Russia is rapidly losing its traditional leverage in Kazakhstan. Not only is demographic change swiftly reducing the share of ethnic Russians in the population, but the government in Astana is promoting the Latinization of the Kazakh alphabet (see EDM, April 25) and a new and more radical generation of Kazakh nationalists is coming to the fore.
Nor was it a triumph of democracy
Freedom of the press, a devastating landslide, meeting a manaschi, and a special bonus; weekend reads.
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev visited his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev in Astana.
Following the formal end of national discussions in Kazakhstan on constitutional reforms intended, if only on paper, to rebalance authority away from the president toward the executive and the legislative, President Nursultan Nazarbayev has ruled the issue should be considered further in parliament.
In Kazakhstan, the power of citizens to resist authoritarianism has been dealt a significant blow. On November 28, two major Kazakh land activists, Max Bokayev and Talgat Ayanboth, were sentenced to five years in prison on charges of organising unsanctioned protests and inciting social discord.
Amid talk over the leadership, the country has to solve fundamental problems
Kyrgyzstan's foreign ministry has summoned a Kazakh diplomat after Kazakhstan's culture and sports minister said he felt sorry for Kyrgyz migrant labourers having to clean public toilets in Russia.
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev has evoked the Ukraine conflict as protests continued over the Central Asian government's decision to privatize large tracts of state-owned agricultural land.
Regime Classification: Consolidated Authoritarian Regime