On October 22, about 450 villagers threatened to destroy the offices of the Chinese company Zijin Mining Group in the village of Orlovka in northern Chui province in Kyrgyzstan. The attack occurred after a villager’s horse was killed by a staff member of the company.... MORE

Despite the predictions of Kyrgyz and international analysts, the swift arrest and sentencing of the three Kyrgyzstani lawmakers who tried to capture the parliament building did not spark serious riots. On October 3, opposition party Ata-Jurt and parliamentary members Sadyr Zhaparov and Kamchibek Tashiyev galvanized... MORE

Kazakhstan has hosted the first Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) peacekeeping exercise on October 8–17, as the organization positions itself to play a more active role in defense and security among its members. The size of the forces, scenario for the exercise, as well as... MORE

On October 3, the Kyrgyz opposition tried to capture the parliament building, where the office of the president and his administration are also located. The rally resulted in shooting by the police and subsequent dispersal of the protesters. The gathering was organized by leaders of... MORE

Tajikistan’s officials reported that an Uzbekistani border guard entered Tajikistani territory on horseback on September 11 and began filming Tajikistan’s side of the border. After he ignored a command to leave, the Tajikistani side opened fire. The Uzbek border guard was seriously injured. Authorities in... MORE

Recent Chinese diplomatic maneuvers in Central Asia, both bilateral and multilateral, show that Beijing’s strategy treats the region as a corridor for reaching resource bases in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa. Central Asia is thus part of China’s broader blueprint of securing strategic resources... MORE

Speaking in Kazakhstan on September 7, Uzbek President Islam Karimov strongly voiced his opposition to Central Asian water projects like the Rogun Dam in Tajikistan and the Kambarata-1 hydroelectric project in Kyrgyzstan. Moreover, he insisted, along with Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev, that any such water... MORE

The recent discovery that former Kyrgyzstani President Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s brother Janysh is also living in Minsk sparked furious exchanges between Kyrgyzstan and Belarus, with the latter country refusing a request to extradite him to face charges of murder. Belarus maintains, officially at least, that the... MORE

Beijing proposes to increase the volume of Turkmenistani natural gas supplies to China to 65 billion cubic meters (bcm) per year, more than doubling the present level of deliveries. This implies China is scooping up production increments in Turkmenistan in the years immediately ahead. While... MORE

On Monday, August 6, the Collective Rapid Reaction Force (in Russian – KSOR) of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) launched this year’s military exercise at the Chebarkul training site of Russia’s Chelyabinsk region, close to the border with Kazakhstan. This five-day exercise codenamed Rubezh-2012... MORE