Mustafa Chokaev Politician Date of Birth: 25.12.1890 Country: Kazakhstan

Mustafa Chokaev - A Biography of a Prominent Kazakh Public and Political Figure

Mustafa Chokaev, a prominent Kazakh public and political figure, was born on January 7, 1890, in the village of Aulie-Tarangyl in the Syr-Darya region of the Kyzyl-Orda Oblast. Coming from a noble lineage, his grandfather earned the title of "datka," equating him to a sultan. His father, Chokay, born in 1836, was a respected village leader and judge. Through his maternal lineage, Mustafa traced his ancestry back to the Kazakh khans who once ruled Khiva. He received a proper upbringing and education, but during his time, the Russian government established imperial rule in the region, declaring the territories adjacent to Russia as Russian Turkestan.

At the age of eight, Mustafa witnessed the uprising led by Imam Madeli, in which Uzbeks, Kazakhs, and Kyrgyz participated. The rebellion was harshly suppressed, and as a result, all lands belonging to the rebels, including winter camps and fertile lands, were transferred to Russian settlers. Despite providing Mustafa with a Muslim upbringing, his parents decided to send him to the Russian Tashkent Gymnasium, where he studied alongside Alexander Kerensky. In school, he united fellow Kazakhs who pledged to remain devout Muslims and steadfast in their faith.

After graduating from the gymnasium, Chokaev enrolled in the Faculty of Law at St. Petersburg University. During his student years, his political identity as a democrat crystallized, and he gained a profound understanding of the political situation in Russia and Turkestan. Actively participating in public activities, he had contact with prominent figures such as Gubaidulla Shangirkhanov, an administrator of the Tsarist government who advocated for the education of young Kazakhs in universities and worked to improve their conditions.

In the Russian State Dumas, Kazakhs were not represented, and they could only act through the so-called Muslim faction of European Russia. Despite his youth, Mustafa became a vital member of the organizing committee for this faction. Through it, he presented to the State Duma the brutal suppression of the 1916 uprising by government forces. When the Provisional Government was established in February 1917, Mustafa Chokaev helped appoint Alihan Bukaykhanov as a commissar in the Steppe Territory and Muhammedzhan Tynyshbayev in Turkestan. Even before the February Revolution, he had conceived the idea of the "Turkestan Union," leading him to travel to Kazan in 1916 and establish an organization called "Turkistan Unity." Five people, with Mustafa as their unquestioned leader, formed its leadership.

On December 27, 1917, all political movements and parties gathered at the All-Turkestan Congress, which declared the establishment of the Kokand Autonomy and elected Tynyshbayev as its first president. Following Tynyshbayev's departure, Chokaev was unanimously chosen as his successor. The congress emphasized the need to establish economic relations with Russia based on equality and mutual interests. However, Kokand proved defenseless against the Bolshevik onslaught – lacking weapons, military personnel, and international support.

After the city's capture, widespread massacres, violence against women, looting, and extrajudicial executions ensued. Only with the courage and dedication of Chokaev's comrades was he able to escape this bloodshed. Through Baku, Batumi, and Istanbul, Mustafa made his way to Paris, where he settled. In Paris, Chokaev tirelessly worked to unite all Muslim exiles, aiming to raise awareness in the West about the true state of affairs. He played an invaluable role in the Society of Friendship of the Peoples of the Caucasus, Turkestan, and Ukraine, engaging with socialists and prominent political figures while systematically developing his political concept of uniting Turkic peoples to achieve freedom, independence, and civilized development.

In London, Paris, and Warsaw, he delivered lectures, explaining and exposing the imperial-repressive nature of Bolshevik policies. From 1924, he published the journal "Yash Turkestan" in London in English, as well as in German, French, and Polish in Warsaw. His articles continue to impress with their sharp analysis and profound understanding. The Bolsheviks, especially Stalin, feared the penetration of his ideas. Without mentioning his name, they labeled any independently thinking intellectuals as "pan-Turkists" or "pan-Islamists," giving these terms a sinister connotation, similar to that of "nationalism." In reality, Chokaev advocated for the idea of regional, linguistic, and historical-ethnic unity among peoples, an idea that continues to develop on various levels today.

There is speculation that he was poisoned at the behest of Rosenberg, and it is possible that Vali Kayum, who became the leader of the "Turkistan Legion," was involved. However, it remains unclear how the Germans intended to use Chokaev's political authority for their purposes, how much they trusted him, or whether any alliance or diplomatic agreement existed between them. One thing, however, is certain: since 1920, living in France, Mustafa Chokaev, as a political figure in exile, earned an impeccable reputation as a person, as a scholar, economist, sociologist, journalist, and publicist. The speculations surrounding his name are merely a belated attempt to cast a shadow on the memory of this outstanding regional figure, referred to by the Soviets as Central Asia and Kazakhstan. Professor A. Shulgin, a personal acquaintance of Chokaev, summed it up best: "Mustafa-bi was a great statesman, a prominent writer and journalist. Remaining true to his traditions, he possessed all the valuable and humane qualities that could and should connect people of different and seemingly incomprehensible nationalities."