Kazakhstan features two holes at Olympics

Two incidents involving Kazakhstan symbols at London Olympics-2012 outrage the country's citizens. Kazakhstan Majilis deputy Azat Peruashev sent an official letter to Kazakhstan’s Secretary of State Mukhtar Kul-Mukhammed asking to deal with the incidents, Tengrinews.kz reports. “All Kazakhstan citizens are by right proud of the success of our sportsmen at the London Olympics. Bright victories of Aleksander Vinokourov and Zulfiya Chinshanlo on the first days of the Games glorified Kazakhstan and showed the high level of sport in the country. Meanwhile, the Olympics are associated with other less joyful moments causing puzzlement and infringing on the feeling of national dignity of Kazakhstan sport fans. Prior to the official opening of the Olympics, a Kazakhstan flag with a hole instead of the sun was hoisted at the Parliament Square in the center of London. Photos of this disfigured flag were widely circulating on the Internet. However, people have no information on the official response of Kazakhstan’s authorities to this incident. It is notable that this fact took place right after Kazakhstan parliament adopted amendments to the law enhancing liability for disrespect of the country’s state symbols,” Peruashev wrote. Press-secretary of Kazakhstan Foreign Ministry, however, told Bnews.kz that the flags with the holes instead of certain elements are nothing more than a designer’s work made specially for London Olympics-2012. Photo courtesy of Bnews.kz The second incident is related to Kazakhstan national team's outfits. Tengrinews.kz English reported that the outfits were made by Kazakhstan designer Kuralai Nurkadilova and caused mixed reactions among Kazakhstan sports community. “The defects of our sportsmen’s outfits look even more outrageous (than the hole in the flag), as the liability for such defects lays on Kazakhstan companies and officials. During the glorious broadcast of the weight-lifting tournament (where Kazakhstan representative Zulfiya Chinshanlo set a world and Olympic record and won the gold medal), the cameras several times focused on the large sign on the outfits of our Olympians saying KZAKHSTAN instead of KAZAKHSTAN," the Parliament deputy said. ©AFP "This sign looks ridiculous amid the brilliant victories of our sportsmen. In fact it is a national insult to the millions of Kazakhstan sport fans. Everyone knows of several rows involving Kazakhstan’s state symbols both at the international tournaments and inside Kazakhstan. A whole campaign involving members of Kazakhstan’s Olympic team was held prior to their departure to London to prevent such incidents. However, as we see, such measures had no proper effect on the designers and makers of our team's outfits,” the MP wrote.