Latest Articles about Central Asia
MOSCOW AND WASHINGTON PURSUE DIVERGING POLICIES IN UZBEKISTAN, CENTRAL ASIA
Securing stability in the volatile region of Central Asia is a paramount strategic interest of both Russia and the United States. But following violent unrest in eastern Uzbekistan, Moscow and Washington seem to differ over how to maintain stability in the vast, restive area ruled... MORE
OSH STILL TENSE, BUT SITUATION BECOMING CLEARER
After the June 13 civilian clashes in Osh between hundreds of parliamentarian Bayaman Erkinbayev's opponents and supporters, in which seven people were hospitalized, the city has apparently divided into two conflicting halves. The following day (June 14), 500 people gathered at the central square in... MORE
RUSSIA TIGHTENS STRANGLEHOLD ON KAZAKHSTAN’S MINING INDUSTRY
One of the uneasy topics discussed during Nursultan Nazarbayev's May meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Chelyabinsk, but overshadowed by other issues, was the long-standing row between Russia's Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Combine (MMK) and the Sokolov Sarybay State Industrial Corporation. Sokolov Sarybay is the largest... MORE
INSTABILITIES IN SOUTHERN KYRGYZSTAN BURDEN GOVERNMENT WITH MORE PROBLEMS
Roughly four weeks before the July 10 presidential elections, violent clashes in Osh and uncertainties around Uzbek refugees in Jalalabad have rocked Kyrgyzstan. On June 13 six people in Osh were hospitalized with gunshot wounds following a brutal fight between protestors and parliamentarian Bayaman Erkinbayev... MORE
TURKISH MILITARY ASSISTANCE TO KAZAKHSTAN HIGHLIGHTS WESTERN DILEMMA
Kazakhstan's armed forces, greatly in need of financial and materiel support from Western countries, has received a significant boost from Turkey. Turkey has donated more than $1.3 million worth of military and technical equipment to the Kazakhstani armed forces, aimed at contributing to the overall... MORE
ISLAM KARIMOV AND THE HEIRS OF TIANANMEN
Fresh from the massacre at Andijan, Islam Karimov traveled to China in late May, where he received not just praise, but expressions of China's delight at his handling of the uprising. Thus Beijing "resolutely supported" Karimov's repression of the "three evil forces": terrorism, separatism, and... MORE
ANOTHER MYSTERIOUS TRAFFIC ACCIDENT KILLS ANOTHER KAZAKH JOURNALIST
On June 7 the prominent opposition journalist Batyrkhan Darimbet died in Taraz, southern Kazakhstan. He had been hospitalized since June 2 after a car accident near Taraz city, where he reportedly had gone to set up local branches of Alga, DVK! (Forward, Democratic Choice of... MORE
KREMLIN SHADOW LOOMS OVER KAZAKH-UKRAINIAN TALKS
Despite considerable public interest, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko's first visit to Kazakhstan was rather anti-climactic. Official media sources in Kazakhstan did not go beyond the set pattern for covering state visits, namely highlighting a growing trade volume (around $1 billion last year) and discussing economic... MORE
The Ongoing Baluch Insurgency in Pakistan
On May 14, four bombs went off in Gwadar, a coastal town in Pakistan’s western province of Baluchistan, where around 500 Chinese engineers and workers are busy building a deep-sea port. [1] On May 3, 2003, a bomb blast at the same site killed three... MORE
KYRGYZSTAN ADOPTS GEORGIAN MODEL TO FIGHT CORRUPTION
The Kyrgyz government is determined to investigate, prosecute, and eliminate corruption in the state. Deputy Prime Minister Daniyar Usenov recently announced that more associates of former president Askar Akayev would find themselves in prison in the coming weeks. "Kyrgyzstan will adhere to the Georgian experience... MORE