Kyrgyzstan Votes And Surprises The World
When Kyrgyzstan counted the votes in a parliamentary election Monday, the strong showing of a nationalist party was only one surprise. The bigger surprise was that the results were not a foregone conclusion, making this small, mostly Muslim nation the first in Central Asia to hold free elections in pursuit of a democratic system. READ MORE
The International Factor in the Events in Southern Kyrgyzstan
Most observers at the moment are in the dark as to the causes and the instigators of the riots in the Osh and Jalalabad regions of Kyrgyzstan, which have been ongoing since 10 June. READ MORE
Kazakhstan And The OSCE Can Take The Lead In Kyrgyzstan
This summer's Kyrgyz-Uzbek clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan presented the gravest threat to Central Asian security since the Tajik civil war of the 1990s. Reportedly, about 3,000 people died and more than 300,000 were displaced in the violence. While some stability emerged after the bloodshed and following a national referendum legitimizing the new government, the urgent needs for speedy reconstruction of the destroyed infrastructure and for reconciliation between the two ethnic groups present daunting security challenges. READ MORE
OSCE Votes To Deploy International Advisory Police In Southern Kyrgyzstan
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has agreed to "deploy without delay" a police advisory group to southern Kyrgyzstan. READ MORE
Moscow Using New Customs Union to Extend Influence in Central Asia
Having already been pummeled by rising fuel prices and political instability in recent months, the creation of a Customs Union among Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia threatens to deal yet another economic blow to Kyrgyzstan, and is exerting pressure on Bishkek to decide whether to cast its lot with Moscow or the West. READ MORE
OSCE dithers on sending police mission to Kyrgyzstan
The OSCE failed to agree on sending an international police force to Kyrgyzstan in the wake of June's ethnic clashes between that may have killed 2,000 people. A decision on the matter is expected next week. READ MORE
Kyrgyzstan's interim leader sworn in as president
Kyrgyzstan's provisional leader Roza Otunbayeva has been sworn in as president, ushering in what the Central Asian nation's government hopes will be a new era of stability and democratic freedoms. READ MORE
Why Russia's Medvedev is blasting ally Kyrgyzstan
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev unexpectedly criticized a government reform vote in Kyrgyzstan that passed Sunday with 91 percent support. READ MORE
Kyrgyzstan votes in favour of new constitution
First results from Sunday's referendum on Kyrgyzstan’s new constitution show voters to be overwhelmingly behind a charter that seeks to give the country’s parliament greater power whilst limiting that of the president. READ MORE
