The possibility of Kyrgyzstan joining the World Bank and International Monetary Fund’s Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative has sparked heated debates among state institutions and civil society groups. Recently, Andrei Grozin, representing the Moscow Institute of the Commonwealth of Independent States, commented that Kyrgyzstan’s... MORE

Last week Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev named former prime minister Felix Kulov to head the government again. This reappointment followed the Kyrgyz government’s resignation and the adoption of another new constitution in December 2006, the second in two months. If the parliament approves Kulov’s candidacy,... MORE

On December 30 the Kyrgyz parliament adopted yet another constitution. The new constitution comes only few weeks after the previous version was endorsed on November 8, 2006. The November 2006 constitution was widely celebrated by the Kyrgyz opposition, as it was achieved after nearly week-long... MORE

Following the December 6 fatal shooting of a Kyrgyz truck driver at the U.S. military base in Kyrgyzstan, anti-U.S. sentiments have been mounting in the country. That incident has moved beyond a mere diplomatic spat between the Kyrgyz government and the U.S. embassy and has... MORE

On December 6 a Kyrgyz citizen was shot at the U.S.-led international anti-terrorism coalition’s Ganci airbase at Manas. Alexander Ivanov, a 43-year-old truck driver, appeared to be on a routine mission at Ganci when he was killed. He was allegedly shot on one of the... MORE

Last week Murat Zhurayev, a Kyrgyz parliamentarian from Batken, supported the idea of Kyrgyzstan entering the ruble zone. He thus joined the ranks of Kyrgyz politicians who advocate moving deeper into Russia’s orbit (24.kg, December 2). Given the ongoing economic crisis and political instability in... MORE

Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, shaken by recent events within Kyrgyzstan, used the opportunity presented by the November 28 Commonwealth of Independent States summit in Minsk to reassert his efforts to improve national security. During his meeting in Minsk with his Tajik counterpart, Emomali Rakhmonov, he... MORE

At the November 27-29 NATO summit in Riga, Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer mentioned the importance of the U.S. military base in Kyrgyzstan and its role in the anti-terrorist operations in Afghanistan. Today, Kyrgyzstan is the only location in the Central Asian region where the... MORE

On November 3 Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev paid an informal visit to Uzbekistan. The trip came as a complete surprise inside Kazakhstan, as it had not been announced in advance and looked like a spontaneous decision. Nazarbayev had been touring South Kazakhstan and he arrived... MORE