Latest Articles about Central Asia
AS SCO SUMMIT APPROACHES, KYRGYZ GOVERNMENT CAUGHT BETWEEN RUSSIA, U.S.
With two months left before the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) annual summit in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital, the Kyrgyz government is experiencing increasing pressure from Russia and the United States regarding the U.S. military base at Manas airport. In the past 10 days U.S. Secretary... MORE
BOUCHER EXPLORES DEPTH OF KAZAKHSTAN’S SECURITY TIES WITH U.S.
Kazakhstan has praised its bilateral relationship with the United States as having achieved a great deal in recent years. Estimating the depth and potential for strategic partnership, Kazakh State Secretary Kanat Saudabayev explained, following his meeting in Astana with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard... MORE
TURKMENISTAN BACK IN FORMER USSR’S ORBIT
With the unexpected death of Turkmen-President-for-Life Saparmurat Niyazov on December 21, 2006, many Western governments believed that a new era of openness and access to the country’s natural gas deposits, the fifth largest in the world, was about to begin. Six months later, it appears... MORE
GATES VISITS BISHKEK, BUT PRO-MOSCOW MOOD PREVAILS IN KYRGYZSTAN
On June 5 U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates visited Kyrgyzstan to discuss the status of the U.S. military base in Bishkek with Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and Kyrgyz Minister of Defense Ismail Isakov. In the past, treating the Kyrgyz-U.S. military cooperation as an important... MORE
KYRGYZSTAN HOSTS SCO ANTI-TERRORIST EXERCISES
Kyrgyzstan hosted joint command and staff exercises of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) May 29-31. “Issyk Kul Anti-Terror-2007” included elements from the regional anti-terror structure, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Commonwealth of Independent States anti-terror center, alongside security agencies and special services from Kyrgyzstan,... MORE
PREPARATIONS FOR SCO SUMMIT AFFECT KYRGYZSTAN’S RELATIONS WITH THE U.S.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) conducted anti-terrorism training exercises in Kyrgyzstan May 28-31. The Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is observing the SCO drills. Both the SCO and CSTO have overlapping memberships and competing goals. However, their interests meet in Kyrgyzstan, where they compete... MORE
KAZAKH PRESIDENT’S SON-IN-LAW FACES CRIMINAL CHARGES
On May 28 the Interior Ministry of Kazakhstan’s spokesman, Baghdat Kozhakhmetov, told journalists that Rakhat Aliev, Kazakhstan’s ambassador to Austria, was on the run from the law and he has been classified an internationally wanted suspect. Aliev is married to Dariga Nazarbayeva, daughter of Kazakh... MORE
CENTRAL ASIA-EUROPE ENERGY PROJECTS: ITEMIZING WHAT WENT WRONG
The Kremlin-orchestrated summits in Central Asia and Austria this month turned into a cascade of setbacks to Western-proposed energy transit projects for Europe. At these summits from May 11 through 24, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan agreed to maximize gas deliveries to Russia while practically disavowing the... MORE
MANAS AGREEMENT UNDER REVIEW
The authorities in Kyrgyzstan increasingly favor the Collective Security Treaty Organization in general and the Russian air base at Kant in particular. This view is becoming more prevalent in the Kyrgyz media as well, downplaying the significance and the role played by the U.S. Ganci... MORE
CSTO SEEKS WAYS TO BETTER SECURE CENTRAL ASIA
General Nikolai Bordyuzha, general secretary of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), visited Bishkek May 21-23 to discuss CSTO plans for the second half of this year and the first half of 2008, when Kyrgyzstan is due to head the organization. Bordyuzha's trip to Bishkek... MORE