The Speaker of the Kazakhstan Majilis, the lower house of the Kazakhstan Parliament, announced his resignation on October 18 in protest over what he termed crude violations of electoral process in Kazakhstan's September parliamentary elections. Zharmakhan Tuyakbai, who went public with his complaints of executive... MORE

On October 15 the Supreme Court of Kazakhstan banned activities by al-Qaeda, the Islamic Party of East Turkestan, the Kurdish People's Congress, and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. Law enforcement sources did not give plausible explanations for singling out these particular organizations as forces threatening... MORE

The removal of Craig Murray, the United Kingdom's ambassador to Uzbekistan, has emerged as the culmination of a series of events linked to his critique of the government of Uzbekistan. The actual causes belli centered upon allegations Murray made in an internal memo circulated within... MORE

On October 17, Russian President Vladimir Putin inaugurated the now legal Russian military base in Tajikistan. One day earlier in Dushanbe, Putin and Tajikistan President Imomali Rakhmonov exchanged the instruments of ratification for the April 1999 agreement that conferred basing rights on the Russian Army... MORE

More than one month has now passed since the tragedy in the North Ossetian town of Beslan, but what really happened there is still subject to debate. When the hostages crisis ended with hundreds dead, Russian authorities tried their best to assure the outside world... MORE

On October 14, fresh on the heels of the racially motivated murder of a Vietnamese student in St. Petersburg, four men beat and stabbed two citizens of Uzbekistan in the suburban Moscow town of Dolgoprudny. One of the victims, identified by regional prosecutors as Ihtier... MORE

On October 14, defense ministers from NATO's 26 member countries and Russia held an informal session of the NATO-Russia Council in Romania. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov used the meeting to air recriminations against allies, drive wedges among them, and announce a program of Russian... MORE

"Dangerous uncertainty" describes the current situation in Abkhazia, while the breakaway region awaits the announcement of a winner in its controversial October 3 presidential election. The pro-government and Moscow-backed candidate, Raul Khajimba, and the main opposition candidate, Sergei Bagapsh, have both claimed victory. Both have... MORE

The murder of a Vietnamese student in St. Petersburg has once again underscored the growing problem of racist violence in Russia. Eyewitnesses report that on the evening of October 13, a group of 15-18 young men with shaven heads and black clothes and boots attacked... MORE

"Mediators" Russia, Ukraine, and the OSCE are redoubling efforts to refloat the shipwrecked negotiations toward Moldova's federalization. Meeting on October 11-12 in Sofia at the initiative of the OSCE Chairmanship, the three mediators issued a joint statement urging Chisinau and Tiraspol to return to that... MORE