The spread of the national idea of Alash among the Kazakhs of East Turkestan

Abstract

The ideas of Alash are the spiritual value of the Kazakh people, which determine the development priorities of our state and historical policy. The formation of the USSR and the subsequent totalitarian vector of development conditioned the persecution and exilement of the Alash national intelligentsia. As the result of the repressive policy the majority of the best sons of  Kazakh nation were arrested, shot, exiled to camps and forced to flee abroad.  There in a foreign land, including in the territory of Xinjiang in China, they continued to spread the progressive ideas of Alash. The authors believe that the ideas of Alash played a role in the creation of the independent Republic of East Turkestan, which existed for five years (1944-1949). The authors examine in the prism of historical events the evolution of Alash ideas since the emergence of its leaders on the territory of East Turkestan, as well as the impact of Alash ideology on the scale of the national liberation struggle. The content of the article demonstrates the main publicity channels which played a particular role in the spread of the Alash idea. Firstly, it is the information obtained from Kazakh, Saryarka newspapers and letters from Aykap magazine. Secondly, these were the Alash emigrants themselves, who were active in spreading the idea of independence in the emigrant community. Third are the new generation, the followers of Alash, who grew up on Alash ideology, poets and writers. The authors show that, as a result of the ideology created by the PRC in 1949, all non-ethnic dissent was banished.