Latest Articles about Kazakhstan
ASTANA YIELDS TO WESTERN PRESSURE OVER UZBEK DISSIDENT
In a seemingly democratic gesture, Kazakh authorities handed over prominent Uzbek human rights activist Lutfulla Shamsuddinov to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on July 1. With this move the government resolved a difficult dilemma that had brought a flood of criticism from... MORE
WILL NAZARBAYEV SACRIFICE HIS GOVERNMENT TO SECURE HIS RE-ELECTION?
Rumors of the impending dismissal of Kazakhstan's current government, headed by Prime Minister Daniyal Akhmetov, have circulated since September 2004, when President Nursultan Nazarbayev criticized the government for distorting administrative reform efforts and inflating the ungainly administrative machine up to 16 ministries and a dozen... MORE
BEIJING MOVES TO INCREASE INFLUENCE IN CENTRAL ASIA
Chinese President Hu Jintao made his second visit to Kazakhstan July 3-6, ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit and after a visit to Moscow. The high point of the mini-summit was the signing of a Chinese-Kazakh Strategic Partnership agreement. President Hu reiterated his "anti-terrorism"... MORE
MAJOR RUSSIA-KAZAKHSTAN OIL PRODUCTION-SHARING AGREEMENT SIGNED
On July 6 in Astana, Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan witnessed the signing of a production-sharing agreement on Kazakhstan's Kurmangazy offshore oilfield. State oil company Rosneft President Sergei Bogdanchikov signed the agreement for the Russian side; Kazakhstan's Energy and Mineral... MORE
KAZAKHSTAN PREPARED TO USE FORCE AGAINST “REVOLUTIONARIES”
The authorities in Kazakhstan, reacting carefully and deliberately, are preparing security agencies to use force in the event of revolutionary activity similar to events in Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan. It is predictable that the regime of President Nursultan Nazarbayev should choose to flex its muscles in... MORE
KAZAKHSTAN LEADS WATER AND ENERGY RESOURCES MANAGEMENT DRIVE IN CENTRAL ASIA
Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev is gaining moral support for his initiative to form a union of Central Asian states, as declared in his annual address to the nation in February. Significantly, Nazarbayev recently noted that the Central Asian states strive for economic, as well as... MORE
KAZAKHSTAN’S INTELLIGENCE CHIEF CALLS FOR NEW APPROACH TO COUNTER TERRORISM
Vladimir Bozhko, first deputy chairman of Kazakhstan's National Security Committee (KNB), believes that the terrorist threat to Kazakhstan is real and growing. Highlighting the nature of that threat as it emerges within the country, he has called for a new approach to the whole issue... MORE
KAZAKHSTAN’S FOREIGN MINISTER REJECTS WESTERN ACCUSATIONS OF DEMOCRATIC BACKSLIDING
During the last two months, Kazakh state officials have made an unprecedented number of "working trips" to remote regions of the country. In what was widely perceived as a pre-election publicity stunt, President Nursultan Nazarbayev toured the coal-rich Karaganda region on June 15 and praised... MORE
RUSSIA TIGHTENS STRANGLEHOLD ON KAZAKHSTAN’S MINING INDUSTRY
One of the uneasy topics discussed during Nursultan Nazarbayev's May meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Chelyabinsk, but overshadowed by other issues, was the long-standing row between Russia's Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Combine (MMK) and the Sokolov Sarybay State Industrial Corporation. Sokolov Sarybay is the largest... MORE
TURKISH MILITARY ASSISTANCE TO KAZAKHSTAN HIGHLIGHTS WESTERN DILEMMA
Kazakhstan's armed forces, greatly in need of financial and materiel support from Western countries, has received a significant boost from Turkey. Turkey has donated more than $1.3 million worth of military and technical equipment to the Kazakhstani armed forces, aimed at contributing to the overall... MORE