Aron Atabek

Aron Qabyşūly Edigeev (, born Aron Qabyşūly Nutuşev; 31 January 1953 – 24 November 2021), better known as Aron Atabek , was a Kazakh political activist and poet.

He was a leader of an independent Alash National Freedom Party, and the president of the political council of the Kazak Memleketi, the Kazakhstan National Front.

Early life and education Atabek was born on 31 January 1953, with a birth name Aron Qabyşūly Nūtuşev, in the village Naryn Khuduk in the Kalmyk Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (now Kalmykia, Russia). His father lived during the Holodomor famine, and spent years in a Gulag camp before eventually becoming the chairman of a collective farm in the Astrakhan Oblast. Atabek's grandfather and great-grandfather were repressed and executed by the Bolsheviks. His great-great-grandfather Makhambet Otemisuly was a poet and warrior who led an uprising in Bukey Horde in 1836–1837, but was later killed by Kazakh mercenaries under the order of the Russian Tsarist authorities. In 1986, he participated in the Jeltoqsan civil unrest that took place in Alma-Ata (present-day Almaty), and consequently hid in remote areas to avoid prosecution. In April 1989, Atabek wrote a letter to the Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union demanding "a revision of the political assessment in regards to Jeltoqsan and the release of all its protesters, as well as granting of Kazakhstan's state sovereignty". Months later in November 1989, he personally submitted an application to the Alma-Ata City Executive Committee in a request to allow a trizna feast in memory of the victims of the Jeltoqsan. In December 1989, Atabek met with First Secretary of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev to voice demands that were written prior in a letter to Congress of People's Deputies. As a result, Atabek was threatened and forced to move to Moscow in February 1991. In December 1991, the pro-Islamic faction of the Alash attempted to forcefully remove mufti (Muslim jurist) Ryspek Nysambaev from a mosque in Alma-Ata; Nysambaev was attacked and taken hostage before being freed by police. In response, Atabek condemned the incident caused by the party members, accusing the KGB and Islamic fundamentalists of setting up the provocative attack. Atabek described Azerbaijan as a "compromise option" and remarked the "Caspian Sea does not divide, but connects Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan."

After Heydar Aliyev came to power in Azerbaijan, Atabek left the country and moved with his family to Nalchik, Russia, where according to himself they lived in a "very poor state", before moving back to Moscow in October 1994. The Kazak Memleketi also advocated for the protection of the rights of homeless people living in self-constructed illegally erected homes which created a movement of "collective self-defense" for shanty towns located in the microdistricts within Almaty, as well as for residents living in dormitories facing eviction. Atabek participated in the defense of homes in Bakai District against demolition, while calling on others to join in these efforts, writing to First Lady of Kazakhstan Sara Nazarbayeva: "Why not show some humanity and philanthropy, and legalise these miserable 0.06-hectare plots for these Kazakh families for whom these pieces of land are the only way to survive in an environment of unchecked capitalism?" During the event, Atabek's knee was injured after an officer hit him with a truncheon. Multiple squadron assaults were carried out in an attempt to take control of the area, but resisting locals repelled police until the city authorities called off the siege, thus preventing further enactment of evictions and demolition of homes. Atabek was once again summoned to the Department of Internal Affairs on 17 July 2006, and was arrested on the charges of organizing the riot, taking hostages, and attempted murder, the latter of which was changed to a murder charge shortly afterwards when the burned policeman died. After fifteen years in prison, he was released in October 2021 due to deteriorating health.

Detention conditions In 2009, it was reported that Atabek has been transferred to the prison in Arkalyk in the Kostanay Region. The Alash from January 1990 was printed in Estonia and delivered by couriers to Kazakhstan where the security forces attempted to withdraw the publication. After returning to Kazakhstan from exile in 1996, Atabek published his poetry collection in 1998, where he translated Kul-Teguin Monument, an ancient Turkic poetic stele into Russian and Yollig-tegin. Monument to Kul-Teguin, which was published in 2000 and financially supported by his friends.

Awards 2004: Almas Kylysh prize 2010: Freedom to Create: Imprisoned Artist prize