Businessman from Atyrau flies Boston to see his son

By Zulfiya Bainekeeva

Students from Kazakhstan: Dias Kadyrbaev and Azamat Tazhayakov with Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Photo:VKontakteSoon after the detention of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, accused of act of terrorism in Boston, the world media spotlighted the names of two Kazakhstan citizens,  students of the Massachusetts University: Dias Kadyrbaev and Azamat Tazhayakov. 19-year-old Azamat happened to be from Atyrau, our fellow countryman.

FBI arrested the students on April 20 in the apartment which they rented in the city of New Bedford (one hour drive from Boston). The apartment was searched by FBI. They are accused of violation of immigration rules and interrogated in connection with the act of terrorism. According to American mass media, they were close friends of the younger Tsarnayev – Dzhokhar. Some mass media even reported they allegedly harbored the wanted brothers. In this connection, the license plate on the car owned by Kazakh citizens with Terorrista#1 written on seems dubious. The photo of the car was published twice on the Twitter page by Dzhokhar Tsarnayev.

Currently the two students are kept in custody until “clarification of circumstances”.

The statement of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan reads that one of diplomats is now in Boston cooperating with US authorities and keeping contact with the detained students and their families.

Azamat Tazhayakov, graduate of the Astana based international school “Miras”, was born in Atyrau. His father, Ismagoulov Amir Tazhayakhovich, is a well-known businessman in the region, the chairman of the board of directors of Abylaikhan Group JSC and the deputy of the Maslikhat (city council) of Atyrau city. Unlike the father of another student from Almaty (Dias Kadyrbayev) who gave an interview to Tengrinews, Amir Tazhayakhovich withheld from comments. In a telephone conversation he said he was in Astana:

- Is everything all right with the boys?

- Yes, everything is ok. I am leaving for America and I will give all the details when I arrive back home to Atyrau.