Domestic critics of President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s administration in Kazakhstan are rising again. The opposition’s revival may create an internal challenge for Nazarbayev and increase international attention on Kazakhstan’s democratization process, as Astana prepares to lead the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in 2010.
The sensational revelations from President Nazarbayev’s former son-in-law could become even more of a scandal than the ‘Kazakhgate’ criminal trial.
China Investment Corporation’s acquisition of a stake in KazMunaiGas Exploration Production and the opening of a pipeline linking oil-rich western Kazakhstan to the Chinese border meant it was inevitable that China’s grasp of Kazakh natural resources would be the hot topic at this year’s Kazakhstan International Oil and Gas Exhibition (Kioge) conference.
Anonymous Kazakh political scientist about progressive megalomania of Nursultan Nazarbayev
Kazakhstan, a country with an extensive nuclear infrastructure as a legacy of the Soviet Union, has decided to rely on civilian nuclear programs for economic development and has reached out to numerous countries for cooperation in nuclear areas.
Moscow police have arrested the general director of the Altyn jewelry company, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports.
In Almaty, Kazakhstan, a serious service conflict between the National Security Committee (KNB) of Kazakhstan and local directorate of the Agency on Struggle Against Corruption and Economic Crimes (Financial Police) has emerged, news agency KazTAG reports, referring to sources in the law enforcement bodies and city’s Prosecutor’s Office.
