Oyan, Qazaqstan (; OQ) is a
civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...
founded in
Almaty
Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to ...
,
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
.
Creation
The formation of ''Oyan, Qazaqstan'' was announced 5 June 2019, triggered by the arrest, trial and conviction of activists Beybarys Tolymbekov and Asya Tulesova.
The group's name is based on a poetry book written by
Mirjaqip Dulatuli (Mir Yakub Dulatov) in 1909 that was immediately confiscated by the
Tsarist
Tsarist autocracy (russian: царское самодержавие, transcr. ''tsarskoye samoderzhaviye''), also called Tsarism, was a form of autocracy (later absolute monarchy) specific to the Grand Duchy of Moscow and its successor states ...
authorities, "a celebrated verse of defiance".
The
hashtag
A hashtag is a metadata tag that is prefaced by the hash (also known as pound or octothorpe) sign, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services such as Twitter or Instagram as a form of user-generated ...
"#IWokeUp" video () meme campaign involving actor and activist
Anuar Nurpeisov, released the previous week,
was a factor in the creation of OQ.
Aims
''Oyan, Qazaqstans concerns are fundamental political reform and human rights.
OQ is not a political party and does not seek political power for itself. It refuses cooperation with political parties in Kazakhstan and elsewhere.
OQ published a nine-point list of its specific aims, including "an end to political repression, reforming the
distribution of power between the branches of government, free elections in line with international standards, and a system of self-governance at the local level".
Actions
OQ has been involved in several of the
2019 Kazakh protests. On 30 August 2019, Kazakhstan's
Constitution Day, OQ staged rallies in several cities around the country.
References
See also
Respublika – another Kazakh activist organisation created in 2019
External links
*
Political organizations based in Kazakhstan
Human rights organisations based in Kazakhstan
2019 establishments in Kazakhstan
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