On May 3, 2011, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry or the Kyrgyzstan Inquiry Commission (KIC) released its final report on the interethnic violence and clashes between the country’s ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbek communities last year. The KIC was formed based on an initiative from the Nordic countries for an independent international inquiry and was […]
I came across a series of amazing photographs of the Aral Sea by Radek Skrivanek, a photographer who started visiting and documenting the devastation of the Aral shoreline and the surrounding areas since 2004, and returning to the region many times between 2004 and 2007. You can read more about his fascination with the Aral […]
Young women beside a fountain in a park, Tajikistan, July 2009. © Amnesty International I am a huge fan of the BBC World Service and have been following their Extreme World series of programs – a collection of TV, radio and online coverage that examines the extremes of our planet from education and corruption to attitudes […]
Fifty years ago today, the Soviets blasted off the first man into space from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, deep in the heart of the Kazakh steppe. His name was Yuri Gagarin, a 27-year old outstanding test pilot selected out of the 19 final candidates for the first human spaceflight. He came from very humble roots, born […]
Are you ready for this? Brace yourself and hold on to your seats because the winner of the most competitive, unpredictable, and exciting election in the history of Kazakhstan (sarcasm intended) is….Nursultan Nazarbayev. Really?! Same guy that has been in power since the late ’80s? Yup! This reads like an article from the Onion, but […]
Kazakhstan is gearing up for the snap presidential election that will take place on Sunday, April 3, 2011. No one doubts that the incumbent president Nursultan Nazarbayev will win, which will extend his presidency for another five years and give him a chance to consolidate his rule by grooming a successor (or so he hopes). Earlier […]
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reports that Russia has increased tariffs on oil and oil products exported to Tajikistan by as much as 5.3%. This will increase the price of gasoline from the current $232 per ton to more than $250 or even as high as $285 per ton, just in time to squeeze the […]
Happy Nowruz everyone! Today is what people in western culture and the Northern Hemisphere call the spring equinox, but in the east it is known as Nowruz (or as Persian New Year to some). In countries and cultures all across the Middle East and Central Asia, notably Iran, March 21 is Nowruz (or Nawroz in […]
Tomorrow, March 17th, the Asia Society in New York City is hosting a discussion entitled “The Future of Central Asia: A New Great Game?” Its focus is on current dynamics in Central Asia and how today’s developments will impact the region’s future featuring Philip Shishkin, a Bernard Schwartz Fellow at the Asia Society and a […]
Human Rights Watch reported on Tuesday that it was forced to shut down its operation in Uzbekistan after a 15 year presence in the country. For an unspecified reason, the Uzbek Justice Ministry moved to revoke HRW registration earlier this week which necessitated the organization to close its offices in Tashkent, the country’s capital. “With […]
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake On Thursday, March 10, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert O. Blake Jr. testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on Europe and Eurasia, on U.S. policy and engagement in Central Asia. The hearing was chaired by […]
Kazakhs walk past an election poster for President Nursultan Nazarbaev in Almaty last week. RFE/RL Kazakhstan is gearing up for a snap presidential vote on April 3, announced only one month ago and scheduled almost two years ahead of the originally planned 2012 election. There has been speculation whether president Nursuntan Nazarbayev’s decision to hold […]
TAPI Signatories in Ashgabat The Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline or TAPI is a 1,680 km (1,050 m) natural gas line originating in the Daulatabad gas fields in southeastern Turkmenistan. It crosses Afghanistan and continues on through Pakistan ending in Fazilka, a northwestern Indian city close to the India-Pakistan border. TAPI is one of the largest pipelines in […]
Uzbekistan is systematically sneaking electricity from Kazakhstan’s power grid beyond amounts agreed between the two parties, the Kazakhstan Electricity Grid Operating Company (KEGOC) claims. Kazakhstan has had tensions with Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan off and on for the last ten years on electricity. Basically, there isn’t enough electricity for the latter two states during the winter. […]
A History of Inner Asia by Svat Soucek is a scholarly work about the history of Inner Asia which includes the present day five independent states of Central Asia (in historic terms also known collectively as Russian or Western Turkestan), Mongolia (Outer Mongolia) and China controlled Sinkiang (Eastern or Chinese Turkestan). It is not customary […]