Section: The Times of Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan)
Top US diplomat postpones trip to Ukraine, Belarus, Central Asia amid Middle East tensions
BISHKEK (TCA) — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has postponed his upcoming travels to Ukraine, Belarus, and the two Central Asian nations Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan due to rising tensions in Iraq and the Middle East, RFE/RL reported. The January 1 announcement by the State Department came as U.S. administration officials continued to respond...
Kazakhstan: Fugitive tycoon’s ex-lawyer says her jailed brother released
NUR-SULTAN (TCA) — Kazakh businessman Iskander Erimbetov has been released from prison “due to a health condition,” according to his sister, Bota Jardemalie, RFE/RL reported. Jardemalie, a former lawyer for fugitive tycoon and opposition politician Mukhtar Ablyazov, wrote on Facebook on December 30 that her brother was home and...
OSCE PA deploying first-ever election observation mission to Uzbekistan
TASHKENT (TCA) — More than 50 observers from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly are deploying to Uzbekistan for the 22 December parliamentary elections. It is the first time for the OSCE PA observing an election in the country, the OSCE PA said on December 13. OSCE PA President George Tsereteli (MP, Georgia) will serve as Special Co-ordinator and...
Weekly Digest of Central Asia
BISHKEK (TCA) — The Publisher’s note: Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, Central Asia was the scene of intense geopolitical struggle and the Great Game between the British and Russian Empires, and later between the Soviet Union and the West, over Afghanistan and neighboring territories. Into the 21st century, Central Asia has become...
Ukraine responds to Kazakhstan president’s denial of Crimea’s annexation by Russia
NUR-SULTAN (TCA) — Ukraine has voiced concern over Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s description of Russia’s takeover of the Crimea, when he said it wasn’t an annexation, RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service reported. “Ukraine has always viewed Kazakhstan as its partner and friend,” the Ukrainian Foreign...
Opera returns to Turkmenistan after nearly 19 years
ASHGABAT (TCA) — Opera has returned to Turkmenistan after nearly 19 years of being banned along with ballet by the Central Asian country’s first post-Soviet president as “incompatible with Turkmen mentality,” RFE/RL’s Turkmen Service reported. Nineteenth-century Italian composer Ruggero Leoncavallo’s opera Pagliacci...
Weekly Digest of Central Asia
BISHKEK (TCA) — The Publisher’s note: Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, Central Asia was the scene of intense geopolitical struggle and the Great Game between the British and Russian Empires, and later between the Soviet Union and the West, over Afghanistan and neighboring territories. Into the 21st century, Central Asia has become...
Nazarbayev offers Kazakhstan as neutral site for Putin-Zelenskiy talks
NUR-SULTAN (TCA) — Kazakhstan’s former President Nursultan Nazarbayev says he is working to arrange a face-to-face meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, RFE/RL reported. Speaking at a conference in the Kazakh capital, Nur-Sultan, on November 12, Nazarbayev said Zelenskiy had agreed to...
Weekly Digest of Central Asia
BISHKEK (TCA) — The Publisher’s note: Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, Central Asia was the scene of intense geopolitical struggle and the Great Game between the British and Russian Empires, and later between the Soviet Union and the West, over Afghanistan and neighboring territories. Into the 21st century, Central Asia has become...
Kazakhstan: Police break up opposition rallies
NUR-SULTAN (TCA) — Police in Kazakhstan have broken up opposition rallies in several cities, including the capital Nur-Sultan, detaining dozens, RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service reports. Police were out in large numbers ahead of the planned unsanctioned action on September 21 in Nur-Sultan, the capital, and Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city....
