomotive for moving towards progress, and Russian has become an additional tool for mastering a trade.
In the context of all that has been said above, I would like to appeal to our thoughtful politicians and highly educated MPs: my language is no one’s enemy! So please do not make my fellow citizens forced opponents of the language law, because the Russian language has never interfered either with Kyrgyz or with the state language of the whole people multinational from Kyrgyzstan.
More and more the thought occurs to me that for modern society it is not so much biological infections and artificially created viruses that pose a mortal danger, but rather patterns of negative mental reactions that are very intelligently mounted and successfully introduced into the public consciousness. . It should be understood that in our historical situation, when all members of our society are in one information space, they may unwittingly find themselves in the zone of influence of new psychotropic weapons actively used in global hybrid warfare current. Will our fellow citizens have enough experience to be aware of these dangers?
