Another oddity has happened recently with the Kazakhstani leadership that strives for two mutually contradicting things – international recognition and preservation of its grip on power. “We have peculiar democracy, so, please, don’t preach us. Donn’t forget that we abandoned nuclear weapons and conduct conferences of inter-religious tolerance!” – such is the logic.

The idea of nominating president Nazarbayev for Nobel Prize, which was voiced on the last tolerance conference in Astana’s Pyramid, does not seem to be realizable. So, the one has to suffice with what is available, or, rather, with what can be effectively invented. The “First International Peace Prize of the Nova Southeastern University” seems to be the one of those.

Anatoly Ivanov from the Inkar-info Internet-radio (RUS) has investigated the fact and found out that the prize was established not by this Florida-based university, but by its department for conflict analysis and resolution. Such an “optional award” is not mentioned on the website of Nova Uni. However, there is a brief and quite funny press-release.

It appears that assistant professor Sam Baroni together with congressman Faleomavarga, who is known as “good friend of Astana” that repeatedly came out in support of “rise of democracy in Kazakhstan”, was invited to Astana for a governmental symposium “Kazakh way to nuclear-free world”. What is funny about it? A couple of things.

For example, in response to the award, president Nazarbayev allegedly said that he is «very interested in cooperation” with this department of a provincial American university. But the most entertaining part of the release is that Mrs. Baroni visited Eurasian National University in Astana and met with its Chair, L. Gumilev! In reality, the university is named after Gumilev, a world-renowned scientist, who had died in 1992.