ALMATY, Kazakhstan-- One of the most influential businessmen in Kazakhstan, Ramil Mukhoryapov, has found himself in the center of a controversy over a public comment that has been interpreted as an insult to the Kazakh language.
Mukhoryapov's statement at a meeting with Russian citizens who fled their homeland for Kazakhstan to evade the ongoing military mobilization sparked online protests in the Central Asian country, with calls for a boycott of his businesses and for him to offer a public apology.
The protests stemmed from Mukhoryapov's statement earlier this week when he said that people in Kazakhstan who speak to Russians in Kazakh, even though they can speak Russian, are "some kind nationalists" and "uncultured."
The online protests that followed included demands to delete his businesses’ applications from mobile phones. These include online shopping, food delivery, hairdressing, and travel apps linked to Mukhoryapov's Chocofamily holding group.
Some Internet users noted that only two of five websites for Mukhoryapov's companies offer services in Kazakh and Russian.
The 37-year-old Mukhoryapov, cited by Forbes as one of 50 most influential businesspeople in Kazakhstan in 2021, issued a video statement on October 20 offering apologies to "all who were affected by my words" and promising to improve his stumbling Kazakh.
His company also issued a statement saying that Kazakh will be added to all of its websites.
However, many Internet users in Kazakhstan refused to accept the businessman's apologies, demanding an investigation.
Language has been a sensitive issue for many years in Kazakhstan, where Russian continues to dominate in many spheres of everyday life more than three decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
While Kazakh is the state language, Russian is allowed to be used in official entities and organizations.
As Russia continues its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine launched in February, the language issue in Kazakhstan has become even more sensitive. Russian propaganda has baselessly accused the Ukrainian government of "a genocide against Russian-speakers” as one of the justifications of its full-scale aggression against Ukraine.