The Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures (CICA) convened this week, bringing together the leaders of Central Asian nations as well as Russia and China. The conference, held every four years, was established under the auspices of a number of countries from throughout Asia and the Middle East, and recently has…
Ukrainian dignitaries have convened in the eastern city of Kharkiv in order to establish a framework by which peace could be brokered throughout Ukraine. The escalation of violence in Ukraine’s east, not to mention the killing of more than 30 pro-Russia protestors in Ukraine’s southwestern city of Odessa, have placed the country in a precarious…
Reports emerging from China’s Xinjiang region reveal that more than 200 Muslim Uighurs have been arrested over the past six weeks. The 232 total detainees have been brought up on charges ranging from possessing and disseminating material classified as “violent or terrorist,” or merely receiving such content. It is unclear whether or not all individuals…
The Energy Ministry of Turkmenistan recently commissioned a new thermal power plant that will contribute up to 3.6 million kilowatts of electricity, most of which will be utilized in order to supply Turkmenistan’s Lebap province, found in Turkmenistan’s highly restricted closed border zone with Uzbekistan. Beyond being able to provide northeastern Turkmenistan with electric power,…
Violence along the Kyrgyz-Tajik border left 60 wounded in what has been described as an even worse flare up than a violent clash in March that left at least 25 individuals injured. The most recent incident appears to have arisen as ethnic groups in the Kyrgyz-Tajik border region grew increasingly vocal in their dislike of…
The International Monetary Fund recently released a series of predictions in its annual Regional Economic Outlook Update for the Caucasus and Central Asia, in which it details expectations which largely show economies in Central Asia slowing throughout the remainder of 2014, from 6.5% to 6%. The economic downturn in Central Asia can be ascribed chiefly…
An official count of the deceased released yesterday numbered 42 in the wake of violent clashes between protestors in Ukraine’s southwestern city of Odessa. Tension began to rise on Friday afternoon as pro-Ukrainian activists took to the streets to confront separatist groups dressed in all black. Tensions soon metamorphosed into a bitter firefight, as both…
The healthcare system in Kyrgyzstan has recently garnered negative attention for its inability to accommodate its own elderly citizenry. Though general healthcare, in addition more specialized healthcare, surgery and hospital care are technically free within Kyrgyzstan, the government does not provide enough funding to cover the needs of some of its most vulnerable populaces, including…
Turkmenistan’s status as a gas giant and large scale provider to both East and West has expanded rapidly during the course of the last several years, and only looks to expand further as it announced plans to rapidly scale up existing infrastructure in order to accommodate the increasing needs of the European Union. The Turkmen…
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he will no longer seek to boost Russia’s sagging economy through an influx of government spending. The move turned heads in the international press given that Putin, along with his minister of economy, had initially voiced their support for the measure. The announcement was coupled with a statement released…
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