MUSLIM KAZAKHSTAN DREAMS TO HOST FIRST OLYMPICS

Almaty, Kazakhstan, 13 Shawwal 1436/30 July 2015 (MINA) – Competing against China to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, Kazakhstan aims to be become the first Muslims country to host the Olympics in the its largest city, Almaty.

“We would like to hold such Olympic Games so that the names of Kazakhstan and Almaty ring out worldwide,” Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev told state television, OnIslam quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will hold a secret ballot on Friday, July 31, in Malaysia to decide whether the event goes to Almaty or Beijing.

With natural snow and low air pollution, the central Asian republic is seen as a better place for the winter games after co-hosting the 2011 Asian Winter Games with the capital Astana and will host the 2017 Winter Universiade.

For Kazakhs, the global sports event will put their country firmly on the map and help upgrading the capital’s infrastructure.

Heavily backed by president Nazarbayev, plans to host the Winter Olympics were met by pessimism among many Almaty residents.

“The Olympic Games are needed only for those in power to demonstrate to the world that the country lives according to democratic standards, while in fact it has nothing to do with democracy,” said Saken Bektiyar, a painter aged 54.

“The authorities and the people exist in parallel worlds, and the Olympic Games will be just an extra bonus for those in power.”

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who was in power for more than two decades, undertook a state asset sale program in the 1990s.

Last April, Nazarbayev has been elected for a fifth term after a landslide victory of 97.7%.

“As an Almaty resident and patriot of my city, I would certainly want the Games to be held here,” political analyst Aidos Sarym said.

“But there are concerns over corruption which exists here.

“In most of Kazakhstan’s gigantic projects, we see mainly marginal interests of a small group of people or officials,” he continued. (T/P007/R04)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)