Latest Articles about Central Asia
RUSSIA, U.S., AND PAKISTAN SEEK DEEPER MILITARY TIES TO BISHKEK
On May 16 Kyrgyz Prime Minister Almazbek Atambayev met a senior Russian military delegation led by Army General Vladimir Isakov, the Russian deputy defense minister and head of the Rear Services. The Kyrgyz were keen to highlight that this was the highest Russian military delegation... MORE
NAZARBAYEV GETS PARLIAMENTARY BACKING TO PERPETUATE HIS RULE
In a typical display of loyalty to President Nursultan Nazarbayev, on May 18 Kazakhstan’s parliament almost unanimously approved constitutional amendments proposed by the head of the state at a joint session of parliament only a day earlier. Addressing legislators on May 17, Nazarbayev had offered... MORE
BERDIMUKHAMEDOV MOVES TO ELIMINATE RIVALS AFTER FOREIGN POLICY VICTORIES
Central Asia watchers were surprised by the May 16 announcement from Ashgabat that the chairman of Turkmenistan’s National Security Council, General Akmurad Redzhepov, was being transferred to “other,” unspecified duties. Redzhepov had been one of the late president Saparmurat Niyazov’s closest advisors, and many analysts... MORE
KAZAKHSTAN BALANCES RUSSIAN GAS DEAL WITH HOMEGROWN PROJECTS
As Kazakhstan agreed on a joint venture with Russia to process gas from the Karachaganak field at Gazprom's Orenburg gas-processing plant, the deal will allow Astana to avoid spending billions of dollars to build its own gas-processing facility. Nonetheless, in the immediate aftermath of the... MORE
KAZAKHSTAN’S GROWING GAS EXPORTS TO GO RUSSIA’S WAY
The rival energy summits, just held by pro-Western countries in Krakow and Russia-led countries in Astana and Turkmenbashi (see EDM, May 14-16), illustrated Kazakhstan’s accelerated drift into Russian-controlled, Eurasia-wide energy transport systems. This drift risks turning Kazakhstan into a component of Russia’s strategy to gain... MORE
PUBLIC ANGER AGAINST U.S. MILITARY BASE GROWS IN KYRGYZSTAN
The December 6, 2006, killing of Kyrgyz truck driver Alexander Ivanov by U.S. soldier Zachary Hatfield continues to fuel Kyrgyz public anger toward the U.S. military base in Kyrgyzstan. Hatfield left Kyrgyzstan on March 22 despite the Kyrgyz government’s appeal to keep the soldier on... MORE
RUSSIA SURGING FARTHER AHEAD IN RACE FOR CENTRAL ASIAN GAS
Presidents Vladimir Putin, Gurbanguly Berdimukhamedov, and Nursultan Nazarbayev signed on May 12 a declaration of intent to upgrade and expand gas transport pipelines from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, along the Caspian Sea coast, directly to Russia. At their tripartite summit in the Turkmenistan’s city of Turkmenbashi,... MORE
KRAKOW PRO-WESTERN ENERGY SUMMIT OUTMANEUVERED BY PUTIN IN CENTRAL ASIA
Originally suggested more than a year ago (https://www.jamestown.org/events_details.php?event_id=12), a summit of energy producer, transit, and consumer countries was held, albeit in a truncated format, on May 11 in Krakow, Poland. Presidents Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia, Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine, Lech Kaczynski... MORE
KAZAKHSTAN USES ENERGY DEALS WITH RUSSIA IN “CONSTRUCTIVE DIALOGUE” WITH EUROPE
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Astana on May 10 was widely regarded as the Kremlin’s attempt to regain its political and economic foothold in Central Asia, as Kazakhstan has increasingly tilted westward. Only one month ago Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev gave a cordial welcome... MORE
RAHMON PROMISES ECONOMIC PROSPERITY IN TAJIKISTAN
In his annual address to parliament on April 30, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon outlined prospects for Tajikistan’s economic growth through 2015 within the National Development Strategy. Rahmon enjoys majority support in Tajikistan despite widespread corruption and elements of authoritarianism in his governance, and most Tajiks... MORE