Merhat Sharipzhan

Kazakh Journalist's Disappearance Remains A Mystery

On March 30, 2007, Oralghaisha Omarshanova, a journalist with the Astana-based weekly newspaper "Zakon i pravosudie," disappeared shortly after publishing an article focusing on a violent clash two weeks earlier between Chechens and Kazakhs in two villages in southern Kazakhstan. Most media coverage of the incident focused primarily on the ethnic nature of the violence. Omarshanova was the first journalist to ask a different set of questions.

More Religious Intolerance In Central Asia

There are no signs of any easing in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, or Kazakhstan, notwithstanding all four countries' constitutional guarantees of rights and freedoms.

Kazakh Politician's Killing Haunts Nazarbaev Regime

Three years ago, Kazakhs were shocked by the news that an opposition party leader had been found shot dead, execution-style, in an Almaty suburb. Altynbek Sarsenbaev had been considered the leading potential challenger to President Nursultan Nazarbaev, the former head of the Kazakh Communist Party who has served as president since 1991. But what happened next was even more shocking.

Obama Victory Sparks Hopes For Change In U.S. Policy In Central Asia

During the Soviet era, America and freedom were synonymous for many in the Soviet Union and elsewhere behind the Iron Curtain. That feeling increased even more after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and Central Asians welcomed their independence as mainly the result of the successful standoff between the Free World led by the United States, and the Totalitarian World led by the Soviet Union. But the "pragmatism" of U.S. policy has left many hoping such idealism will return to how Washington approaches Central Asia.

Central Asia Balks At Pandora's Box Of Separatism

The results of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, held in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, this week, were very different from what Russian President Dmitry Medvedev confidently predicted beforehand.

Georgia Crisis Highlights Kazakh Balancing Act

For the majority of those who call themselves former Soviet citizens, the death of the acclaimed but controversial Russian writer Aleksander Solzhenitsyn and Russia's armed conflict with Georgia have nothing in common. But for citizens of at least one former Soviet republic, these two tragic events are somehow related.

In Central Asia, Water Could Lead To Fire

As Central Asia suffers the effects of global climate change, seeing less rainfall each year, the water shortage in the region is generating progressively greater attention -- and greater tensions between the region's governments.

Kazakhstan: Premier Says Assassins Sought Nazarbaev

Kazakhstan: Chechens Receive No Welcome

Kazakhstan: Opposition Groups Prepare For Polls

1998 In Review: Kazakhstan's Momentous Autumn

Kazakhstan: Parliament Approves Changes To Presidential Term

Kazakhstan: Opposition Activities Decrease

Central Asia: New Developments In Russian Caspian Policy

Kazakhstan: Labor Unrest Has Roots In Failed Privatization

Kazakhstan: Workers' Protest Reveals Flaws In Privatization

Kazakhstan: Prime Minister's Fate Still A Mystery

Kazakhstan: As One Door Closes For The Elite, Another Opens

Central Asia: Forgers Show Increasing Interest In Currencies

Kazakhstan/Russia: Customs Agreement Runs Into Rough Patches