SEPT. 1 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Perhaps a sign Russian is losing its prominence in Kazakhstan, the country’s main state TV channel started broadcasting only in Kazakh language. Russian programmes had previously made up about 25% of Kazakhstan-1’s output. Khabar, another state-owned TV, will still broadcast in Russian.
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(News report from Issue No. 55, published on Sept. 6 2011)
SEPT. 4 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Kashagan oil field in the Caspian Sea could start production in 2012, Eni chairman, Guisepp Recchi, was quoted by Dow Jones news agency as saying. Eni is part of the consortium developing Kashagan. Earlier reports had said production at Kashagan, key to Kazakh plans to become a global energy power, would be delayed until 2013.
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(News report from Issue No. 55, published on Sept. 6 2011)
AUG. 19 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s ruling party, Nur-Otan, won all 16 seats available in a senate election, underlining its grip on politics. Nur-Otan, President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s party, controls all 47 seats in the Senate and all 77 seats in the Majilis, Parliament’s lower chamber.
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(News report from Issue No. 54, published on Aug. 30 2011)
AUG. 19 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Kazakhstan blocked access to 13 websites, including the popular Russian language LiveJournal, because it said militant Islamists were using them to publish propaganda. Kazakhstan occasionally blocks websites used by militants and opposition leaders. Rights groups say Kazakhstan’s attitude towards the internet is authoritarian.
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(News report from Issue No. 54, published on Aug. 30 2011)
AUG. 23 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – At least 12 Uzbeks extradited by Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan earlier this year have gone on trial accused of religious extremism, local media reported. Human rights groups had protested the extraditions of the 26 Uzbeks. Uzbek human rights group Ezgulik said two of the accused have already been sent to jail.
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(News report from Issue No. 54, published on Aug. 30 2011)
AUG. 25 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak signed major deals during a trip to Central Asia, turning South Korea into one of the region’s biggest business partners. In Kazakhstan, South Korean companies will build two coal-fired power stations and a petrochemical plant worth $8b. In Uzbekistan, a South Korean company will build a $2.8b chemicals plant.
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(News report from Issue No. 54, published on Aug. 30 2011)
AUG. 12 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s Central Bank said it might revise upwards its inflation target for 2011 because of high food and energy prices. The Bank had forecast inflation for 2011 between 6% and 8%. Central Asia has been hit hard by inflation and analysts say rising prices for food and utilities could trigger unrest.
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(News report from Issue No. 53, published on Aug. 17 2011)
AUG. 15 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan could allow militant Islam to spread into Central Asia, Russian media quoted Nikolai Bordyuzha, secretary-general of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) as saying at a meeting in Astana. The CSTO is a loose security group of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan
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(News report from Issue No. 53, published on Aug. 17 2011)
AUG. 5 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan has returned control of its prisons to its interior ministry, which operates its own army, the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported. The ministry of justice had controlled the prisons since 2002 but a series of breakouts and riots undermined its authority. US human rights group Freedom House criticised the decision as a step backwards.
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(News report from Issue No. 52, published on Aug. 10 2011)
AUG. 9 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – A closed court in Aktau, west Kazakhstan, jailed for six years a lawyer who advised striking oil workers. Natalia Sokolova was convicted of “inciting civil disorder” and also banned from practising as a lawyer for three years after her release. Human rights groups said the sentence was incompatible with Kazakhstan’s commitment to free speech.
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(News report from Issue No. 52, published on Aug. 10 2011)