Eurasia Insight:
OILFIELD BRAWL DENTS KAZAKHSTAN’S IMAGE
Joanna Lillis: 11/21/06

A delicate sense of calm has been restored in the oilfields of western Kazakhstan after a riot late last month, involving hundreds of Kazakhstani and Turkish oil workers, embarrassed Kazakhstani leaders and focused attention on long-simmering social tension in this energy-rich Central Asian state.

The rioting October 20-21 reportedly was sparked by an incident in which Turkish workers at a construction site at the Tengiz oilfield – one of the largest in the world – accused a Kazakhstani colleague of trying to cut into the lunch line. Nasty words gave way to fisticuffs, and the situation rapidly spun out of control as other workers joined in the mayhem. The ensuing brawl involved roughly 400 workers. Nearly 200 were injured in the clash, most of them Turks.

Todd Levy, the general manager of the Tengizchevroil joint venture, which is developing the oilfield, told Kazakhstani Prime Minister Danial Akhmetov on November 1 that a total of 196 workers from the Senimdi Kurylys Construction Co. had been injured, only three of them non-Turks. Channel 31 TV showed gruesome pictures of Turkish workers covered in blood, one with his back cut to shreds and another with a severely damaged ankle. Of those receiving medical treatment, 11 were seriously injured, according to Askat Bekenov, mayor of Atyrau Region’s Zhylyoyskii District. He went on to tell a television interviewer that “no political hue should be attached to this hooliganism.”

Authorities continued to characterize the brawl as a random act of hooliganism, playing down the notion that the brawl had deeper political and social undertones. “The first, surface reason for the conflict was run-of-the-mill,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Yerzhan Ashykbayev told a press briefing in late October. “At the same time, we have expressed the hope that the working group set up to investigate the circumstances of the incident will provide full information.”

Ashykbayev was obliquely acknowledging widely-voiced concern that the riot was sparked by discontent among Kazakhstani workers, who are said to be unhappy at being paid less and treated differently than foreign staff at the site. Economy Minister Aslan Musin acknowledged in parliament on November 2 that there were large discrepancies in the salaries paid to foreign and local workers, but he nevertheless insisted that the brawl was nothing more than a “run-of-the-mill fight,” Kazakhstan Today reported.

In the aftermath of the brawl, Channel 31 interviewed several Kazakhstani workers at the oilfield, where riot police were deployed to maintain order. Anger resonated in their voices as they aired their grievances. “We have become slaves on our land,” said one. “We do what the Turks say, but you can’t please them. They constantly threaten to fire us. If you are three minutes late, you lose your job.”

“We work better and they earn more,” added another.

Coming shortly after President Nursultan Nazarbayev publicly slammed state company bosses for paying themselves hundreds of thousands of dollars a month, this focus on low pay at the oilfields was the source of embarrassment to the government. The sight of hundreds of brawling oil workers is not conducive to the modern, forward-looking, dynamic image the country is trying to project as it pushes ahead with its drive to join the world’s 50 most competitive countries. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

The Epokha newspaper reported that the Kazakhstani workers at the field earned around USD $250-320 per month. “In addition, they have constantly had to listen to taunting and mockery from the Turks,” it added. Many Kazakh media reports took up the thread of Kazakh workers being treated as second-class citizens. “Hundreds of Kazakh workers… were protesting against the infringement of their interests by foreign bosses,” said a commentary published in Karavan, Kazakhstan’s most popular tabloid.

Eventually, legislators also began to voice concerns. “The reason for this incident was the Kazakhstani workers’ social inequality,” Nurpeis Makashev, MP for Atyrau, told parliament. Another MP, Dariga Nazarbayeva, the president’s daughter, weighed in, noting that “an increase in the number of serious conflicts arising mainly at companies belonging to foreign investors has been observed in society recently.”

“Foreign investors working in our country should definitely… put into action the principles of socially-responsible business,” Nazarbayeva added, in comments published by Kazakhstan Today.

As pressure began to mount, Prime Minister Akhmetov vowed to punish those responsible and ordered Tengizchevroil to put things in order at the oilfield within a week, Kazakhstan Today reported on November 1. “If you do not take measures within this period, you will be creating a precedent in Kazakhstan – a conflict on ethnic grounds,” he told Levy.

Kazakhstan, home to over 120 ethnic groups, prides itself on inter-ethnic accord, and the riot dealt a blow to its image – especially coming as leaders of Turkic states were preparing for their first summit in five years on 17 November in Antalya, Turkey. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. In addition to the government investigation, two criminal probes have been opened, one concerning hooliganism and the other looking into willful damage of property.

Tengizchevroil, whose largest shareholder is the US oil company Chevron, said business has not been affected. “There was no impact on the base business,” it said in a statement. “A number of construction offices, vehicles and other facilities were damaged during the incident. All base operations remained fully operational as well as all other project sites.”

In the days following the riots, some Turkish media outlets reported that Turks had died while brawling. “Turkish workers also asserted that some of their friends were killed during the fight, accusing the Kazakh authorities of trying to cover up the issue,” the Zaman newspaper said. Another newspaper, Sabah, adopted a more sensationalist line, speaking of the "genocide" of Turkish laborers, and claiming that one had been hung from an iron hook.

The Kazakh Foreign Ministry vigorously denied any fatalities, and the early reports of deaths proved to be inaccurate.

In apportioning blame, not all Turkish newspapers pointed the finger at the Kazakh workers. Zaman suggested that Turks should examine their own business practices: “I’m sorry to say that some companies that went to Central Asia after independence made unforgivable mistakes and damaged the trust felt in Turkey. The condescending approach of some Turks opened other wounds. Now there is an important opportunity for us to ask, ‘Where did we go wrong?’”

The political backlash was not limited to Turkey, with Filipino media also reporting fatalities. About half of the 450 Filipino workers employed at the Tengiz field have opted to leave as a result of the brawl. A total of 228 were scheduled to arrive in Manila in late November, according to the Balita website, which carries news about Filipino expatriate workers.

Editor’s Note: Joanna Lillis is a freelance writer who specializes in Central Asian affairs.