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Latest Articles about Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan Sticks to Old Political Playbook Despite Kyrgyz Upheaval
In the wake of last week's democratic revolution in Kyrgyzstan, top officials in Kazakhstan have launched what appears to be a wave of spectacular political reforms, at least on the surface. On March 29 the National Commission on Democratization and Civil Society convened in Astana.... MORE
ASTANA ERECTS INFORMATION BLOCKADE TO FEND OFF KYRGYZ “RIOT”
Incredible as it may sound, the majority of Kazakhstan's population has no idea about recent events in the country next door, Kyrgyzstan. Long after the "governable democracy" of Kyrgyzstan had become clearly unmanageable and President Askar Akayev fled his country on March 24, Kazakhstan's government-controlled... MORE
STRIKING COAL MINERS IN KAZAKHSTAN ARE MERELY PAWNS IN A MUCH BIGGER GAME
Emotions are running high in Kazakhstan as miners protest anticipated wage cuts and layoffs at the Indian–owned Mittal Steel Company. In the past two weeks a series of rallies and pickets has rocked the otherwise dormant towns of Temirtau and Shakhtinsk in central Kazakhstan. Mittal... MORE
KAZAKHSTAN AMENDS ELECTORAL LAW, BUT REFORMS STILL LACKING
Kazakhstan's citizens have become accustomed to broken promises of radical political reform since the country became independent in 1991. Even members of Kazakhstan's "pocket parliament" admit that public confidence in the legislature's integrity has dramatically plummeted in recent years. On March 10 parliament made yet... MORE
UKRAINIAN, KAZAKH OFFICIALS DISCUSS BILATERAL TRADE AND SINGLE ECONOMIC SPACE
Experts in Kazakhstan had wondered if economic and political relations between Kazakhstan and Ukraine would diminish after Viktor Yushchenko became president of Ukraine. But Ukrainian State Secretary Alexander Zinchenko's March 3 visit to Astana dispelled this pessimism. Moreover, the Ukrainian guest assessed his first trip... MORE
KAZAKHSTAN’S ESTABLISHMENT AND OLIGARCHS ON COLLISION COURSE
On March 1, non-governmental activists staged two simultaneous demonstrations in Kyzylorda and Shymkent, crisis-ridden cities in south Kazakhstan, to call attention to the environmental threat allegedly posed by projects of PetroKazakhstan Inc., a Canadian oil company that has worked in Kazakhstan for seven years. Around... MORE
KARIMOV TOYS WITH NAZARBAYEV’S CALL FOR INTEGRATION
In his annual message to the nation, delivered on February 18, Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev made yet another well-calculated move to polish his personal image as an ardent supporter of Central Asian integration. "I propose creating a Union of Central Asian states," he announced. Indulging... MORE
KAZAKHSTAN GAMBLES ON HOMELAND NATIONALISM TO FILL DEMOGRAPHIC GAP
In his annual message to the nation last April, Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev expressed concerns about the worsening demographic situation in the country. He challenged government agencies to boost population growth in order to reach a population of 20 million people by the year 2015.... MORE
TERRORISM AND NATIONALISM: TWIN THREATS TO KAZAKHSTAN
Recently police in the small town of Kentai, Kazakhstan, discovered a cache of books and leaflets propagating the ideas of Hizb-ut-Tahrir, an Islamist radical organization. The extremist literature, hidden in the attic of a private house, was printed in Uzbek, Russian, and Kazakh. While police... MORE
ETHNIC RUSSIANS IN KAZAKHSTAN VOLUNTEER TO FIGHT IN CHECHNYA
At a press conference held on February 2, the chairman of the Almaty-based Russian Observer Research Center, Fedor Miroglov, revealed that ethnic Russians living in Kazakhstan are being illegally recruited to serve in the Russian army. He said that in 2003 more than 100 Russians... MORE