Category: Kazakhstan

In Kazakhstan Upheaval, Economic Grievances Collide With Tricky Transfer of Power

Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Military
Map of CIS Central Asia and Environs

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org – Peter Leonard – Jan. 12, 2022 Peter Leonard is the Central Asia editor at Eurasianet.org. Kazakhstan has never in its brief post-independence history looked so vulnerable. Last week’s unrest—which has led to dozens of deaths and nearly 10,000 arrests—saw the country’s leadership come under assault from three directions: below, within and abroad. The first murmurs […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia-Led Troops to Begin Leaving Kazakhstan in 2 Days — President” – AFP

Central Asia, JRL NewsBlog, Kazakhstan, Military
Almaty file photo, adapted from image at state.gov

“… Tokayev said Tuesday that a contingent of Russia-led [CSTO] forces would begin leaving … in two days … the pullout … tak[ing] no more than 10 days. … [M]ore than 2,000 troops [were] d[i]spatched at the peak of the crisis … after armed clashes between government opponents and security forces and a looting spree [left] parts of the largest […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Kazakh leader: Russia-led security group to pull out troops” – AP

Central Asia, JRL NewsBlog, Kazakhstan, Military
Map of CIS Central Asia and Environs

“The president of Kazakhstan announced Tuesday that [the] Russia-led security alliance [Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), including six former Soviet states,] will start pulling out its troops [from Kazakhstan] … in two days …. Protests over soaring fuel prices erupted in the oil and gas-rich Central Asian nation of 19 million on Jan. 2 and quickly spread across the country […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s Putin Seizes on Crises to Assert Control Over Former Soviet Republics” – WSJ

Central Asia, JRL NewsBlog, Kazakhstan, Military, NATO, Ukraine, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Map of CIS Central Asia and Environs

“In tightening grip over neighbors, president seeks to signal that his country is a superpower to be both feared and respected.” “… The [Russian-led CSTO] venture into Kazakhstan, at the request of the country’s leader, follows nearly 15 years of Russian interventionism in Georgia, Belarus, Ukraine and elsewhere aimed at pulling [them] even closer to Russia … propping up [Kremlin-aligned] […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Kazakhstan Unrest and Russia’s Intervention Transform Ties With Moscow” – WSJ

Central Asia, JRL NewsBlog, Kazakhstan, Military
Map of CIS Central Asia and Environs

“As violence grows, the Russian military deployment injects a new element into the crisis in the former Soviet republic.” “… Nazarbayev steered the country along two tracks[,] [a]t home, … strengthen[ing] … Kazakh identity and weaken[ing] Russia’s historic influence[,] [while, in] foreign and defense policy … hew[ing] close to the Kremlin, assuring Russia … Kazakhstan would always remain a strategic […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Kazakhstan protests mark end of Nazarbayev era” – Financial Times

Central Asia, JRL NewsBlog, Kazakhstan
File Photo of Hillary Rodham Clinton with Nazarbayev

“Former president’s handpicked successor takes control of security forces and turns to Russia for help.” “… protests that have shaken Kazakhstan may mark the end of [81-year-old] Nursultan Nazarbayev’s long grip on power — but do not suggest the oil-rich central Asian country will make a smooth transition from autocratic rule. Nazarbayev had ruled the country for most of Kazakhstan’s […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine Is Only One Small Part of Putin’s Plans” – New York Times

Belarus, Central Asia, Europe, EU, JRL NewsBlog, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Vladimir Putin at Podium with United Russia Logo, Gesturing

“… The immediate aim, to be sure, is to return Ukraine to Russia’s orbit. But …. Putin’s design is grand: to refashion the post-Cold War settlement, in the process guaranteeing … Russia’s personalized power system. … Today, Ukraine is the jewel to fight for. But it won’t end there: Belarus, whose embattled leader relies on Russia’s support, could be the […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: In Kazakhstan, Putin Again Seizes on Unrest to Try to Expand Influence” – New York Times

Central Asia, JRL NewsBlog, Kazakhstan, Military
Map of CIS Central Asia and Environs

“But a series of revolts against a pro-Russian strongman could also plant the seeds of rebellion at home, analysts say.” “… The arrival in Kazakhstan of 2,500 troops from a Russian-led military alliance amid … violent protest was the fourth time in … two years … Moscow has flexed its muscle in neighboring states — Belarus, Armenia and Ukraine being […]

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Awakening a new generation of activists in Eurasia; An emerging young, urban population has begun to challenge the lasting legacies of the Soviet era

Georgia, Kazakhstan, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

(Opendemocracy.net – Erica Marat – September 5, 2019) Erica Marat, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the College of International Security Affairs, National Defense University. She is the author of The Politics of Police Reform: Society against the State in Post-Soviet Countries (Oxford University Press, 2018). A new wave of anti-government mobilization has swept across the Eurasian countries that once […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Tatiana Stanovaya explains why Putin won’t go like Nazarbayev” – Meduza

Central Asia, JRL NewsBlog, Kazakhstan, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and River

“… Tatiana Stanovaya says Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s resignation won’t likely affect … Putin’s transition-of-power calculus in the way that many observers have speculated. She argues that Kazakhstan’s unique political traditions, elite structure, and society, not to mention the country’s fundamentally different geopolitical conditions, mean that Nazarbayev’s exit doesn’t work as a model for Putin, though the Kremlin will pay […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “China, Russia Stand to Gain From Kazakhstan’s Political Transition; New president aims to maintain nation’s security ties to Moscow, economic links to Beijing” – Wall Street Journal/ Ann M. Simmons, Thomas Grove

Central Asia, China, JRL NewsBlog, Kazakhstan, Military
Map of CIS Central Asia and Environs

“A smooth political transition after the unexpected resignation of Kazakhstan’s longtime leader serves the interests of neighboring Russia and China …. [S]ince the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia has shouldered the region’s military burden, while China has provided the impulse for economic growth, a system Kazakhstan has embraced …. On Tuesday, Nursultan Nazarbayev, a 78-year-old autocrat who has ruled […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Nazarbayev to retain position of Kazakh Security Council head, Nur Otan party leader” – Interfax

Central Asia, Kazakhstan
File Photo of Nursultan Nazarbayev and Barack Obama with Flags

ASTANA. March 19 (Interfax) – Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has stepped down as Kazakh president, will carry on as chief of the country’s Security Council. “You have put your trust in me all these years. I was happy to serve the people. I bow my head and express gratitude. I worked hard to fulfill the will of the people. I will […]

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Left behind? Russian life in Chechnya; After years of violence, displacement and an authoritarian peace, what is life like for ethnic Russians in the most mono-ethnic and mono-faith area of Russia? (excerpt)

Chechnya, Dagestan, North Caucasus, Kazakhstan, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Race, Ethnic, Extremism, Xenophobia, Regions, Cities, Municipalities
Caucasus Map of Chechnya and Caucasus Environs

(Ekaterina Neroznikova – opendemocracy.net – March 6, 2019) Ekaterina Neroznikova is a reporter and columnist who writes about the North Caucasus. She writes for a number of publications about politics, international relations and human rights in Russia. Ekaterina Neroznikova is a reporter and columnist who writes about the North Caucasus. She writes for a number of publications about politics, international […]

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Is This The Most Important Geopolitical Deal Of 2018?

Azerbaijan, South Caucasus, Central Asia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Oil, Gas, Energy, Turkmenistan

(Oilprice.com – Olgu Okumus – August 13, 2018 – oilprice.com/Geopolitics/Asia/Is-This-The-Most-Important-Geopolitical-Deal-Of-2018.html) The two-decade-long dispute on the statute of the Caspian Sea, the world largest water reserve, came to an end last Sunday when five littoral states (Russia, Iran, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan) agreed to give it a special legal status – it is now neither a sea, nor a lake. Before […]

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CSTO Rift Grows Between Moscow And Astana

Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Military
Map of CIS Central Asia and Environs

(Article ©2017 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Samuel Ramani – Aug. 6, 2017 – also appeared at rferl.org/a/qishloq-ovozi-csto-kazakhstan-russia-nazarbaev/28661553.html) Samuel Ramani is a DPhil candidate in International Relations at St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford, specializing in post-1991 Russian foreign policy. He is also a journalist who contributes regularly to The Washington Post, the Huffington Post, and Diplomat […]

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NEWSLINK: “Beijing stirs up Russia’s backyard” – bne Intellinews

Central Asia, China, Kazakhstan
Map of CIS Central Asia and Environs

“An invisible wedge has been growing between Russia and its Central Asian neighbours since Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine …. The unease is most particularly tangible in Astana. Any statements made by Russian officials that appear to put in question the statehood Kazakhstan gained after it was granted independence from the USSR prompt collective gasps. At the same time, China […]

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