Two days before the July 30 bomb blasts in Tashkent, Astana hosted the security service chiefs of Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, and Turkey in discussions on ways of fighting terrorism. Russia and Ukraine, demonstrating their growing concern with security issues, sent observers to the meeting. Most importantly,... MORE

Reliable sources in Uzbekistan's Ministry of Internal Affairs are claiming that two of the three suicide bombers who committed detonated explosions in Tashkent on July 30 were Kazakhstani citizens of Uzbek descent. In a related development, the Supreme Court of Uzbekistan has begun the trial... MORE

General John Abizaid, Commander of the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), visited Kazakhstan on August 2 with the express purpose of discussing ways to strengthen military cooperation between the United States and Kazakhstan. He also discussed Kazakhstan's partnership with NATO and explored ways in which this... MORE

With elections to Majilis (lower chamber of parliament) just a few weeks away, calls for genuine democracy in Kazakhstan ring louder than ever before. On July 21 leaders of the Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan, the pro-democratic party "Ak Zhol," and the Communist Party of Kazakhstan... MORE

At 5:00 pm on Friday, July 30, suicide bombers detonated explosives near the Embassies of the United States and Israel and in the vicinity of the building housing Uzbekistan's Prosecutor General's Office. The bombings claimed the lives of one local police officer and one employee... MORE

On July 29, fully owned subsidiaries of Gazprom and of Austria's Raiffeisen Bank signed agreements establishing a joint gas-trading company, RosUkrEnergoprom. With Gazprom and Raiffeisen each holding half the shares, RosUkrEnergoprom will act as the operating company for gas exports from Turkmenistan to Ukraine via... MORE

On July 19, 2004, the Russian newspaper Moskovsky komsomolets published a sensational article entitled, "200 Days of Jihad." The author of the article, Svetlana Meteleva, is a special correspondent who claimed to be sharing her "insider" observations regarding the activities of Hizb-ut-Tahrir, the Islamic Party... MORE

The flurry of speculations around the July 20 death of well-known journalist Askhat Sharipzhanov does not seem likely to subside in the coming weeks. Sharipzhanov, the 40-year old editor of the opposition electronic paper Navigator and one of the most furious critics of the authorities,... MORE

After a yearlong standoff between democratic organizations and the governor of Aktobe region in western Kazakhstan, Yermek Imantayev was relieved of his post by presidential decree. He was replaced by Eleusin Sagyndykov, a 57-year old senator who is quite popular in Aktobe. The removal of... MORE

On July 15 Elizabeth Jones, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian affairs, officially concluded her two-day visit to Uzbekistan, where she had met with the country's leadership and local representatives of several human rights organizations. On July 13, on the eve... MORE