Kyrgyzstan's two major opposition blocs, "For Reforms!" and "United Front," have announced plans to stage mass demonstrations against President Kurmanbek Bakiyev this April. For Reforms will demand a revision of the existing constitution, adopted in December 2006, and call for return to the constitution of... MORE

On March 7 Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimukhamedov met Igor Makarov, the CEO of Russian gas trader Itera. During the meeting Makarov reiterated Itera's interest in expanded cooperation with Turkmenistan. He also suggested that Zarit, a joint venture founded by Itera and Russian state-run companies Zarubezhneft... MORE

Kazakhstan’s military has been plagued by financial mismanagement, corruption and bribery, a lack of professionalism, and poor housing conditions for military officers. The recent Kazakh air force fighter jet crash in Central Kazakhstan -- which killed two military pilots -- is the result of these... MORE

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov traveled to Tashkent on March 7 in a bid to prop up the Russia-Uzbek economic partnership, but the trip also served to highlight unresolved economic issues between the two countries. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov's March 7 visit to Uzbekistan... MORE

This summer Kyrgyzstan plans to host the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s (SCO) annual summit and assume its presidency. SCO members include China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan; while India, Iran, Mongolia, and Pakistan hold observer status. While this is a unique chance for Kyrgyzstan to... MORE

On a visit to Astana on February 27-28, Azerbaijan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Elmar Mammadyarov took the initiative to discuss possible exports of gas from Kazakhstan through the proposed gas pipeline on the Caspian seabed (Kazakhstan Today, Turan, February 28). In his talks with Kazakh... MORE

As the second anniversary of Kyrgyzstan’s March 24, 2005, Tulip Revolution approaches, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev is facing a growing challenge from the “United Front,” a newly emerged opposition bloc that seeks his resignation. The bloc is led by former prime minister Felix Kulov, whose... MORE

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has invited Turkmenistan’s newly elected President Gurbanguly Berdimukhamedov to visit Kazakhstan. While the new Turkmen leader undoubtedly could learn a great deal from Astana in terms of political reforms, the Kazakh model is not without its flaws. Over the last two... MORE

Kazakhstan plans to cooperate more closely with Russia’s defense industries in order to modernize its own armed forces by 2015. The timing of this announcement enabled Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Defense to counter negative publicity surrounding the crash of a MiG-31 on February 16, which resulted... MORE