Kazakhstan

Central Asia: 20 Years of Independence

 

As the Soviet Union broke up in 1991, the five Central Asian republics suddenly found themselves independent states, facing numerous challenges in creating a sense of nationhood and building separate economic structures. To mark the two decades since the five new states came into being, IWPR is publishing a series of articles highlighting the common challenges facing them, and some of the ways in which their paths have diverged over the years.

Lukpan Ahmedyarov is out of danger after he was shot and stabbed last week. (Photo: Uralskaya Nedelya)
25 Apr 12
Colleague says assault on Lukpan Ahmedyarov meant as strong message to anyone thinking of voicing dissent.
Exiled banker and government critic Mukhtar Ablyazov. (Photo: Serik Kovlanbaev)
11 Apr 12
Allegations seem designed to blame exiled opposition figure Mukhtar Ablyazov for all that is wrong with Kazakstan.
The building of Ozenmunaigaz, the oil company at the centre of the industrial dispute that ended in violence last December. (Photo: Serik Kovlanbaev)
28 Mar 12
Tense mood at start of court case in which demonstrators, not those who fired shots, are on trial.
Andrei Grishin.
Interview
28 Mar 12
Rights activist doubts proceedings will shed much light on what really happened.
Yevgeny Zhovtis. (Photo: Kazakstan Bureau for Human RIghts and Rule of Law)
Interview
19 Mar 12
Recently released human rights activist describes conditions on the inside, and the reasons why the authorities prefer repression to other options.
The wooden Cathedral of the Ascension in Almaty was completed in 1907 and is one of the very few older buildings to have survived earthquakes and urban planning. (Photo: Ken and Nyetta/Flickr)
IWPR Postcard
14 Mar 12
Kazakstan’s former capital has become a magnet for ambitious young Central Asians, attracted not just by opportunities but also by welcoming environment.
Southern Kyrgyzstan will require large sums of money to restore buildings and infrastructure wrecked by ethnic clashes in June. (Photo: Pavel Gromsky) Kazak Newsstand (Photo: Irina Mednikova) A vehicle proclaims its owner's ethnic allegiance as Kyrgyz as it races through Osh in the violent summer of 2010. (Photo: Inga Sikorskaya) Election officials say under five per cent of voters did not go for President Nazarbaev. (Photo: Serik Kovlanbaev)
MEP Piotr Borys visited Kazakstan to look at how the aftermath of the Janaozen violence is being handled. (Photo courtesy of Piotr Borys’s office.) IWPR-supported round table on preventing suicide in the Kazak capital Astana. (Photo: Institute for Equal Rights and Equal Opportunities)
Defendants accused of torture are driven away from the Zarechny prison after the trial court spent a day cross-examining inmates brought as prosecution witnesses. (Photo: Alexei Smirnov) Adzhar Kurtov, a Central Asia expert at the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies. (Photo: A. Kurtov)
With the male population of working age abroad, women have replaced men in places like this brick-making factory in southern Tajikistan. (Photo: David Trilling)
Relatives wait outside police station in Kenkiak where family members of suspects were taken for questioning. (Photo: Alima Abdirova) Yevgeny Zhovtis. (Photo: Kazakstan Bureau for Human RIghts and Rule of Law) Policemen attend the funeral of one of the officers killed during a massive security sweep to track down members of an armed group. (Photo: Alima Abdirova)