The Government of Kazakhstan on August 27 decided to hold a referendum on the construction of the country’s first nuclear power plant. An exact date for the nationwide referendum has yet to be determined. The Government session today, chaired by Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov, considered the prospects for the development of nuclear energy in the
On August 22, Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev arrived in Tajikistan on a state visit and held talks with President Emomali Rahmon. Following the talks, the presidents signed a Treaty on allied relations between Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. President Rahmon emphasized the historical importance of signing the Treaty and stated that “this important document will undoubtedly open
Kazakhstan summoned Paval Utsyupin, Belarus’s ambassador in Astana, to “objectively assess” the Central Asian nation’s stance on key international issues in an unbiased manner amid rising tensions between the two countries, RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service reported. The Kazakh Foreign Ministry did not say specifically why it summoned Utsyupin, but it comes after Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made several
The Committee to Protect Journalists on August 19 called on Tajik authorities to drop bribery charges against noted journalist Ahmad Ibrohim, who was arrested a week earlier, RFE/RL reported. “Following the wave of lengthy convictions against journalists in Tajikistan since 2022, the arrest of Ahmad Ibrohim is yet another reminder of how dangerous any form of critical
A court in Kazakhstan’s eastern city of Oskemen has replaced a six-year prison sentence given to a nephew of Kazakhstan’s former strongman President Nursultan Nazarbaev with a suspended sentence, RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service reported. Court No. 2 in the capital of the East Kazakhstan region ruled on August 16 that Qairat Satybaldy, 52, must be released with a
Several sources close to law enforcement in Tajikistan told RFE/RL over the weekend that police in the Central Asian nation’s southern city of Kulob had arrested noted journalist Ahmad Ibrohim on bribe-related charges, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reported. According to the sources, the 62-year-old editor-in-chief of the Paik (Message) independent newspaper was arrested on August 12
Top officials of the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan marked 105 years of the country’s independence on August 18 by demanding mutual respect from the international community, RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi reported. Afghanistan gained its independence in August 1919 after the signing of the Anglo-Afghan Treaty, which ended British control over the country’s foreign affairs. Afghanistan currently
Kazakhstan’s national railways company Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ) on August 13 said that since the beginning of this year, the rail container transportation from China to Europe through Kazakhstan along the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR) has grown 14-fold compared to the same period last year. The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, also known as the
The presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan convened in the Kazakh capital, Astana, on August 9 to hold the sixth consultative meeting of the leaders of Central Asian states, RFE/RL reported. Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev greeted his counterparts and stressed that the regular meetings of the regional leaders indicate the Central Asian states’
Tajikistan’s First Deputy Interior Minister Abdurahmon Alamshozoda has confirmed reports by RFE/RL’s Tajik Service that 27 residents of the Yazgulom community in the volatile Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) have been arrested. Alamshozoda told journalists in Dushanbe on August 8 that the residents had been arrested on suspicion of being members of the Ansarullah Islamic group, which is
