Murder Fallout
Rakhat Aliev, son-in-law to President Nazarbayev, has taken an opponent that has accused him of being involved with the slaying of opposition leader Sarsenbaev to court for slander. On April 24, Nartay Dutbaev will be called to testify.
Who are these people, and how does this all fit into the tangled web of Kazakh politics?
Rakhat Aliev
- Married to Dariga Nazarbayeva, the president’s daughter
- Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Has many enemies as a result of aggressive maneuvering
How he gained from the murder: Those who have confessed to murdering Sarsenbaev are connected to Timur Kulibaev, Aliev’s political rival.
How he lost from the murder: Others have noticed how he and his wife gained, and noted as much loudly and openly; thus the trial.
Timur Kulibaev
- Married to Dinara Nazarbayeva, the president’s second daughter
- Heavily involved in Kazakh natural resources; Vice President of Kazakhstan’s state oil and gas company KazMunayGaz
How he gained from the murder: If he can convince others that he was framed by his rival, Rakhat Aliev, he stands to eliminate one of his principle rivals.
How he lost from the murder: He is the most obvious loser; those implicated in the killing are connected to him.
Arat Narmanbetov
- Being sued by Aliev for implying that he provided “inspiration” for the killings
- Former Kazakh intelligence service colonel
How he lost from the murder: Kazakh intelligence publicly discredited as corrupt.
Nartay Dutbaev
- Former head of the National Security Committee (KNB), an elite Kazakh military unit.
- Resigned following the murder for lack of a “moral right” to lead the KNB after members of service admitted to commiting the murder
How he lost from the murder: The branch of the Kazakh military he served is shown to be on sale for $25,000.
It is also noteworthy that Rakhat Aliev is taking Narmanbetov to court (who is connected to Timur Kulibaev), and not Zharmakhan Tuyakbai (as far as I have heard) who heads the opposition group and publicly accused not only Aliev, but his wife and many of their associates of being involved in the murder.
Much of this background is drawn from Daniel Kimmage’s article about the affair (posted on here).
on April 19th, 2006 at 4:37 pm
It’s a full-time job to follow up on Kazakhstan’s difficult power brokering.
The problem with analyses like Dan Kimmage’s is that much of what they say is only based on anecdotal evidence and should thus be taken with at least a grain of salt.
Nevertheless, it’s probably better to delve into allegations and hear-say rather than to say that there’s no such as internal fighting at all.
I find Aliev’s and Kulibaev’s rivalry really interesting… I would like to know what their father-in-law thinks about them. He doesn’t refer to his own kin when he says things like this, or?
on April 21st, 2006 at 2:04 am
Ben,
Your point is well taken; the problem with analyzing a closed system is that you don’t really know anything if you are an outsider. However, that doesn’t mean one can’t try; it’s almost like piecing together a puzzle, and then realizing that the puzzle doesn’t have a picture on it.
on May 19th, 2006 at 3:42 pm
I don’t think that Arat Narmanbetov feels too sorry for the Kazakh intelligence being publicly discredited. How he lost from the murder is that he faced a lawsuit from Aliev, and it is well-known that this man’s suits always result in conviction.
As for Dutbaev, he lost less than he probably should have lost. Shortly after his resignation his career resurrected at the post of Director of the KNB Academy. He lacked moral right to head the Intelligence, but he has enough of it to teach the “to-be” agents. Weird, eh?
Finally, Zharmakhan Tuyakbai along with other opposition members and also on behalf of the Public Commission for Control over Investigation did not actually publicly accuse Aliev, but called on the police to take into consideration all versions of the crime, including political.
They also urged investigators to interrogate Aliev, his wife and others, who could have had more obvious reasons to commit the crime, that Erjan Utembaev, who, by the way, now denies his initial testimonies and does not admit guilt.