On October 8 Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi arrived in Astana, Kazakhstan, to consult with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Prime Minister Karim Masimov in a bid to ease tensions around the Kashagan oilfield. Work at Kashagan was halted over the summer, due to accusations... MORE

The presidents of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan held a Caspian Summit meeting yesterday (October 16) in Tehran. It was the second summit of this type, the first having been held in Ashgabat in 2002. And it was the first visit by a Kremlin... MORE

At last week’s energy summit of Baltic, Black Sea, and Caspian countries, hosted by Lithuania in Vilnius (see EDM, October 12), Kazakhstan’s Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sauat Mynbayev provided a remarkably detailed picture of the country’s oil export policies, both ongoing and projected. Oil... MORE

In less than two weeks, on October 21, Kyrgyzstan will hold a referendum on a new constitution and electoral law. Both documents have been drafted by Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev. Already it is obvious that the new constitution and electoral law are far from representing... MORE

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he is pleased with the success of the “triple summit” of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), and Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEc) last week in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, and he described them as “most fruitful”... MORE

Two weeks ago Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev unveiled his draft constitution, which substantially increases his powers. Bakiyev’s constitutional project will be confirmed or rejected in the national referendum scheduled for October 21. Meanwhile, most local observers agree that the regime will likely falsify the final... MORE

While Western powers compete to entice Turkmenistan’s new leadership to share access to the country’s munificent hydrocarbon resources, Moscow is pursing a longer-term goal by attempting to modify the country’s long-standing neutrality stance. The Kremlin apparently hopes to enmesh Turkmenistan in existing post-Soviet defense pacts... MORE

Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimukhamedov delivered a keynote speech at the UN General Assembly on September 25, indicating that Ashgabat wants to “open up” to the outside world and build a more durable environment to further its economic interests. Praising the role of the UN in... MORE

The steeply rising price of bread in all regions of Kazakhstan, coming in the wake of controversial parliamentary elections, has fueled popular discontent with the ruling Nur Otan party and become an embarrassment for the government. Recently a group of protesters picketed the Almaty office... MORE

The Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan has just finished a series of anti-terror exercises staged by Russia's National Anti-Terror Committee and the Federal Security Service (FSB), codenamed “Baikonur-Anti-Terror 2007” (Itar-Tass, September 26). Established by the USSR in 1955, Baikonur is the world's oldest and largest continuously... MORE