Background The incumbent President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev won by a landslide in an early presidential election on November 20, 2022. He was reelected because the Kazakh people trusted him and supported a fair government
Background During the ongoing Ukrainian crisis, Russia’s relations with its near abroad, namely the Central Asian region, have been put to test. Central Asian Republics (CARs) have maintained a middle-ground approach, neither opposing nor suppor
Background On September 14, border guards from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan exchanged fire at a disputed border section. The violent confrontation escalated and lasted for two days, with drones, tanks, aircraft, and exchange of rocket fire. In the bl
Republic of Kazakhstan hosted the Seventh Congress of the Leaders of the World and Traditional Religions on 14-15 September 2022. Former President Nursultan Nazarbayev formulated this initiative to promote dialogue and discussion among different reli
Background In recent years, Turkey has emerged as an important regional player in Central Asia. The primary objective of Ankara’s Central Asia policy is to gain strategic dominance in the region. Turkish language and culture are a shared historica
Introduction Since its beginning in 2018, the Consultative Meetings of Central Asian leaders have contributed positively to Central Asia’s regional integration process. The idea was presented by the Uzbek President Shawkat Mirziyoyev with an inten
Introduction There are 24 trans-boundary rivers between China and Kazakhstan, and all of their mainstreams flow to form a clear upstream-downstream relationship. In this water-scarcity zone, the trans-boundary flow of water is limited. Therefore, ne
Background The third meeting of the Foreign Ministers (FMs) of China and five Central Asian countries within the framework of China+ C5 took place in Nur Sultan on June 8, 2022. Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi along with Kazak
Background The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Russia-led Eurasian security bloc, has acquired considerable traction in recent years due to the rapidly changing regional security situation in the Eurasian region. The annual CSTO Su
Background Central Asia is geo-strategically significant for the Kremlin as the region border Afghanistan and Iran to the South, China to the East, and the Caspian Sea to the West. The Central Asian region is considered Russia’s sphere of influen