On October 11, Turkmen President, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, visited Qatar and met with the country’s Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Khamad al-Tani, concluding a series of agreements in the energy, trade, and economic sphere (ITAR-TASS, October 11). The visit marks intensified efforts by Turkmenistan to diversify its... MORE

On October 28, Turkmenistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement strongly contradicting the Russian government’s views on the bilateral gas trade and on Turkmen gas export policy in general. The statement follows six days after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and a governmental delegation held... MORE

The death of Tahir Yuldash, the late leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), in an August 2009 U.S. Predator airstrike in Pakistan raised questions surrounding his succession and the continued viability of the IMU as a terrorist organization. Yet a year after the... MORE

The leaders of four political parties –Ar-Namys, Ata-Jurt, Respublika, and Social-democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan (SPDK) – traveled to Moscow days after the October 10 parliamentary elections (www.24.kg, October 15). Reportedly, they met with Russian officials to discuss the possibility of forming a coalition. All four... MORE

In anticipation of the 2012 presidential elections, political tension is mounting in Kazakhstan. Recent developments suggest President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who celebrated his 70th birthday last July, intends to perpetuate his presidency. In August, Nazarbayev appointed his loyal servant, Nurtai Abykaiev, as head of the National... MORE

September 27 marked the second visit by Azerbaijan’s President, Ilham Aliev to Uzbekistan since 2004. Meeting with Uzbek President, Islam Karimov, Aliev emphasized the high degree of bilateral political relations, while calling for a boost in their lagging economic relationship (www.ru.trend.az, September 29; www.rian.ru,  September... MORE

The parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan on October 10 were the most free and fair in Central Asia’s post-Soviet history. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has given its most positive feedback, emphasizing that political competition took place in a free environment, the... MORE

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) engages in a variety of military exchanges and activities with the other members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The most recent major exercise, "Peace Mission 2010," was held from September 9-25 in southern Kazakhstan. All the member states... MORE

In China’s quest to secure raw materials, resources and markets, Beijing has laid out a sophisticated blueprint to develop a region-wide transit corridor throughout the subcontinent. In the Himalayas, it has built rail, road and air networks that can support the Chinese military’s logistic supply... MORE

Earlier forecasts suggesting that Kyrgyzstan’s electoral campaign season would turn violent have proved to be wrong. Twenty-nine political parties contesting the October 10 elections have conducted civilized and often creative campaigns. A recent report by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) confirms... MORE