ALMATY, Kazakhstan (AP) - A leading Kazakh writer has nominated actor Sasha Baron Cohen, creator of the titular character in the smash hit movie "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit of Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan," for a national award for popularizing Kazakhstan.

Novelist Sapabek Asip-uly called on the Kazakh Club of Art Patrons to give Cohen its annual award, according to a letter published by the Vremya newspaper Thursday.

Cohen's fictional Kazakh character Borat "has managed to spark an immense interest of the whole world in Kazakhstan - something our authorities could not do during the years of independence," said Asip-uly, who chairs the writers' guild "The Land and Destiny of Kazakhs."

Authorities in the ex-Soviet republic have been enraged by Borat's unflattering portrayal of Kazakh life in the spoof documentary "Borat."

"If state officials completely lack a sense of humor, their country becomes a laughing stock," Asip-uly said.

The film, following Borat on a journey across America to report to his homeland on its culture and lifestyles, has become a runaway hit and generated controversy for its misogynist and racist scenes. Despite the film's worldwide success, Cohen has not received recognition in Kazakhstan, Asip-uly said.

The award of the Kazakh Club of Art Patrons was established in 2005.

Asip-uly is known for novels describing the Russian colonization of Kazakh lands and the Stalinist purges that decimated Kazakhstan's political and cultural elite in the 1930s.