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Ex-Kyrgyz President’s Son Arrested in London

Ex-Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s son Maxim has been arrested in London, the Kyrgyz presidential press service said. READ MORE

SCO Fails to Turn Into an “Eastern NATO”

By Pavel Felgenhauer

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) comprising China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan was officially created on June 15, 2001. At the time the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, while the secular dictators of the impoverished, weak and corrupt former Soviet Central Asian “Stan” states were panicking. A radical Islamist insurgency, supported by the Talibs and (or) Osama bin Laden then resident in Kabul, could engulf one or several “Stan” states, eventually destabilizing the entire region. The SCO was formed to promote security and economic cooperation to fight the terrorist threat and poverty in the “Stan” states and make them less susceptible to Islamist Salafi agitation. READ MORE

One Year After Regime Change: Kyrgyzstan’s Recent Past is Full of Ambiguity

By Erica Marat

As Kyrgyzstan marks the first anniversary of the April 7, 2010 regime change after a year full of dramatic changes, ambiguity about the country’s recent past prevails. The public and political leadership still grapples with interpreting the meaning of April 7 as well as the ethnic violence in June 2010, in southern Kyrgyzstan. Instead, rumors triumph while competing political factions prefer to use this uncertainty for their own purposes. READ MORE

Moscow halts petrol to Bishkek over nationalization row

In what could be a new fight over export duties, Russia has stopped transporting petrol fuel to Kyrgyzstan as of Feb. 15, after the Kyrgyz government decided to nationalize one of its largest telecom companies. READ MORE

Kazakhstan's achievements in 2010: “We prevented civil conflict in Kyrgyzstan, performing a mission on behalf of OSCE,” N. Nazarbayev

By Muratbek Makulbekov

Kazakhstan's OSCE presidency will be remembered for the country's efforts to give a new impulse to this authoritative international organization and effective and decisive actions made during the events in Kyrgyzstan in 2010. READ MORE

OSCE Summit Highlights Disagreements Between Astana and Tashkent

By Erica Marat

The situation in Kyrgyzstan generated an emotive exchange between Kazakh and Uzbek officials during the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) summit in Astana, on December 1-2, highlighting continuing disagreements between neighbors. READ MORE

OSCE Summit In Astana To Adapt Organization To New Realities Of 21 Century: US Permanent Representative To OSCE Ian Kelly

By Dimash Syzdykov

One of the most important achievements of Kazakhstan during the years of independence is its election to be the first state in the CIS, Asia, Muslim and Turkic world to chair the OSCE. Our country managed to organize the OSCE Summit on December 1-2 this year in Astana. This event will give a new impetus to the activity of the Organization after 11-year pause in top-level meetings. READ MORE

Global Insights: Kyrgyzstan Election Benefits Regional Security

By Richard Weitz

Few would have expected it to be possible a few months ago, but Kyrgyzstan managed to hold a free, fair, and surprisingly non-violent and trouble-free parliamentary election this weekend. In an assessment widely shared by regional experts, David Trilling, writing at EurasiaNet, concluded, "Kyrgyzstan's parliamentary elections couldn't have gone better." READ MORE

Kyrgyzstan Votes And Surprises The World

By Kathy Lally

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

CSTO: Half Dead, Half Alive

By Roman Muzalevsky

“CORF [Collective Operational Reaction forces] will be no worse than NATO,” claimed Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, only one year ago. Today, these words are used in Russia to popularize the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the CORF within the post-Soviet space. READ MORE