The Times Of Central Asia | Eurasian Publication & News Online

As Managing Editor of The Times of Central Asia, I’m delighted that, in partnership with the Oxus Society for Central Asian Affairs, we are the home of the Spotlight on Central Asia podcast. Chaired by seasoned broadcasters Bruce Pannier of RFE/RL’s long-running Majlis podcast and Michael Hillard of The Red...

Organization of Turkic States (OTS)

Tokayev Proposes Russian Role in OTS as Aliyev Skips Ankara Summit

Rogun Hydropower Plant

Rogun Hydropower Plant Accident Sparks Conflicting Injury Reports

Cryptocurrency Theft

$6.3 Billion Binance Cyberattack Comes as Exchange Expands in Central Asia

Border Demarcation

Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan Border Fencing Complete in Batken, Demarcation Continues

Energy Security

Bishkek Turns On the Heat as Soviet-Era System Faces Winter Test

For hundreds of thousands of Bishkek residents, winter heating begins with an order from city hall. On October 28, the authorities began supplying heat through the capital's district network after temperatures dropped sharply. The decision came as Kyrgyzstan recorded an autumn electricity consumption record, and lawmakers questioned the condition of...

Accelerating Arrests, Command Cleanouts, and Retreating Regional Rights

00:00 / 00:00

Dastan
Short Stories from the Region

Dastan: Turkmenistan Takes to the Desert in Rally Cars

00:00 / 00:00

Opinions

Opinion: A Deeper Understanding of Transshipment

Daniel A. Witt

Opinion: Why Agriculture Cannot Afford to Overlook Women Farmers

Viorel Gutu

Opinion: I Spent 15 Years in Government. Here Is What the State Can Learn Next

Zhandos Sabit

Opinion: Central Asia Is More Than Minerals

Eric Rudenshiold & S. Frederick Starr

Opinion: Weaponizing Faith – The Cold War Roots of Central Asia’s Security Dilemma

Zabikhulla Saipov

From Lenin to Kenesary: What Kazakhstan’s Renamed Streets Say About Power

Issatay Minuarov

Opinion: Why Central Asia Cannot Afford to Abandon the Iranian Route

Timur Serikuly

Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan Show What Diplomacy Can Deliver as Vast Rail Project with China Advances

Javier M. Piedra

Uzbekistan’s Heritage Did Not Stop With the Silk Road

Mathieu Lemoine

Opinion: Kazakhstan’s Demining Expertise Could Provide Boost to Afghanistan

Timur Serikuly

Opinion: Uzbekistan Census – When the Village Reappears in the City

Zamirbek Minbaev

Opinion: The Specter Is Back – A Kazakh Warning to America

Askar Alimzhanov

Business & Economy

Transshipment

Opinion: A Deeper Understanding of Transshipment

The White House recently issued a report on the transshipment of goods. It focuses on allegations that some countries with lower tariffs seek to evade U.S. tariffs on China by exporting goods that are really produced in China and only slightly modified, if at all, before further export to the U.S. The report groups more than 40 countries in what it terms a “shadow transshipment network” into three different categories based on how much it estimates the risk of transshipment and the integration of the economy into supply chains involving China. The first tier, mostly advanced countries, are larger economies...

Energy Security

Central Asia Electricity Demand Expected to Rise 27% by 2030, EDB Says

Middle Corridor

Kazakhstan and Türkiye: Partners Across the Middle Corridor

Economic Transparency

Turkmenistan Meets IMF After Report on Missing Data

Private Sector

World Bank: Central Asia Private Sector Needs Room to Grow

Trade Agreements

Uzbekistan–Türkiye Trade Agreement to Cover More Products

Uzbekistan and Türkiye have agreed to expand the list of goods eligible for preferential trade treatment and signed agreements on business support and social security. Five documents were signed in Ankara on October 29 following talks between Presidents Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Turkish Trade Minister Ömer Bolat explained the expansion in an interview with Aziza Kurbonova, first deputy head of the Communications Department of Uzbekistan’s Presidential Administration. "In addition to the 12 products on each side already benefiting from preferential treatment, we mutually agreed to add another eight products each," Bolat said. The minister estimated annual bilateral trade...

Cryptocurrency Theft

$6.3 Billion Binance Cyberattack Comes as Exchange Expands in Central Asia

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, has reported a cyberattack affecting approximately $6.3 billion in digital assets. Blockchain analysts say the October 29 attack is the largest cryptocurrency theft on record. The company says around $3 billion has been frozen and withdrawals have been temporarily suspended. The attack comes as Binance expands its presence in Central Asia, with a licensed exchange in Kazakhstan, a local partner in Uzbekistan, and cooperation with Kyrgyzstan on blockchain development. How the Attack Unfolded According to preliminary findings released by Binance on October 30, the attackers may have used a software development and operations engineer’s...

Cross-Border Payments

Central Asia QR Payments: Banks Plan Integration With Azerbaijan

The central banks of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan have agreed to develop a mechanism for linking their national QR (quick response) code payment systems by the end of 2026, the National Bank of Kazakhstan said on October 29. The agreement was reached at the fourth regional meeting of central bank representatives, held in Tajikistan on October 22–23. Participants supported Kazakhstan’s proposed approach to linking the systems. According to the bank, integration would allow citizens of these countries to pay for goods and services by scanning QR codes through their own bank’s app while visiting other participating countries. Users...

Inspection Moratorium

Tajikistan Business Inspections Suspended for SMEs Until 2029, but Tax Checks Continue

Government agencies in Tajikistan will remain barred from carrying out most inspections of small and medium-sized businesses until January 1, 2029. The checks are intended to ensure businesses comply with regulations, but entrepreneurs have long complained about repeated and arbitrary inspections, fines, and pressure to make unofficial payments. On October 28, President Emomali Rahmon signed a decree extending the moratorium. Tax authorities, however, will still be allowed to conduct inspections. The two-year moratorium introduced in January 2025 covered businesses of all sizes, but the extension applies specifically to small and medium-sized enterprises. Such measures have become familiar in Tajikistan: inspections...

Local Politics

Rogun Hydropower Plant

Rogun Hydropower Plant Accident Sparks Conflicting Injury Reports

A water tank ruptured in a construction tunnel at Tajikistan’s Rogun Hydropower Plant on October 21, sending water rushing toward workers below. While the authorities maintain no one was injured, witnesses have reported that more than five workers were hurt. The accident occurred inside the plant’s tunnel system, Asia-Plus reported, citing Tajikistan’s industrial safety regulator. An upper tank used to collect water ruptured, damaging a second drainage tank below it. Water from both tanks then flowed into the lower section of the tunnel, where workers from the Chinese subcontracting company Sinohydro were carrying out construction work. The regulator said none...

Republic Day

Kazakhstan Marks Republic Day as World Leaders Send Congratulations

Military Training

Kazakhstan Military Training Overhauled with New Drone Forces Planned

Language Politics

Rubio’s Remarks Reignite Debate on Russian Language in Uzbekistan

Delivery Couriers

Uzbekistan Delivery Drivers Under Police Scrutiny: Why Tashkent Lacks Space for Mopeds

State of the Nation

Tokayev Unveils $14 Billion Construction Plan in Kazakhstan State of the Nation Address

Kazakhstan plans to spend 6.5 trillion tenge (about $14.3 billion) from its National Fund on infrastructure projects by 2029 and eliminate its electricity shortage in the same period, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced in his annual State of the Nation Address on October 28. The president also outlined plans to accelerate nuclear power plant construction, expand transport routes between China and Europe, and establish a separate court for investors in the new city of Alatau. $14 Billion for Infrastructure Tokayev proposed declaring 2027 a year of large-scale construction and launching a nationwide program covering roads, airports, railway stations, and public facilities....

Public Service

Opinion: I Spent 15 Years in Government. Here Is What the State Can Learn Next

Zhandos Sabit spent more than 15 years in Kazakhstan’s public service, including the Ministry of National Economy, a regional akimat, and the Prosecutor General’s Office. He now works in the private sector. In March 2014, I went to a meeting in Astana on the development of the machine-building industry. It was held at the then Ministry of Industry and New Technologies. Officials from central and local bodies came, along with the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs and several business owners. I was there as a representative of a state body. When the entrepreneurs began to talk about problems in the industry...

Children’s Health

International Network Launched to Support Childhood Cancer Care in Uzbekistan

An international network to support children with serious and life-threatening illnesses, including cancer, was announced in Samarkand on October 21. The new initiative will bring together first ladies and spouses of heads of state. The network's establishment was announced by Carlos Rodriguez-Galindo, executive vice president of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in the United States and director of St. Jude Global, which works to improve childhood cancer care worldwide. Uzbekistan's First Lady Ziroat Mirziyoyeva was named chair for a two-year term. Participants in the initiative intend to share expertise and help expand children's access to diagnosis, treatment, and quality medical...

LRT

Almaty Builds New Tram Line as Residents Question Costs and Delays

Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest city with a population of more than two million, is laying tram tracks again, more than a decade after shutting down its old network. The authorities aim to open the first 18.3-kilometer light rail transit (LRT) line in December 2027. The city has allocated 61.4 billion tenge (approximately $136 million) for construction in 2026, but the authorities have yet to disclose the project's total cost. As construction closes streets and disrupts traffic, some residents are questioning why the city dismantled its old tram system only to build a new one. The Project The new line will run...

International Affairs

Organization of Turkic States (OTS)

Tokayev Proposes Russian Role in OTS as Aliyev Skips Ankara Summit

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has proposed inviting Russia to cooperate with the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) or granting it observer status. He made the proposal on October 30 at the summit in Ankara, where Türkiye assumed the organization's rotating chairmanship from Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev did not attend, despite a personal invitation from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The participants adopted the Ankara Declaration and appointed Uzbekistan's Mirvokhid Azimov as the new OTS secretary-general. Azerbaijan was represented by Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov. Has Russia Expressed Interest in the OTS? Tokayev proposed two options for Russia's participation: cooperation through...

Water Management

Water Projects in Tajikistan: Japan Learns from a Troubled Grant

Aid Dependence

Emergency Aid to Afghanistan Is Not Enough, Humanitarian Expert Says

Regional Security

The Middle East’s New Rivalry Runs Through Central Asia

Kazakhstan-U.S. Relations

Trump Reaffirms Support for Kazakhstan Ahead of G20 Summit

Border Demarcation

Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan Border Fencing Complete in Batken, Demarcation Continues

Kyrgyzstan has completed the installation of nearly 328 kilometers of border fencing in the Batken region in the country’s southwest, where armed clashes with Tajikistan took place in 2021 and 2022. For some residents, the new boundary has also raised questions about compensation for lost homes and farmland. On October 29, the Batken regional administration confirmed completion of the fencing, two weeks after the State Border Service made the same announcement. During 2025–2026, 338.5 kilometers of patrol roads were built in the region’s Batken and Leilek districts, allowing patrols to reach previously difficult-to-access areas. The fencing covers part of the...

OTS summit

OTS Summit in Ankara: Türkiye Looks to Strengthen Its Position as Central Asia Competes for Transit Routes

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev arrived in Ankara on October 28, the day he delivered his annual State of the Nation Address, in which he announced plans to expand transport routes between China and Europe. On October 30, he will attend the 13th summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS). Turkey is preparing to take over the organization's chairmanship from Azerbaijan, and Central Asian countries are seeking to accelerate freight transportation across the Caspian Sea. Behind the shared rhetoric of Turkic unity lie specific economic interests. Kazakhstan is building railways and expanding its capacity to handle transit cargo from China....

Marine Research

In Ashgabat, Caspian States Discuss Cooperation on Marine Research

Turkmenistan hosted a meeting of the Caspian Sea littoral states to discuss cooperation on marine scientific research, part of a wider effort by the Central Asian country to promote regional collaboration over the fragile, strategic body of water. Turkmenistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said delegates discussed a draft agreement about research in the Caspian Sea, where countries want to develop large oil and gas reserves while trying to mitigate the impact on the marine environment. The five littoral states are Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan. “The current meeting is expected to facilitate further progress in finalizing the remaining provisions...

Diplomatic Protest

Iran Says Samarkand Heritage Posts Targeted U.S.

Iran has said that posts by its embassies about Samarkand’s Persian heritage were directed at the United States. The explanation followed a diplomatic protest from Uzbekistan, which demanded the removal of posts describing the city’s architecture as part of Persian civilization. Esmaeil Baghaei, spokesperson for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on October 26 that Tehran attaches great importance to its relations with Uzbekistan and views their shared cultural heritage as a foundation of friendship between the two countries. "Some of our colleagues at certain embassies published their messages as an address to the American side," Baghaei explained. In the...

Life & Culture

Public Apology

Sacha Baron Cohen Apologizes to Kazakhstan After Reviving Borat

Twenty years after Borat, Sacha Baron Cohen has apologized to the people of Kazakhstan. The apology became public just weeks after he used the character to promote another film. On the Happy Sad Confused podcast, released October 26, he said, “I want to apologize to the people of Kazakhstan for the first time ever.” He acknowledged that Kazakhstan’s original objections were justified and that Borat’s appearance and accent bore no resemblance to its people. He explained that earlier versions of the character had been Albanian or Moldovan. Kazakhstan was eventually chosen because audiences knew so little about it. His real...

Podcast

Pannier and Hillard’s Spotlight on Central Asia: New Episode Coming Sunday

Book Donations

Kazakh Books Donated to Nobel Library in Stockholm

Obituary

In Memory of Roza Aitmatova

Viral Music

Brazilian Funk’s Kazakh Side Hustle

Kazakh Cinema

Kazakh–Korean Action Film KESU Sets Sights on South Korean Cinemas

A Kazakh former special forces officer and a South Korean taekwondo champion find themselves on the same side when their shared mentor disappears. Their search takes them from Kazakhstan to Seoul, where they become entangled in a dangerous conflict rooted in their teacher's past. This is the story of KESU, a Kazakhstan–South Korea action film directed by Daulet Zhumabayev that opened in Kazakhstan on October 15. The film topped the country's box office during its opening weekend, earning approximately 77 million tenge ($160,000), according to Forbes Kazakhstan. The film was commissioned by the Kazakhstan Taekwondo Federation, whose president, Kudret Shamiyev,...

Glass Bridges

Kyrgyzstan Plans Ala-Archa Glass Bridge That Could Set World Record

A 732-meter glass suspension bridge is planned for Kyrgyzstan’s Ala-Archa State Nature Park. According to the Presidential Affairs Office, it could become the longest of its kind in the world, and authorities are considering seeking recognition from Guinness World Records. Construction is scheduled to begin in November 2026 and be completed by the end of 2027. On October 29, Kanybek Tumanbaev, head of the office, visited the park to discuss the project with representatives of an unnamed European company and inspect the proposed construction site. Alongside the bridge, authorities plan to develop a nature trail from the Tepshi plateau to...

Children's Rights

Too Young to Be Responsible: When Children Raise Children in Uzbekistan

“The household chores are now on my shoulders.” The words come from a girl quoted in a UNICEF study of children affected by labor migration in Uzbekistan. Her grandmother died when she was in seventh grade. By the time she spoke to UNICEF, her grandfather had also died the previous year. She described cleaning, cooking, washing clothes, and looking after her brother, a household’s work done by one child. Her account raises a question that is rarely asked when an older sibling is praised for being helpful: who is looking after the child who is doing the looking after? In...

Film and Literature

Interview: Alina Mustafina on Her New Book and Freedom in Filmmaking

Kazakh filmmaker and writer Alina Mustafina moved from Almaty to Dubai before relocating to Barcelona with her husband. There, she studied film directing after working as a journalist, a career change she recounts in her second book, Between Heaven and Cinema: When a Dream Changes the Route. Her debut feature documentary, Gingerbread for Her Dad, premiered at the Busan International Film Festival in 2024 and competed at the Torino Film Festival later that year. Those screenings give her firsthand experience of taking a film made in Kazakhstan to international audiences. The Times of Central Asia spoke with Mustafina about her...

Justice

School Violence

School Bullying in Kazakhstan: Prosecutors Propose New Deputies to Protect Students from Violence

In schools across Kazakhstan’s Zhambyl region, children told visiting inspectors about beatings, extortion, and threats. Some described incidents involving brass knuckles and stun guns. But reports from those same schools recorded no bullying. The scale of the problem was exposed in October 2025, when Kazakhstan’s commissioner for children’s rights, Dinara Zakiyeva, published the findings of inspections across the region. An interagency team identified more than 200 cases of bullying and extortion in the Baizak and Zhambyl districts alone. During the first nine months of that year, 14 suicides involving minors were recorded in the region. Prosecutors have introduced the position...

Sexual Violence

Kazakh Women Share Stories of Sexual Violence Under #IAmJaneDoe Hashtag

Child Protection Laws

Uzbekistan Introduces Life Imprisonment for Rape of Children Under 14

Victim Compensation

Most Compensation for Uzbekistan’s Dok-1 Max Victims Remains Unpaid

Espionage

German Spy Scandal Puts Central Asian and Caucasus Espionage Cases in Focus

Oil Arbitration

Kashagan Arbitration: Tribunal Rejects $12 Billion in Kazakhstan’s Claims

An international arbitration tribunal has rejected approximately $12 billion in claims brought by Kazakhstan against investors in the Kashagan oil field, Bloomberg reported on October 22. Citing sources familiar with the confidential proceedings, the report said the claims concerned field development costs incurred between 2011 and 2015 and were filed after the applicable deadline. Claims concerning another $8 billion in disputed costs have been allowed to proceed. Kazakhstan had sought to exclude approximately $20 billion from the costs investors are entitled to recover through oil production. The arbitrators did not examine whether the expenses covered by the rejected claims were...

Harassment Laws

Sexual Harassment in Kazakhstan: Why Are Such Cases Difficult to Track?

A woman who said she was sexually harassed on a bus in Astana decided against going to the police because she feared she would be unable to prove what had happened. Instead, she confronted the man and photographed him. "It wasn't an accidental touch because the bus was crowded. He was groping me," she wrote on Threads. Police identified the 46-year-old man after discovering her post. A court sentenced him to ten days of administrative detention for indecent behavior on public transport. On October 13, a court in the capital had imposed the same penalty on an inDrive driver who...

Drug Smuggling

Russian Rapper Navai Detained at Kazakhstan Border on Suspicion of Drug Smuggling

Russian rapper Navai Bakirov, known professionally as Navai, was detained on October 13 while entering Kazakhstan from Kyrgyzstan. A Kazakh court has since ordered him held in custody as police investigate suspected drug smuggling and unlawful possession of narcotics. Police in Kazakhstan’s Zhambyl region said officers and border guards discovered and seized a narcotic substance during a search of his vehicle at the Korday checkpoint. They have not identified the substance or disclosed the quantity seized. Navai had performed in Bishkek the previous day as part of a Central Asian concert tour. His concert scheduled for October 14 in Astana...

Political Trials

Kyrgyzstan Court Jails Kadyr Atambayev and Temirlan Sultanbekov

A court in Kyrgyzstan has sentenced Kadyr Atambayev, the son of former President Almazbek Atambayev, to four years in prison and opposition Social Democrats leader Temirlan Sultanbekov to seven years over an alleged plot to seize power following last year's parliamentary elections. The defendants denied the allegations, and Sultanbekov described the prosecution as politically motivated shortly before the October 8 verdict. The trial at Bishkek’s Pervomaisky District Court was held behind closed doors despite defense lawyers’ requests for public hearings, preventing independent scrutiny of much of the evidence. Kadyr Atambayev entered politics in 2021, when he was elected to Bishkek's...

Environment

National Parks

Kyrgyzstan Plans to Expand Protected Natural Areas

Kyrgyzstan plans to expand its protected natural areas under a draft strategy for 2026–2035. The expansion would bring additional high-altitude glaciers, rocky mountain areas, and state forest lands under protection. The Ministry of Natural Resources, Ecology, and Technical Supervision released the document for public consultation on October 26. An accompanying explanatory note proposes increasing protected land from 11.8% of the country’s territory to 20% by 2030 and 30% by 2035. However, another section of the strategy sets 2030 as the deadline for reaching 30%, leaving the intended timetable unclear. Kyrgyzstan’s protected natural areas currently cover approximately 2.36 million hectares. The...

Snow Leopard Conservation

Kyrgyzstan Opens Snow Leopard Research and Rehabilitation Center

Air Pollution

Air Pollution in Central Asia: Why Winter Smog Persists in Almaty, Bishkek, and Tashkent

Water Security

Central Asia Agrees New Water Limits, but National Quotas Remain Unclear

Nuclear Safety

Kazakhstan Nuclear Emergency Center Opens With U.S. Support

Cotton Harvest

Uzbekistan Cotton Harvest Reaches 4.63 Million Tons as Water Losses Persist

Uzbekistan's Ministry of Agriculture says the country had harvested 4.63 million metric tons of raw cotton as of October 22, exceeding its target by 3%. About 76% of the cotton harvested so far was harvested mechanically, reflecting the industry's shift away from manual labor. A new study, however, highlights another challenge: extensive water losses in the country's irrigation system. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, nearly 3,000 harvesting machines collected 3.52 million metric tons of cotton. Mechanized harvesting accounted for 98.5% of the crop in the Jizzakh region, 94.2% in the Syrdarya region, and 81.2% in the Tashkent region. In...

Nature protection

New $8 Million Central Asia Conservation Program to Protect Rare Wildlife

Around 100 grants will be made available to local conservation groups under a new five-year program to protect threatened wildlife in the Pamir and Tien Shan mountains. The initiative will cover mountain ecosystems across five Central Asian countries, running from 2026 to 2031. The program has a budget of up to $8 million, with the European Union providing the majority of funding through the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF). The British conservation organization Fauna & Flora will coordinate activities in the region, overseeing grants, providing technical assistance, and helping local organizations develop and manage conservation projects. The Pamir and Tien...

Water Shortages

Uzbekistan Rejects Claims That the Amu Darya Is Drying Up

Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Water Resources has rejected claims circulating on social media that the Amu Darya River is drying up. The ministry said water continues to flow through the river, although discharge at some locations is lower than a year ago. On October 9, the water level near Termez, where the Amu Darya enters Uzbekistan, was 27 centimeters higher than it had been at the same time in 2025. Farther downstream, however, discharge at the Kerki monitoring station was approximately 11% lower than a year earlier. These figures provide little indication of the river’s longer-term condition. The ministry noted that...

Energy

Uzbekistan Solar Panel Program Targets 3,100 Sites in $20 Million Project

A $20 million solar-panel program in Uzbekistan has so far provided 1,580 homes and 334 public institutions with free electricity-generating systems. A further 1,197 households are expected to receive the equipment by May 2027. The program, known as Yorqin Xonadon (“Bright Home”), is being implemented by Uzbekistan's Ministry of Energy, Saudi energy company Acwa, and China Southern Power Grid International. According to information provided to The Times of Central Asia by Acwa, the initiative was launched in April 2023. About 65% of the new installations are intended for Karakalpakstan, an autonomous republic in northwestern Uzbekistan that has been severely affected...

Kazakhstan and Türkiye: Partners Across the Middle Corridor

Latest

Features

Features

Accelerating Arrests, Command Cleanouts, and Retreating Regional Rights

Latest

Dastan: Turkmenistan Takes to the Desert in Rally Cars

Accelerating Arrests, Command Cleanouts, and Retreating Regional Rights

Dastan: Turkmenistan Takes to the Desert in Rally Cars

Opinions

Opinions

Daniel A. Witt

Viorel Gutu

Zhandos Sabit

Eric Rudenshiold & S. Frederick Starr

Zabikhulla Saipov

Issatay Minuarov

Timur Serikuly

Javier M. Piedra

Mathieu Lemoine

Timur Serikuly

Zamirbek Minbaev

Askar Alimzhanov

Business & Economy

Business & Economy

Opinion: A Deeper Understanding of Transshipment

Uzbekistan–Türkiye Trade Agreement to Cover More Products

$6.3 Billion Binance Cyberattack Comes as Exchange Expands in Central Asia

Central Asia QR Payments: Banks Plan Integration With Azerbaijan

Tajikistan Business Inspections Suspended for SMEs Until 2029, but Tax Checks Continue

Local Politics

Local Politics

Rogun Hydropower Plant Accident Sparks Conflicting Injury Reports

Tokayev Unveils $14 Billion Construction Plan in Kazakhstan State of the Nation Address

Opinion: I Spent 15 Years in Government. Here Is What the State Can Learn Next

International Network Launched to Support Childhood Cancer Care in Uzbekistan

Almaty Builds New Tram Line as Residents Question Costs and Delays

International Affairs

International Affairs

Tokayev Proposes Russian Role in OTS as Aliyev Skips Ankara Summit

Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan Border Fencing Complete in Batken, Demarcation Continues

OTS Summit in Ankara: Türkiye Looks to Strengthen Its Position as Central Asia Competes for Transit Routes

In Ashgabat, Caspian States Discuss Cooperation on Marine Research

Iran Says Samarkand Heritage Posts Targeted U.S.

Life & Culture

Life & Culture

Sacha Baron Cohen Apologizes to Kazakhstan After Reviving Borat

Kazakh–Korean Action Film KESU Sets Sights on South Korean Cinemas

Kyrgyzstan Plans Ala-Archa Glass Bridge That Could Set World Record

Too Young to Be Responsible: When Children Raise Children in Uzbekistan

Interview: Alina Mustafina on Her New Book and Freedom in Filmmaking

Justice

Justice

School Bullying in Kazakhstan: Prosecutors Propose New Deputies to Protect Students from Violence