Kazakhstan Archives - DailyChatter

Kazakhstan is planning to open its secret service archives containing the records of thousands of people convicted during the repressive regime of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, a move aimed at decolonizing the Soviet Union’s era in Central Asia, Radio Free Europe reported. Kazakh officials will release...

Read full story →

Need to Know

March 17, 2023

The Democracy Two-Step

Kazakhstan

Campaign signs festooned the streets of Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan, in anticipation of parliamentary elections on March 19. The signs feature candidates pledging to reduce housing density in the Central Asian country’s cities, reduce prices amid worldwide inflation, expand energy networks, and improve...

Read full story →

Need to Know

January 13, 2023

The Balancing Act

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan recently memorialized the first anniversary of Bloody January, the term for the four days of civil unrest and police clashes a year ago that led to the deaths of almost 240 people before Russian forces intervened and restored order. “It was a time of trial...

Read full story →

The World Briefly

November 22, 2022

Make-Believe

Kazakhstan

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev won Kazakhstan’s early presidential elections over the weekend by a landslide, a victory that many international observers said lacked “competitiveness,” Radio Free Europe reported Monday. Preliminary results showed that the incumbent secured more than 81 percent of the vote, easily defeating his five little-known...

Read full story →

Need to Know

November 16, 2022

Out With the Old

Kazakhstan

The president of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, appears to be enacting a series of reforms that promise to reorganize the country’s politics and its economy as former Soviet republics navigate the instability following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. On the political front, Al Jazeera wrote, Tokayev called a...

Read full story →

The World Briefly

September 23, 2022

The New Sheriff

Kazakhstan

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called for snap presidential elections, aiming to extend his rule and implement a series of reforms in the oil-rich Central Asian nation, Al Jazeera reported. The election date is set to take place on Nov. 20 and comes shortly after Kazakhstan approved...

Read full story →

The World Briefly

September 15, 2022

Inching Away

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan’s capital of Nur-Sultan will revert to its former name, “Astana,” a move seen as another attempt by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to distance himself from his predecessor, Radio Free Europe reported. In 2019, Tokayev renamed then-Astana to Nur-Sultan in honor of Nursultan Nazarbayev, who had been...

Read full story →

Need to Know

June 14, 2022

Going, Going, Gone

Kazakhstan

Kazakhs overwhelmingly voted in favor of decentralizing government, reducing the power of the president, rescinding former president Nursultan Nazarbayev's status as "Leader of the Nation," and banning his family from official positions. "We have shown that we are united in building the new, just Kazakhstan," President...

Read full story →

The World Briefly

June 06, 2022

The New Guard

Kazakhstan

Kazakh voters overwhelmingly backed a series of constitutional changes aimed at reforming the country’s political system and curbing the privileges of founding leader Nursultan Nazarbayev after three decades of rule, Agence France-Presse reported. The referendum is part of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s “New Kazakhstan” initiative that would...

Read full story →

The World Briefly

March 18, 2022

Promises, Promises

Kazakhstan

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev promised to implement a series of reforms in the tightly-controlled former Soviet country, just two months after Kazakhstan witnessed deadly, unprecedented nationwide protests, the Associated Press reported. Tokayev proposed sweeping changes in order to avoid deepening “stagnation” in the resource-rich Central Asian...

Read full story →