Latest Articles about Central Asia
Kyrgyz Opposition Plans Spring Revolt
During a visit to the United States from December 10 to 19, the leader the Kyrgyz Ata Meken opposition party, Omurbek Tekebayev, his colleagues, and representative of the For Justice movement repeatedly mentioned a plan to challenge President Kurmanbek Bakiyev this March by organizing crowds... MORE
Need for More Transparency in Kyrgyz and Tajik Energy Sectors to Avoid Future Crises
Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, both upstream countries with abundant water resources, face the same problem: their water resources are benefiting the ruling regimes while the public is deprived of basic services. In Kyrgyzstan President Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s regime has allegedly been secretly selling electricity to neighboring Kazakhstan... MORE
Bakiyev Anticipates a Harsh Winter and an Energy Crisis, Further Restricts Free Speech
In the past few weeks the Kyrgyz government has been blocking transmission of Radio Free Europe (Azattyk) and BBC radio, both of which have a broadcast range covering the entire country. The ban comes at a time of a worsening energy crisis, rampant inflation, mobilization... MORE
Russia Drums Up Support for Its Airbase in Kyrgyzstan
Five years after its establishment, Moscow will more than double its spending on the Russian military airbase in Kyrgyzstan’s Kant city. In 2009 and 2010 Moscow will spend 1.7 billion rubles ($60 million) compared with the 640 million rubles ($22.7 million) spent from 2003 through... MORE
Kyrgyz Security Structures Plagued by Corruption
In an effort to allay fears of rising Islamic extremism in Kyrgyzstan, Secretary of the Kyrgyz Security Council Adakhan Madumarov has held several meetings with residents of Nookat, Kara-Su, and Uzgen districts in southern Osh Region. Unrest in Nookat District on the October 1 Eid... MORE
Kazakhstan Offers Military Airfield to NATO Forces in Afghanistan
Recently, members of the Kazakhstan Senate ratified two agreements allowing U.S. and NATO coalition forces to use Almaty airport as an emergency airfield for fighter planes flying on missions to Afghanistan. The news hardly produced any comments from government headquarters, but what leaked through the... MORE
Kyrgyz Opposition Presents Its Program to the President, Sets Conditions
On December 3 a Kyrgyz opposition group comprised of leading political parties and organizations presented President Kurmanbek Bakiyev with its suggestions for changes necessary in the country’s political and economic systems. In particular, the group submitted a document adopted at a major meeting on November... MORE
Hydroelectricity or Irrigation: a Central Asian Dilemma
A regular lack of hydroelectric power during the winter in upstream Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and shortages of water during the summer in downstream Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are making it necessary that the Central Asian states find common grounds for long-term cooperation on water management in... MORE
Tension Mounts Between Tashkent and Astana as Uzbekistan Slams the EAEC Door
Uzbekistan’s recent decision to leave the Moscow-orchestrated Eurasian Economic Community (EAEC) hardly surprised anyone in the Kazakh Foreign Ministry who was familiar with Uzbek President Islom Karimov’s constantly changing attitudes toward political and economic structures within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and his deep... MORE
Uzbekistan Charts a New “Uzbek Path”
The Uzbek government's decision to withdraw from the Eurasian Economic Community (EAEC) is yet another example of Uzbekistan's determination to remain focused on what has come to be known as the "Uzbek Path." The EAEC website announced on November 12 that it had received a... MORE