Today, Russia and Kazakhstan have no problems either at the political level or in the economic dimension. But it seems that not everyone likes it. And then provocations begin to sound for completely far-fetched reasons, independent expert Nurlan Alniyazov wrote in the following article.
A deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, Alexey Chepa recently expressed concern that some Russian TV channels had been switched off in Kazakhstan. Indeed, Kazakh television operator TVCOM, which provides Otau TV services, earlier said it had stopped broadcasting several channels of Russian state-run Channel One from January 1.
Why does it matter to the Russian lawmaker what is shown on TV in neighboring Kazakhstan?
Chepa insists that a large number of the population of Kazakhstan are Russian speakers, and they are historically accustomed to watching Russian television programs. So the suspension of the broadcasting is a serious infringement of their rights, the deputy says.
Meanwhile, there are no problems at all. In Kazakhstan, Russian television has always been available through satellite dishes and online services. In the northern border areas of Kazakhstan, only Russian channels broadcast. A localized Russian TV channel, Channel One Eurasia, is operating on the territory of Kazakhstan.
How can turning off channels infringe someone’s rights if there is always an alternative? Devoted viewers, who are used to watching Russia’s Channel One, cannot be prevented from doing that. Such bans are simply impossible, as demonstrated by the scandal surrounding the popular 2023 Russian series “The Boy’s Word. Blood on the Asphalt.” When the authorities first tried to ban it, the series had already managed to enter almost every home. Even in Ukraine, it breaks viewing records.
Alexey Chepa addressed the issue he doesn’t really understand. Moreover, there is a feeling that he deliberately distorted information in order to gain cheap political popularity. He didn’t even try to find out the true reason for the suspension of Russian TV channels. But it is simple.
The official representative of Channel One. Worldwide Network in Kazakhstan, Irina Kalashnikova said that the suspension of broadcasting of some Russian TV channels in Kazakhstan, including Channel One, is due to economic reasons, as the contract for 2024 was not concluded due to the local TV operator’s debt.
But the Russian deputy ignored the fact that the situation was caused by economic reasons. He found a political subtext here, which he exploits for the benefit of his image. But his actions devalue the work of the Russian Foreign Ministry and spoil relations with neighbors for the sake of momentary hype. He even called for holding consultations with the Kazakh authorities to discuss this issue.
If Mr. Chepa is such a patriot, why doesn’t he pay the operator’s debt from his personal funds? He does have money. Back in 2013, the Vedomosti newspaper wrote that the deputy forgot to indicate in his declaration an apartment in Miami worth $2.4 million, as well as several bank accounts in Cyprus.
Perhaps the deputy is sincerely worried that the Russian-speaking people of Kazakhstan, cut off from their historical homeland, will lose contact with it, as apparently happened to Mr. Chepa’s children — one of his daughters is a US citizen, and another daughter and son are British citizens. But if that is how it turned out in his family, it is not necessarily that others have such a problem.
