Kazakhstan used to be a home for a number of Soviet “closed” factories, producing ammunition and missiles, not to speak about several test grounds for weapons of various kinds. After the collapse of the Union, many of them stagnated, conversed or were just plundered. But today one can confidently speak about the rise of […]
Today the major opposition party in Kazakhstan, “Azat”, came out with the suggestion to convocation an Anti-Crisis Council under the president of the republic. The explicit desire of former governmental officials and losers of the parliamentary elections (which had, in fact, only one winner - the presidential Nur Otan party that occupied all seats […]
The post below is part of the cross-blog survey covering developments in Central Asia in 2007. You can also vote for the most important event of 2007 in our online poll.
The passing year was rich in shaking news and political scandals in Kazakhstan, all of which have been finding reflection in the blogosphere’s reactions […]
On October 8th local authorities in Petropavlovsk, the administrative center of North Kazakhstan Oblast, announced that President Nazarbayev and his entourage would be flying in to on the following day to proclaim a new akim.
This followed another surprise announcement in NKO: namely, that a new akim was needed. Though observers had expected a change […]
This is a translation of Marat’s post on the Russian-language Kazakhstan.Neweurasia blog.
I often read out national security strategy papers, but don’t see answers to some interesting questions that are of serious concern:
1. What shall we do if Kyrgyzstan splits into two parts – northern and southern? It may be lead to general instability, […]
The Kazakh government now can review and break up the contracts in extractive sectors. From now on, according to the new bill unanimously adopted bill by the Kazakh parliament, it will be legitimately a one-way road, not requiring negotiations as such. The state can change the contract conditions if the foreign investor’s actions […]
This is a translation of the post by our Russian-language author Nurgeldy.
September 22 is celebrated as a Day of Languages in Kazakhstan. Usually, such days are meant to provoke some thought about achievements or troubles. But it is much more important to work for improvement of the situation and to do this work […]
This is a translation of an excerpt from Ksenia’s post in Russian.
The Kazakhstani children have entered the new school year with ambitious novelties: more Internet access and 1,000 “interactive blackboards” – everything necessary for the new era education. However, the main problems occur in the very elementary basics.
Many pupils are starting the […]
If after 1990, Almaty was a destination for B-list pop-musicians, the scene looks totally different in 2007. In 1998, anyone could see East 17 or Haddaway on a stadium - in 2007, “50 cent” and Craig David visit Almaty to perform on private parties only. The tickets for the parties are not sold - […]
While everyone who follows Kazakhstani politics expected Nur-Otan, the President’s uber-party, to win the election on August 18th, few thought that the results would be this obviously un-democratic. Frankly, many outside Kazakhstan (and inside as well) did not believe Nur-Otan and the President would have the gall to take every seat, thereby solidifying […]
