Our People > Aliya Haidar

Aliya Haidar

Journalist

Aliya Haidar is a Kazakhstani journalist. She started her career in 1998, and has worked in the country's leading regional and national publications ever since.

Articles

University Higher Education Science Education

Shaping the Future of Science in Kazakhstan

At Kazakhstan's Nazarbayev University (NU), work is geared toward understanding the intricacies of modern science. TCA spoke to Dr. Aidos Baumuratov, the science director of the NU Collective Use Office, who discussed the importance of scientific collaboration, supported by world-class laboratories, and how Kazakhstan is aiming to nurture the next generation of scientists. TCA: Can you tell me about the work that NU laboratories do? Baumuratov: The laboratories have collected unique, expensive equipment from all over the university. The staff that interprets the results has been selected. In simple words, we help scientists to create science. Unfortunately, Kazakhstan cannot afford the purchase of expensive devices in large quantities, so the model is justified from an economic point of view. The model of a shared office is taken from American and European universities. Today, I manage 23 laboratories with 80 main items of equipment and about 400 additional ones. We are creating a world-class scientific infrastructure, and the laboratories are equipped accordingly. NU scientists win grants, among other things, and consequently, they implement their developments in practice. They come to our laboratories for the missing equipment and perform most of their experiments here. TCA: How much of NU's research is focused on practical applications? Baumuratov: Science is designed to solve global problems. It cannot be considered only from the point of view of immediate return. I can say that in the top global universities, where there are thousands of scientists, only a few startups occur after many years of research, which are eventually taken into development by industrial giants or IT corporations. TCA: What should be done to make the young generation in Kazakhstan more eager to enter science? Baumuratov: I can only express my personal opinion. Attitudes should be learned from childhood. Today, science is undeservedly in the shadows. After the collapse of the USSR, we went through difficult years; we had to fix the economy, and of course, this had an impact on who stayed. If I am not mistaken, 70-80% of scientists left after the collapse. Of those who remained, about the same number went into business, anywhere but science. It takes time to restore the potential, and it should start with schools. When I began working at the university, I proposed an initiative to organize schoolchildren's visits to our laboratories. The initiative was successfully implemented and is still in use today. Children from the 5th and 6th grades visit us; they see aesthetically pleasing, insanely complex equipment at the international level, the finest instruments, and they can talk to those who work here. This is very useful, as it clearly shows schoolchildren what path they can choose. They see and realize that science brings benefits to society and the country. Even the signature of a scientist under an article in a journal, where the university and Kazakhstan are mentioned, already works for the image of the country as a whole. In addition, scientists' general intelligence creates an appropriate environment around children. Ethical norms, the priority of education,...

4 weeks ago

Court Cases Organized Crime incident Criminal Responsibility Murder Crime

Murder and Arson in Talgar: Kazakhs Fear Rising Tide of Organized Crime

On the night of October 4, 16-year-old Sherzat Bolat was killed in the town of Talgar, located in Almaty Oblast near the city of Almaty. The father of the victim blamed the incident on a gang - allegedly operating in Talgar and the surrounding area for many years - with connections to the government and law enforcement agencies. Later, unknown people burned down the family's house, and National Guard troops were brought into Talgar. The situation brings to mind the darkest pages of recent history, when criminal groups held cities and entire neighborhoods in a state of fear. The Talgar tragedy Sherzat Bolat was murdered in front of his father and mother after an incident occurred involving young people who entered the store the Bolat family rented. As stated by the boy's father, the customers refused to pay for a can of beer, and a fight broke out. According to other relatives, the group had knives and firearms. Sherzat's uncle was also injured during the fight and is recovering in hospital. Police initially claimed that all those involved in the incident had been detained, but the parents of the deceased later said that only seven had been arrested, while there were many more attackers. Fearing that the perpetrators would not be brought to justice, on October 7 Sherzat's relatives and concerned citizens of Talgar staged a rally at which Sherzat's father, Karzhaubai Nurymov, claimed that the so-called “Khutorskie” group was responsible for the boy's death. According to multiple reports, the Khutorskie have been terrorizing Talgar and its surroundings areas for many years. Businessman Hasan Kasymbayev allegedly runs the group, whilst sources also mention his brothers, including Yerzhan Kasymbayev, who was sentenced to 14 years for the murder of customs officer Medet Zhamashev, and Aslan Kasymbayev, head of the Talgar district Akim's (mayoral) office. In addition, the Kasymbayevs are said to be related to an official who once held high positions in law enforcement agencies. According to concerned residents of Talgar, the perpetrators of the boy's murder may be able to avoid justice due to their connections. In a statement, the acting head of the regional police department denied the involvement of any organized crime groups in the murder; the investigation has now been taken over by the Ministry of the Internal Affairs, which has dispatched a team to the scene of the crime. In an interview, Hasan Kasymbayev, who posted controversial photos on social networks, categorically denied his involvement in the murder of the teenager and any participation in an organized crime group. Despite assurances from officials, on October 12, the house of Sherzat's family in the village of Azat, Yenbekshikazakh district, Almaty region, was burned down. Police opened a criminal case and took the murdered teenager's family into protective custody. The house was empty at the time of the fire. The murder and arson have caused a sharp reaction in Talgar and led to a wider reverberations throughout Kazakhstan. Former Minister of Education and Mazhilis deputy, Askhat Aimagambetov, stated...

1 month ago

Legislation Armed Forces Defense Army Crime public opinion Military Service

Death in Peacetime: Navigating Challenges and Responses in Kazakhstan’s Armed Forces

Deputies in the Mazhilis have raised the issue of violent deaths and suicides in the armed forces, whilst sections of the public have also called for the army to be converted to a contract basis and the draft age to be raised. Alarming statistics In late September, Konstantin Avershin, a member of the Mazhilis Committee on International Affairs, Defense, and Security, spoke about the results of an investigation into suicides in law enforcement and security agencies. Over the past four years, 86 suicides have occurred in across said agencies, Avershin stated, with this data pertaining to the Ministry of Defense, the National Guard of the Interior Ministry, the Border Service of the National Security Committee, the State Protection Service, and the Ministry of Emergency Situations. “In four years, 40 suicides have been registered in the Armed Forces. In 2021 - 10, 2022 - 7, 2023 - 12, and 2024 - 11. By category these were: officers - 7, contract servicemen - 22, cadets - 4, conscript soldiers - 7. Pretrial investigations have been completed in 34 cases, and final procedural decisions have been made. In none of them were signs found of 'leading' to suicide,” according to Avershin. The proceedings in these cases were terminated due to a lack of corpus delicti. Despite this, based on the results of official investigations, disciplinary measures were taken against 180 persons: eleven were relieved of their posts, two were demoted, and 167 service personnel received various disciplinary sanctions in line with their rank. On October 8, Avershin raised another problem: the poor quality of food being provided to service personnel. According to his data, the funds allotted for rations per soldier is 2,250 tenge ($4.6) per day. By comparison, chess players, sport fishermen, ship modelers, and players of togyzumalak (a national board game) and checkers are entitled to 6,276.4 tenge ($12.9) per day, according to the Ministry of Tourism and Sport's regulations for 2024. “A soldier cannot be fed almost three times worse than a checkers player,” Avershin stated. Earlier, MP Nartai Sarsengaliyev asked Defense Minister Ruslan Zhaksylykov about the current situation in Kazakhstan's army. The deputy highlighted numerous high-profile cases, stating that over the past three years, 270 servicemen have died in Kazakhstan. “In August 2023, a commanding officer beat a recruit with a chair in a military unit. The case was closed after the parties reconciled. In June 2024, in one of the military units in the Zhambyl region, a soldier who had been in the army for only one month was admitted to intensive care in an unconscious state. The situation caused shocked society. National Guard soldier Yerbayan Mukhtar has been unconscious for five months after suffering a head injury. Those in charge say that 'Yerbayan 'fell in the bathroom and sustained a head injury.' Who would believe this? As a result of the injury, half of the soldier's skull was removed. Now, he needs constant care. Now his parents are taking Yerbayan abroad for treatment,” Sarsengaliyev stated. In...

1 month ago

Society health security school Children Rights Social protection Public health Schools

Kazakhstan’s Youth Suicide Crisis: Unraveling the Complex Web of Societal Challenges

A wave of suicides among teenagers and young adults has swept across Kazakhstan. Parents and the Children's Ombudsman have said children were provoked to do dangerous things by the internet, and deputies have demanded that social networks should be blocked. The media, meanwhile, has been accused of creating a “Werther effect,” fixating on the rash of suicides and thus encouraging teenagers to repeat these acts of self-harm. However, experts believe the cause is much more nuanced and cannot be eliminated by blocking harmful content alone. Chronicle of a Fateful September On September 13, a teenager fell from an eighth-story window in Astana. The boy died of his injuries. The very next day, a schoolgirl plummeted from a fifth-floor window in Shchuchinsk. The 12-year-old girl is in hospital, and the causes of both incidents are still under investigation. On September 16 in Almaty, two seventh-grade students from school No. 25 named after the writer I.Esenberlin, left class and climbed to the attic of a neighbor's apartment complex. The girls both fell to their death from the roof. “I came, and I saw two girls lying there. They had jumped from the roof," an eyewitness stated. "The girls were about 13 years old; seventh graders. One had a backpack next to her, and the other had no shoes and was wearing black tights. She had taken her shoes off and placed them neatly. One fell on a car, and her body rolled away. The second was immediately killed on the asphalt.” Later, it became known that one of the girls was the daughter of a famous Almaty ecologist and artist. Deputy Interior Minister Igor Lepekha said that what happened "is a suicide; the case was opened based on it being suicide." On September 21, another schoolgirl fell from a high-rise in Almaty. Allegedly, the girl left the house to perform a routine task, but climbed to the 13th floor, from where she plunged. The Almaty Police Department confirmed the girl's death and has opened a criminal case. By this time, in schools, online, and on social networks, parents had started to spread panicked rumors about the impact on children of a particular computer game, similar to the semi-mythical game “Blue Whale.” In the past, Blue Whale has been decried as a malicious game which encourages teenagers to commit suicide and acts of violence, but no convincing evidence has ever been presented. The Almaty police stated that gossip regarding the involvement of dangerous internet games in the girls' deaths is not valid and reminded the public about their responsibility vis-à-vis spreading false information. On September 22, in the yard of a multi-story residential building in Almaty, the body of a 3rd-year cadet from the Border Academy of the National Security Committee (NSC) who was on regular leave was found. “The cause of death was a fall from a height,” the NSC press service reported. On September 23, also in Almaty, multiple sources reported that a young man had tumbled from a high-rise building. Police...

2 months ago

Environment Wildlife Conservation wildlife WWF Lake Balkhash Nature Reserve Turan Tiger

Tigers Return to Kazakhstan: A New Home for Bogdana and Kuma

A pair of Amur tigers from the Netherlands has been brought to Kazakhstan; tigers are not the only animals that Kazakhstan is getting back. A few days ago, a long-awaited pair of tigers, bred in a special reserve in the Netherlands, arrived in Kazakhstan. Online, some worried that the tigers would not survive in the harsh climate, or would attack livestock and people. According to WWF Netherlands wildlife expert, Geert Poleta, these fears are unfounded. For several years now, the international NGO, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), together with the Government of Kazakhstan, has been implementing a program to return tigers to Pribalkhashye. The Amur tiger is a relative of the extinct Turanian breed. Historically, the habitat of the Turanian tiger in the country was reed thickets and floodplain forests along the banks of the Ili and Syr Darya rivers. The extermination of the animal began during the time of the Russian Empire, and the last Kazakh tiger was killed in 1948. Decades later, wild cats are returning to Kazakhstan. As experts point out, this event is an essential step in restoring the ecosystem and lost biodiversity. Bogdana and Kuma, the names of the Amur tigers, flew for more than a day from the Dutch Holy Lion specialized center for predators at the Landgoed Hoenderdaell Zoo to the Ile-Balkhash State Nature Reserve. Permanent caretakers accompanied them. At the Dutch zoo, “the animals were kept in separate spacious enclosures with minimal contact with visitors," Gert Polet, a wildlife expert at WWF Netherlands explained. "Thanks to the spacious territory of the center, the tigers had their own area to live in the most natural conditions possible. In the summer of 2024, a Memorandum was signed between the Committee of Forestry and Wildlife of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Dutch center, which provides for the free transfer of two tigers to Kazakhstan for further breeding and the release of their offspring.” There is no need to fear that the big cats will harm residents in their new and unfamiliar conditions, as they will be kept under strict supervision. “Zoo tigers cannot be returned to the wild. The arriving tigers will never leave the territory of their enclosure. They were brought in for breeding and raising offspring. If the tiger's birth project is successful, the adults will be moved to another enclosure, located at a center of the reserve which will be open to visitors,” Polet stated. He believes that Bogdana and Kuma have a 60% chance of having cubs. Tiger cubs born in the enclosure of the Ile-Balkhash reserve will be reared following international standards and protocols. At one and a half to two years old, they will be prepared for release into the wild. In addition, the new residents of the reserve will be monitored constantly by video and cared for by a dedicated member of staff. “Over the past year, a veterinarian from the Zholbarys Association has been trained in various clinics and zoos in Russia. She also visited the...

2 months ago