More than half of the estimated 700,000 Russians who have fled since Russian President Vladimir Putin declared partial mobilization on September 21 have mainly gone to four countries in Central Asia—Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan—among the relatively few places Russians can still enter freely without... MORE

On September 14–17, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan locked heads in the biggest military conflict between the two sides to date. What started as another border skirmish between the Kyrgyzstani and Tajikistani border guards quickly grew into a major military conflict that raged for three days and... MORE

One of the greatest nightmares for the countries of Central Asia; outside powers, such as Russia, China and the United States, who are worried about regional stability; and even for Kabul itself, which fears regional blowback, is that radicals from Afghanistan will cross into the... MORE

On November 12, 2021, at the eighth (and final) summit of the Turkic Council in Istanbul, Turkey, the group’s name was changed to the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) and Turkmenistan was admitted as an observer state (Turkkon.org, accessed July 20). Simultaneously, the document “View... MORE

On July 28–29, Tashkent hosted the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers. This was the final rehearsal before the SCO summit scheduled to take place later this year in Uzbekistan’s historic city of Samarkand on September 15–16. The foreign ministers of all member... MORE

On June 21, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev paid a two-day official visit to Uzbekistan, where he met with his counterpart, Uzbekistani President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Almost 20 documents, including a declaration on deepening strategic partnership and expanding comprehensive cooperation, were signed by the two delegations during... MORE

On 20 June, Uzbekistani President Shavkat Mirziyoyev chaired a meeting dedicated to changes and amendments to the national constitution. After dwelling on the reforms related to strengthening the protection of human rights and improving state administrative functions, President Mirziyoyev went on to propose that several... MORE

On May 14, the State Committee of National Security of Kyrgyzstan (GKNB) launched a criminal case against a Kyrgyz national, who was identified at first with only his initials K.u.A., for his participation in the war in Ukraine (Kaktus Media, May 14). In video footage... MORE

On May 16–17, with much of the attention in Eurasia still fixated on the Russian-Ukrainian war, the chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, paid a visit to Tajikistan, where he met with President Emomali Rahmon and senior military officials.... MORE

International sanctions imposed on Russia in the wake of its massive re-invasion of Ukraine present both challenges and opportunities for Central Asian economies, which are spread asymmetrically across the region. Turkmenistan is, of course, an outlier case given its insularity and lack of truly verifiable... MORE