Latest Articles about Central Asia
ARMED CLASH IN ASHGABAT
According to Turkmenistan’s Foreign Ministry press service, an incident occurred in Ashgabat on September 13, as a consequence of the activities of an illegal drug ring. The Prosecutor-General’s Office said that an operation involving the use of police and special forces units had been launched... MORE
ASSASSINS OF KYRGYZ JOURNALIST STILL AT LARGE
On October 24, 2007, one of the most prominent journalists in the southern Kyrgyzstan and the Uzbek part of the Ferghana Valley, Alisher Saipov, was assassinated in the town of Osh. The passersby, who were in the vicinity, said that Alisher was killed pointblank by... MORE
CSTO SUMMIT DISAPPOINTS MOSCOW, UNITES CENTRAL ASIA
At the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) summit in Moscow on September 5, Central Asian leaders once again avoided supporting Russia's recognition of South Ossetian and Abkhaz independence. As at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit on August 28, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister... MORE
Playing With Fire: Pakistan’s Unintended Strategic Challenge in India’s Homeland
Having examined India’s Afghan policy as a challenge meant to undermine Pakistani security (see Terrorism Focus, August 12), this article examines Pakistan’s low-intensity war against India which, while long ongoing, has been effectively broadened since the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan and India’s expanding presence there.... MORE
CAN NAZARBAYEV HELP KYRGYZSTAN ESCAPE MOSCOW’S PRESSURE?
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s reluctance to support Russia’s recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia’s independence at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Dushanbe last week has clearly damaged the organization’s internal cohesion, revealing cleavages between its strongest members–Russia and China. But Nazarbayev also gave... MORE
MONGOLIA’S POLITICAL LEADERS COMPROMISE, RESUME COOPERATION
On June 29 Mongolia held its fifth round of parliamentary elections for the Ulsyn Ikh Khural (State Great Hural, or Parliament) since the country abandoned Communism in 1990 and held its first multiparty elections. Opposition parties cried foul; two days later the country’s capital erupted... MORE
Mass Attack on French Paratroopers Heralds New Taliban Tactics
Conflicting accounts of a Taliban ambush of an elite French military unit in the Surubi district of Kabul Province on August 18 have raised new concerns about the future of France’s politically unpopular deployment in Afghanistan. Ten soldiers were killed and 21 wounded in one... MORE
Who is Behind the Bombing of the Salafi Mosque in Baku?
Three people were killed and 13 wounded in the bombing of Baku’s Abu Bakr mosque during evening prayer on August 17. Witnesses claimed that a young man threw a grenade into the mosque where up to 200 people were praying. The assailant was able to... MORE
NAZARBAYEV PLAYS DOUBLE GAME ON SOUTH OSSETIA
As leaders of Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, China, and Russia, gathered in Dushanbe on August 29, the least thing that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev could count on was unanimous support for his recognition of the independence of the breakaway Georgian... MORE
TURKMEN WIND POWER
Since the death of Turkmenistan’s “president for life” Saparmurat “Turkmenbashi” Niyazov on December 21, 2006, energy companies from both East and West have been falling over themselves to get a piece of the action by signing agreements with his successor, Gurbanguly Berdimukhamedov, to develop Turkmenistan’s... MORE