Region

Central Asia

Stories under this heading cover Central Asia – a region of Asia, stretching from the Caspian Sea in the west to Mongolia in the east, from Afghanistan in the south to Russia in the north.

Editor's choice
News
Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan hold important trilateral meeting

Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan hold important trilateral meeting

Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, and Uzbekistan held important trilateral meetings in the Turkmen city of Turkmenbashi on Friday, 22 August. Joint development of deposits on the Caspian shelf and cooperation in the field of energy exports, including renewable sources, were discussed. The talks came in the framework of the visit to Turkmenistan of President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and President Shovkat Mirzizoyev of  Uzbekistan who were hosted by the Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty (Senate) of Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, who is a former president and the father of the current president, Serdar Berdimuhamedov. Azerbaijani media noted that during the meeting Uzbekistan hailed a scheme to export green electricity to Europe as promising, while Turkmen officials signaled a new openness to ideas long discussed in Brussels and Ankara, to build a Trans-Caspian gas pipeline, a project that has been under discussion for more than 30 years.

Filter archive

Publication date
Editor's choice
News
Kazakhstan holds parliamentary elections

Kazakhstan holds parliamentary elections

Commonspace.eu political editor said in a comment that whilst no dramatic changes are expected in the election, and the ruling party is expected to win comfortably, the elections can contribute to widening the political playing field in the country and add stimulus to the process of reform initiated by president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. 
Editor's choice
News
Outrage in Kazakhstan after Russian politicians appear to question the country's territorial integrity

Outrage in Kazakhstan after Russian politicians appear to question the country's territorial integrity

Kazakhs are outraged by comments by Russian politicians questioning their country's territorial integrity. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev rejected the assertion that any Kazakh territory was  a "gift from Russia", and said that such "provocative" comments were intended to "spoil" relations between the two neighbours.
Editor's choice
News
Kazakhstan formally abolishes the death penalty

Kazakhstan formally abolishes the death penalty

The law “On Ratification of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights aimed at Abolishing the Death Penalty”, was signed by president Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev  formally ending the use of the death penalty in the country. Kazakhstan declared a moratorium on the use of the death penalty in 2003.
Editor's choice
News
Improvised oral poetry remains a popular entertainment in Kazakhstan

Improvised oral poetry remains a popular entertainment in Kazakhstan

In Kazakhstan,  improvised oral poetry, spoken or sung to the accompaniment of traditional musical instruments, has for centuries been a source of entertainment. The Kazakh government has since independence in 1991 been keen to promote the tradition, known in Kazakh as Akyndar Aitysy, since this is seen as a way of consolidating national identity.
Editor's choice
News
Tokayev calls for an increased state of readiness in Kazakhstan armed forces

Tokayev calls for an increased state of readiness in Kazakhstan armed forces

Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev called on the leadership of the military to closely monitor the rapidly changing situation in the world, both globally and in some regions. According to him, the current security architecture is in crisis. Tokayev said he  believes that internal unrest and revolutions will inevitably affect the integrity of the country.