US embassy cable - 05ALMATY1432

UNCLAS  ALMATY 001432 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
STATE FOR EUR/CACEN (JMUDGE), DRL/IRF (NHEWETT) AND DRL/PHD 
(PDAVIS) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINR, KZ, POLITICAL 
SUBJECT: GRAND MOSQUE OPENS IN ASTANA, MADRASSA TO COME 
 
1.  SUMMARY:  On April 5, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
arranged a tour for diplomats of the new Grand Mosque and 
Islamic Cultural Center in Astana.  Moderate Islam is a 
central part of traditional Kazakh culture, though years of 
Soviet influence had a secularizing influence on Kazakhstani 
society.  The opening of the Grand Mosque and Islamic 
Cultural Center plays an important symbolic role in 
President Nazarbayev's vision for the new capital, Astana. 
Whether the Islamic Center will play an important spiritual 
and theological role remains to be seen.  END SUMMARY 
 
2.  The impressive Islamic Center complex, located in the 
new administrative area in Astana, is the second major 
religious facility to open in Astana in the last year, 
following the opening of a new synagogue complex in 
September. President Nazarbayev, who takes pride in his role 
as a supporter of Kazakhstan's religious diversity, formally 
opened the center on March 22. 
 
3.  In 1999, President Nazarbayev and the Emir of Qatar 
reached an agreement on construction of the Islamic Center. 
The project, which cost $6.8 million, was funded by the 
Qatari government, designed by a Libyan architect and built 
by a Turkish company. A Kazakh artist designed the interior 
of the mosque, incorporating a blend of Islamic holy 
inscriptions and traditional Kazakh motifs. The new mosque 
is the biggest in Kazakhstan, built to accommodate up to 
5,000 worshipers at a time. 
 
4.  In addition to the mosque, the Islamic Center complex 
will have a madrassa (currently under construction), which 
will be the first full-fledged school for imams in 
Kazakhstan. The chief mufti of Kazakhstan, based in Almaty, 
will select the faculty from among locally and 
internationally renowned teachers of Islam. According to the 
GOK in Astana, the Islamic Institute in Almaty is the only 
registered institution that provides religious education, 
though it is not set up to provide full clerical training. 
(Note: Post knows of several officially registered madrassas 
in Southern Kazakhstan, although these do not provide 
clerical training.  There are also numerous unofficial 
madrassas throughout Kazakhstan.  Since these are not 
registered, it is difficult to gauge the content of the 
education and the extent to which any alumni are practicing 
as clerics. End note.) According to the head imam of the 
Astana Grand Mosque, most imams currently practicing in 
Kazakhstan were trained outside Kazakhstan, in Uzbekistan, 
Turkey, the Gulf states and other Arab countries. 
 
5.  Counterterrorism and human rights observers have noted 
the need for moderate options for Islamic religious 
education in Kazakhstan to counterbalance underground 
madrassas and nonclerical institutes that preach a more 
extreme version of Muslim doctrine and that may have 
connections to international terrorist organizations.  In 
March 2004, Southern Kazakhstan Humanitarian Academy was 
shut down by the Ministry of Education and Science when the 
GOK discovered that the school, which offered nonclerical 
religious education, had been founded by the Society of 
Social Reforms of Kuwait (Jamyaat al-Islakh al-Ijtimayi), an 
organization considered by the USG and GOK to have ties to 
terrorism.  At that time, the Ministry ruled that the 
students of the academy should be transferred to other 
institutions to let them to complete their education. 
 
6.  COMMENT: President Nazarbayev's ambitions for his 
capital city, Astana, are being largely fulfilled, and the 
new Grand Mosque fits well into those plans.  The placement 
of the mosque at the crossroads leading to the new 
government center assures its visual prominence in the new 
skyline.  There are few opportunities for formal religious 
education within Kazakhstan, forcing those who wish to study 
theology to go abroad; they often bring home a more extreme 
view of Islam than has traditionally been practiced in 
Kazakhstan.  The opening of a madrassa in the capital thus 
provides a welcome opportunity for developing an indigenous 
Muslim clergy that reflects Kazakhstan's traditions of 
interreligious cooperation.  The involvement of the GOK- 
appointed chief mufti in the selection of faculty suggests 
that the GOK will keep a close eye on the Astana madrassa in 
order to ensure that it adheres to this tradition.  Post 
will continue to encourage the GOK to reach out to 
unregistered madrassas and cooperate with them to bring them 
into compliance with the registration laws and to expand the 
options for clerical education within Kazakhstan.  END 
COMMENT 
 
7. Dushanbe minimize considered. 
 
ASQUINO 
 
 
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