Azerbaijan, Baku, 7 June / Trend corr N. Kirtskhalia, D. Bobesuk, S. Ilhamgizi, T. Zhukov/
Aleksey Ostrovsky, head of the Russian State Duma's Committee on CIS Affairs & Relations with Compatriots, suggested to the leaderships of former Soviet republics to make Russian language the official language in the entire Commonwealth. Ostrovsky voiced the idea to establish real bilinguism in all CIS countries at the parliamentary meeting on 'Preservation, Application and Development of the Russian Language Abroad' on 5 June.
Trend surveyed CIS countries' representatives on the issue.
Manana Nachkebia, member of Georgian Parliamentary Committee on Education:
Making Russian language the official in the CIS is a hopeless idea. Anyway, that is has no prospects in Georgia.
Ostrovsky should keep his advice for himself. Georgia is a sovereign country and has the right to select its own state language at its own discretion. Ostrovsky's recommendations are needless. I do not think they will be followed by serious response in Georgia.
Nachkebia treats the idea to make Russian the official language as a ground to make a political statement - she thinks "that gives one more ground to the leadership of the country to think about leaving CIS".
Liliya Grigorovich, Ukraine's MP, member of the 'Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defence' parliamentary group:
That can happen only after Russia, a federal country, makes the languages of the nations included in the Federation its second, third, tenth language. But we are a unitary country. I do not like the phenomenon of 'big brother'. I would exactly pursue the same language policy in Ukraine, a unitary country, which Putin was pursuing in his federal country.
Elmira Akhundova, Azerbaijan's MP:
If they make an official proposal to Azerbaijani Parliament, possibly we will consider it. But the idea to make Russian language the official one in Azerbaijan is of no importance.
The Russian language is highly respected in Azerbaijan. There are many educational establishments in Azerbaijan based on the Russian language. There are many Russian-speaking people in the country. Amongst CIS countries, Azerbaijan has the largest number of educational establishments based on the Russian language. Therefore, I think there is no need to give official status to the Russian language in the country.
Just the opposite, the number of educational establishments based on the Russian language must be decreased in Azerbaijan in order to improve the status of the Azerbaijani language.
I, as a Russian-speaking citizen of Azerbaijan, think there is no need to make Russian the second official language.
Docent Fayzulla Asanov, Uzbekistan's Philology PhD in general linguistics and study of Turkic language:
The Russian language in Uzbekistan anyway has very strong position both in domestic and official levels. So, there is no sense to make it an official language. Look, just one fact can prove Russian language's high status in the country - President Islam Karimov holds all high-level negotiations in Russian.
Many Uzbek families, especially intellectuals, prefer their children to study in schools based on the Russian language. The tendency is widely spread mainly in large cities. And that proves a lot. According to Uzbekistan' Constitution, the Russian language is an international language. So, there is no sense to improve its status.
The worst mistake of the Uzbek authorities was switching on Latin alphabet. In 1992, as a result of Rusophobia, people decided to be independent in all fields. At that time the decision, which is not a wise one, was taken. The decision to change the alphabet was a political act not taking into consideration the merits and demerits of the new graphic system.
Ukraine's MP Aleksandr Yefremov, a member of the Party of Regions parliamentary group:
The second official language really exists in all CIS countries. If we come to any CIS country, for instance Georgia, we speak Russian, not Georgian, and understand each another. Therefore, de-facto the Russian language currently unites us, not separates.
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