The following information on Azat was retrieved from the attached articles. Although some of these articles describe to Azat as a nationalist party, none of them describes Azat as antisemitic.

A BBC Summary of World Broadcasts quotes Azat's first deputy chairman Zhasral Kuyanishalin as saying that the movement is "categorically against the private ownership of land and the proclamation of Russian a state language along Kasakh" (20 Jan. 1995). An article from The Moscow Times states that "Azat, with between 20,000 and 30,000 members, is especially strong in the southern areas of the republic where ethnic Kazakhs make up the majority of the population (9 Feb. 1995). Azat is one of the radical nationalist movements and parties which "insist in the establishment of a specifically Kazakh nation state (Current Digest of the Post Soviet Press 19 May 1993). Azat became an official political party on 11 October 1992 and won three seats during the March 1994 parliamentary elections (BBC Summary 13 Oct. 1992; AFP 10 Mar. 1994)

This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Agence France Presse (AFP). 10 March 1994. "Kasakh Poised for Reform After Nazarbayev Wins Majority." (NEXIS)

BBC Summary of World Broadcasts. 20 January 1995. "Kasakh Nationalists Against Land Ownership." (NEXIS)

_____. 20 January 1992. "Kazahk Nationalists Against Land Ownership." (NEXIS)

Current Digest of the Post Soviet Press Columbus, Ohio. Columbus, Ohio. 19 May 1993. Vladimir Moiseyev. "Russia: Colonizer or Missionnary?" (NEXIS)

The Moscow Times. 9 February 1995. Leonid Bershidsky. "Russian-Kazakh Union: An Exclusive CIS Club." (NEXIS)

Agence France Presse (AFP). 10 March 1994. "Kasakh Poised for Reform After Nazarbayev Wins Majority." (NEXIS)

BBC Summary of World Broadcasts. 20 January 1995. "Kasakh Nationalists Against Land Ownership." (NEXIS)

_____. 20 January 1992. "Kazahk Nationalists Against Land Ownership." (NEXIS)

Current Digest of the Post Soviet Press Columbus, Ohio. 19 May 1993. Vladimir Moiseyev. "Russia: Colonizer or Missionnary?" (NEXIS)

The Moscow Times. 9 February 1995. Leonid Bershidsky. "Russian-Kazakh Union: An Exclusive CIS Club." (NEXIS)