Latest Articles about Kazakhstan
Popularity of Islamic Sate Soars in Russia and Post-Soviet Space
With more and more former members of the Caucasus Emirate pledging allegiance to the “caliphate” of the Islamic State, the situation in the North Caucasus may destabilize further. What is happening is not the disbanding of one rebel organization and its replacement with a more... MORE
Kazakhstan’s Crackdown on Rumors Fails to Prevent their Spread
On January 1, 2015, the new Criminal Code, which was approved by President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s July 2014 decree, took effect in Kazakhstan. Hailed by the authorities as a means to modernize the domestic penal system in line with international standards, it introduces a number of... MORE
Russia’s Space Cooperation with Central Asia on Uncertain Path
On April 27, Turkmenistan launched its first telecommunications satellite into space. The launch was hailed as a breakthrough by President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, who watched the ceremony at Cape Canaveral in Florida live from Ashgabat via a conference call. The 4.5-ton satellite called TurkmenAlem52E/Monacosat was carried... MORE
Al-Qaeda-Aligned Central Asian Militants in Syria Separate from Islamic State-Aligned IMU in Afghanistan
On April 25, 2015, a coalition of rebel forces led by al-Qaeda affiliate, Jabhat al-Nusra (JN), and including the Uyghur-led Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) and Uzbek-led Imam Bukhari Jamaat (IBJ) and Katibat Tawhid wal Jihad, defeated the Syrian army in a battle at the strategic... MORE
China and Kazakhstan to Construct a Trans-Kazakhstan Railway Line From Khorgos to Aktau
Kazakhstan is onboard to help make China’s Silk Road vision a reality. Speaking in Astana on May 5, Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev said at a plenary government meeting, “We need to build a new railway line across the territory of Kazakhstan from the border with... MORE
Kazakhstan’s Presidential Election and the Challenges Ahead (Part Three)
*To read Part One, please click here. *To read Part Two, please click here. Kazakhstan’s state-founding President Nursultan Nazarbayev has been re-elected to what is widely assumed to be his final term in office (see EDM, April 30, May 8, 11). Observers generally tend to... MORE
Kazakhstan’s Presidential Election and the Challenges Ahead (Part Two)
*To read Part One, please click here. The re-election of President Nursultan Nazarbayev (see EDM, April 30, May 8) has renewed and bolstered the presidential institution’s popular mandate to tackle the urgent challenges confronting Kazakhstan. Some of these challenges are recurrent, but for the most... MORE
Kazakhstan’s Presidential Election and the Challenges Ahead (Part One)
On April 26, 2015, Kazakhstan held its fifth presidential election in a quarter-century of independent statehood (see EDM, April 30). Incumbent President Nursultan Nazarbayev was re-elected overwhelmingly for another five-year term, as pre-election opinion polls and Nazarbayev’s popularity ratings with Kazakhstan’s voters had foreshadowed. His... MORE
St. George’s Ribbons and Their Dubious Symbolism in Post-Soviet Central Asia
The Embassy of the Russian Federation in Uzbekistan has announced that between April 27 and May 8, to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945, embassy staff would distribute free “ribbons of St.... MORE
Nazarbayev Reelected, but Challenges Lie Ahead
On April 26, Kazakhstan held an early presidential election, the fifth presidential election in its modern history since gaining independence in late 1991. Unsurprisingly, the incumbent, Nursultan Nazarbayev, won the vote by a landslide. According to the Central Election Commission’s official communiqué, he obtained 97.75... MORE