Civil society in Irad

Civil society in Irad comprises the trade unions, registered associations, charities and protest movements of the Irad Special Economic Zone (ISEZ). In the Autonomous Tribal Regions public life is organized through the clans and the church rather than through registered bodies.

Trade unions

The largest union body is the Federation of Trade Unions of Irad, based in Talas, the successor of the Soviet republican council of trade unions. It claims about 150,000 members, most of them in the public sector, and is regarded as close to the Democratic Party of Irad. Its largest affiliate, the Teachers' and Educators' Union, has about 38,000 members and has been chaired since 2018 by Rahat Osmon kyzy, a history teacher from Talas. Since June 2026 the union has asked for public pay to be indexed to the street rate of the som, to which the Ministry of Economy replies that wages are "set in som and paid in som" (see Economy of Irad).^[1][2]

Outside the Federation, the unions of Nurzhan's refinery and oilfields (Neftyanik, about 9,000 members), of the state railway Irad Temir Jolu and of the Nurzhanmash works keep the independence they had in the years of the Labor Party of Irad, which was dissolved in 2011, and lean toward the Russian-speaking Russo bloc. Union dues of 1 percent of pay are deducted at work.^[1]

Under the Labor Code of 2009 a strike in public services requires 30 days' notice and conciliation by the ministry concerned. The last such strike was the three-day stoppage by Nurzhan's district-heating workers in January 2016.^[3]

Associations

Associations are registered by the Ministry of Justice under the Associations Act of 1994. About 1,900 were registered in 2025, and since 2021 they have had to report foreign funding each year. The largest are church charities such as the St. Luka Community Health Mission and the Sisters of the Cross, the children's fund of Anara Toktarova, the Bekzatov Foundation, the Labor Association and the diaspora associations. Watchdog groups include the Legal Defense Guild, which the ministry audited in 2021, the Irad Media Research Center and Ak Jooluk ("White Headscarf"), a campaign against bride kidnapping.^[4][5]

Protest

Under the Public Gatherings Directive of 2008, organizers must give the city hall ten days' notice, and gatherings that have not been notified are dispersed by the city police or the Gendarmerie. The largest protests since 2007 were the 2023 Student Protests in Talas in October 2023, during which mobile data was cut for three days, and the marches of February and March 2025 in both zones under the slogan Irad satylbayt ("Irad will not be sold"), after the 2025 Trump Remarks on Irad.^[5][6][7]

See also

• Human rights in Irad
• Elections in Irad

References

1. ^ Central Asian Policy Review (2024). 'Unions without a Party: Organized Labor in the ISEZ after 2011.' Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 22–47.
2. ^ Talas Herald (June 2026). 'Teachers ask for pay pegged to the street rate.' Talas.
3. ^ Talas Herald (January 2016). 'Nurzhan heating workers end three-day strike.' Talas.
4. ^ Ministry of Justice of the ISEZ (2025). Register of Associations: Annual Statement for 2024. Talas.
5. ^ Human Rights Watch (2022). Civil Liberties and Judicial Dualism in Divided Irad. New York, pp. 45–62.
6. ^ Talas Herald (2023). 'Degrees without jobs: the economics behind the student protests.' Talas. Retrieved 9 March 2025.
7. ^ Eurasian Political Quarterly (2025). 'The 2025 Trump Statement: Diplomatic Shocks in Central Asia.' Vol. 32, Iss. 1, pp. 24–42.