Latest Articles about Central Asia
RUSSIA MULLS STRONGER PARTNERSHIP WITH UZBEKISTAN
The Kremlin has moved to strengthen ties with Uzbekistan, Central Asia's most populous nation, through the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) as well as major energy projects. CSTO Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha was in Tashkent from April 27 to 29 to meet top Uzbekistan... MORE
TAJIKISTAN COMES IN FROM THE COLD
Of all the post-Soviet Central Asian “Stans,” Tajikistan has had the roughest path toward stability and prosperity. The year after the USSR collapsed in December 1991, Tajikistan descended into a brutal civil war. By the time it ended with a UN-brokered agreement in 1997, fratricidal... MORE
TAJIK GOVERNMENT ASKS FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO BUILD ROGUN HYDROPOWER STATION
Dushanbe Mayor Makhmadsaid Ubaidullayev called on the city’s residents to donate half of their May and June income for the construction of the Rogun hydropower station on the Vakhsh River. According to Ubaidullayev’s calculations, these donations would amount to over $10 million and become a... MORE
WILL TURKMEN GAS GO SOUTH AS WELL AS WEST?
Most commentary on Turkmenistan’s energy future has focused on the possibility of its being able to sell gas directly to Europe instead of having to go through Russia to do so. Thus, international attention has been focused on the projected Nabucco or trans-Caspian pipeline that... MORE
BAKIYEV SUPPRESSES PROTESTS AGAINST BORDER CONCESSIONS TO KAZAKHSTAN
On April 24 Kyrgyz president Kurmanbek Bakiyev signed a decree ceding 620 hectares of Kyrgyzstan's northeastern territory to Kazakhstan. The process has been unfolding gradually since 2001, but Bakiyev was only recently able to pass the decree in parliament. What began as a deal between... MORE
TURKMENISTAN DOUBLES NATURAL GAS PRICES TO IRAN
Nearly four months after a pricing dispute shut down Turkmen natural gas deliveries to Iran, the pipelines are again open. The bad news for Tehran is that the new price per thousand cubic meters (tcm) is nearly twice what it paid Ashgabat in 2007. On... MORE
KARIMOV, BAKIYEV REACT DIFFERENTLY TO NAZARBAYEV’S CENTRAL ASIA UNION
On April 22 Uzbek President Islam Karimov visited Astana to meet with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev. Both leaders agreed to boost bilateral economic cooperation by creating a common trade area at the borders. Karimov's harsh criticism of Nazarbayev's Central Asia Union (CAU), however, raised eyebrows... MORE
MOSCOW SEEKS TO ENGAGE MONGOLIA ECONOMICALLY
Moscow has renewed efforts to prop up economic ties with its closest Cold War era ally, Mongolia. The two neighboring nations appear, however, to remain divided by a variety of irritants. At a meeting in Moscow with Mongolian Prime Minister Sanjaa Bayar earlier in April,... MORE
KYRGYZ PARLIAMENT VOTES TO PRIVATIZE KEY ECONOMIC SITES
On April 18 the Kyrgyz parliament voted to increase the government’s right to privatize public economic sites. The divide in the parliament on this legislative act was obvious: President Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s party Ak Zhol voted in favor of privatization, while two opposition parties, the Kyrgyz... MORE
CSTO LEADER MEETS WITH TAJIK OFFICIALS TO DISCUSS SECURITY, AFGHANISTAN
On April 14 Secretary-General Nikolay Bordyuzha of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) arrived in Dushanbe for talks with security and law enforcement officials in Tajikistan. His three-day working visit began with a meeting with Defense Minister Sherali Khayrulloyev, Secretary Amirqul Azimov of the Tajik... MORE