Menıñ Qazaqstanym

The State Anthem of the Republic of Kazakhstan was officially adopted on 7 January 2006, replacing the previous anthem first used upon independence in 1991.
The anthem is based on a homonymous patriotic song, "My Kazakhstan," created by Kazakh composer Shamshi Kaldayakov and poet Jumeken Najimedenov in 1956. The original lyrics were modified in 2005 by the first president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, before the decree was issued.

History

In 1943, when Kazakhstan was then a part of the Soviet Union, a competition was announced to create an anthem for the Kazakh nation. The then-27-year-old poet Qaiym Muhamedhanov, in collaboration with Äbdilda Täjibaev and Ğabıt Müsirepov, wrote the lyrics to the anthem, which were set to the music composed by Mukan Tölebaev, Eugene Brusilovsky and Latıf Hamıdı. Their work was then chosen by Supreme Soviet of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic to be used as the Republic's official regional anthem.
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, new lyrics were used for the succeeding anthem; however, the Soviet-era melody was retained.
On 9 May 2000, a ceremony was held, and then-President Nursultan Nazarbayev publicly stated that there should be a new anthem. A few weeks later, the Mäjilis took into consideration a replacement. A few candidates had been selected, but the process had later been abandoned.
In 2005, a popular patriotic song written in 1956, titled "Menıñ Qazaqstanym", was chosen to be the new national anthem of Kazakhstan. The song originally had three verses of eight lines each, along with the chorus. Nazarbayev modified the lyrics and reduced the text to two verses followed by the chorus. The first verse and the chorus of the original text were changed slightly, the second verse was omitted completely, and the third verse had five of the eight lines changed. On 7 January 2006, the new text was later amended to comply with the status of the national anthem.
The law for listening to the national anthem was also changed. When the national anthem is performed at official ceremonies, citizens of Kazakhstan must stand up and place the palm of their right hand on the left side of their chest.

Lyrics

Current official

Kazakh original

Original song

The national anthem of Kazakhstan is based on a 1956 patriotic song titled "My Kazakhstan". It was created in response to the Soviet Virgin Lands Campaign program, insisting Soviet authorities to not turn Kazakhstan into Russia's corn belt.

Kazakh original

English translation

Protocol

"Menıñ Qazaqstanym" is played during official state ceremonies and social functions, such as sporting events involving national sports teams of Kazakhstan. All radio stations and television networks across the country play the national anthem twice, once during sign-on and sign-off every day, the performance of the anthem is not regulated by any government law; however, there is traditional protocol that is employed during a performance of the song. Most citizens put their hands over their heart while singing the anthem following United States practice. Traditionally universal etiquette is to stand during the performance. Officers and personnel of the Kazakh Armed Forces offer a Russian-style military salute when in uniform during the performance of the anthem when not in formation.

Criticism

Nazarbayev's co-authorship was perceived in a negative light by some writers of Kazakhstan. In 2009, Kazakh poet Erlan Jünıs criticized the then-President of Kazakhstan, saying:

2012 sporting event incidents

In March 2012, a parody national anthem, titled "O Kazakhstan", featured in the soundtrack of the movie Borat, was mistakenly played at the International Shooting Grand Prix in Kuwait. The Gold-winning medalist, Mariya Dmitriyenko, stood on the dais while the entire parody was played. The team complained, and the award ceremony was re-staged. The incident apparently resulted from the wrong song being downloaded from YouTube at the last minute. Senior officials in Kazakhstan were furious with the error and vowed to make a complaint to their Kuwaiti counterparts.
A similar incident had taken place earlier that month at the opening ceremony of a skiing festival in Qostanai, in which the first bar of Ricky Martin's single "Livin' La Vida Loca" was played instead of "Menıñ Qazaqstanym". However, "Menıñ Qazaqstanym" was played properly following the mistake.