Free Kazakhs is a democratic movement whose main goals are to free Kazakhstan from a dictatorial regime, and liberate Kazakhstan from corruption and poverty.  The Free Kazakhs organization was founded on March 22, 2019, by Kazakh students and youth based in New York City.

Before that, activists of the organization held rallies for different occasions, such as a protest against the massive sale of Kazakh land to foreigners, mainly Chinese businesses, as early as May 2016. Since May 10, 2018, we’ve held protests on a regular basis to raise different issues, such as the dictatorship of Nursultan Nazarbayev in Kazakhstan, to demand freedom for all political prisoners, to protect independent judges, to demand increasing social benefits to mothers of many children and single mothers, and to demand freedom for ethnic Kazakhs, Uyghurs, Kyrgyz, Uzbeks and Tatars in occupied East Turkistan (which China calls “Xinjiang”) who currently are incarcerated in concentration camps and prisons only because of their ethnicity.

Free Kazakhs also were protested the current Russian colonization of Kazakhstan through its military basis located in Kazakhstan; and have urged the regime and people of Kazakhstan to leave the exploitative Russian economic union, which is a direct threat to the independence of Kazakhstan.   We also clearly oppose Chinese expansionism within and colonialism of Kazakhstan.

In addition, Free Kazakhs has organized numerous fundraisers on Facebook and GoFundMe.com to help cover penalties for civil rights activists who were detained in peaceful protests in Kazakhstan. Further, Free Kazakhs created fundraisers when emergencies occurred in Kazakhstan, such as  water floating in Maktaaral, for which we  sent $1,200 for ten families.  In response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Kazakhstan, Free Kazakhs and volunteers collected over $31,000, and used the money to buy medical equipment that was sent directly to Kazakh hospitals.

In September 2019, our organization went to Washington, D.C., and gave a speech at Capitol Hill about the tyrannical regime of Nazarbayev, the modern colonization of Kazakhstan, and Chinese ethnic genocide in East Turkistan. We’ve met with dozens of Congressmen, reported these issues in detail, and given the Congressmen video testimonies of Kazakh families living in Kazakhstan about their family members who have been detained in concentration camps in China. 

Free Kazakhs registered as a nonprofit organization on January 29, 2020. At present, we have about 50 members in the USA. The current president of the organization is Gani Stambekov.