Kazakhstan

Tuesday 30th November

Decapitated dogs and burning bureaus: the year Kazakhstan did democracy

Ryan Gallagher, 30 November 2010
Kazakhstan’s 2010 chairmanship of the OSCE has not passed without controversy. Reforms promised at the beginning of the year never happened, press harassment continues and things could get worse when Kazakhstan is no longer in the glare of international scrutiny, laments Ryan Gallagher
Monday 16th August

Dreaming of the sea, or a holiday in Moynaq

Daniel Metcalfe, 16 August 2010
Daniel Metcalfe's book ‘Out of Steppe’ describes his journey through Central Asia. In this excerpt he describes the Karakalpak landscape around the Aral Sea. The Soviet tourist destination, previously the centre of a successful fishing industry, is now depopulated, polluted by the chemicals used to prop up the failing cotton industry and by a landscape of devastation and desperation.
Monday 12th July

Belarusian "godfather" falls out with his masters

Dmitry Travin, 12 July 2010
On the eve of a Customs Union agreement between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, Russian state television began an information war against Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko. By the ferocity of this campaign, it seems Russian leaders have finally lost patience with their one-time ally.
Wednesday 30th September

Kazakhstan: warm up for the OSCE

Irada Huseinova, 30 September 2009
In 2010, Kazakhstan takes over the chair of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Increasingly strident attempts to muzzle independent voices in the Kazakh media suggests how the government is preparing itself, says Irada Huseinova
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