Kazakhstan says thank you to Borat
Kazakhstan has finally thanked British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen for creating his Borat character, after admitting that the spoof Kazakh has boosted tourism.
Authorities in the Central Asian state were outraged when the movie, ‘Borat: Cultural Learnings of America Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan’ was first released in 2006, with Baron Cohen portraying Kazakh people as backward, sexist, homophobic and anti-semitic.
But the country’s Foreign Minister Yerzhan Kazykhanov has now thanked Borat for contributing to a huge rise in tourist numbers.
“After this film the number of visas issued to Kazakhstan grew by 10 times. This is a big victory for us and I thank Borat for attracting tourists to Kazakhstan,” Kazykhanov was reported saying. Which was niiiice of him.