ASTANA – The Astana Times has curated a selection of articles from global media outlets covering Kazakhstan. This week’s foreign media digest includes topics such as UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ visit to Central Asia, Abai’s legacy, Turkish-Kazakh relations and more.
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As UN’s Guterres returns to Central Asia, Kazakhstan advances its role as regional convenor
The Times of Central Asia published an article on Aug. 4 about UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ visit to Central Asia, joining President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Astana to inaugurate a new UN Regional Center for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with a mandate covering Central Asia and Afghanistan. The initiative is intended to support regional economies, ease migration pressures, and introduce a framework for incremental political stabilization in Afghanistan.
After Astana, Guterres visited Awaza, Turkmenistan, where he addressed a UN conference focused on the challenges facing landlocked developing countries (LLDCs), notably in trade, infrastructure, and regional resilience.
It is Guterres’s first visit to the region since July 2024, when he toured all five Central Asian republics. According to the article, this time, the context has shifted. Long considered a peripheral space, or merely a corridor between larger powers, Central Asia has now become integral to multilateral thinking. The SDG Center in Almaty and the LLDC forum in Ashgabat reflect that change, as institutions begin to catch up with geography.
Iran, Kazakhstan agree to accelerate development of North-South Corridor
Iran and Kazakhstan have agreed to expand their transport cooperation and draw up a joint roadmap to enhance regional connectivity, particularly through the eastern route of the North–South Corridor, the IRNA reported on Aug. 6.
Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Farzaneh Sadegh, accompanying First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref at the third UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries in Turkmenistan’s Awaza port city, held a meeting with Kazakhstan’s Transport Minister Nurlan Sauranbayev.
During the meeting, Sadegh underscored the importance of accelerating transit projects and highlighted the eastern branch of the North-South transit corridor spearheaded by Kazakhstan in cooperation with regional countries.
From drones to trade: What is next for Türkiye–Kazakhstan relations?
As ties among the Turkic states continue to deepen, particular attention is being paid to the evolving partnership between Türkiye and Kazakhstan. The recent visit of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to Ankara, along with the signing of a joint declaration and the decisions of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council, signaled a clear intention to strengthen bilateral cooperation, reported News.Az on Aug. 4.
In an interview with News.Az, Turkish expert Engin Ozer shared his insights on the political, economic, and logistical prospects of this partnership, as well as Türkiye’s role in the development of the Trans-Caspian route and the opening of the Zangezur corridor.
According to Ozer, Türkiye is also keen to increase imports of Kazakh oil, which requires reliable logistical infrastructure. The same applies to grain transportation. Kazakhstan is eager to export its agricultural products, and dependable routes through third countries are essential. In this context, Türkiye can serve as a key transit hub.
“As for the $15 billion trade volume goal—it appears somewhat unrealistic in the short term. But over the next 10 years, it is a fully achievable target, provided that both countries continue expanding cooperation and addressing existing infrastructure challenges,” he said.
Kazakhstan officials learn how US whistleblower incentives fight global corruption
A delegation from Kazakhstan visited Washington, D.C., to learn about whistleblower laws, transnational anticorruption and the importance of whistleblower incentives, Whistleblower Network News reported on Aug. 1.
The delegation met with whistleblower attorney Stephen Kohn on July 29. Their visit is part of the International Visitor Learning Program (IVLP), which offers foreign professionals the opportunity to come to the United States and learn from experts and professionals.
The Kazakh delegation noted that in Kazakhstan, authorities primarily rely on traditional law enforcement tools to detect corruption. Kohn explained that such efforts without whistleblowers are far less effective.
“Crimes of corruption are intended to be hidden,” he explained. “The ability of law enforcement to learn of [corruption] on its own is very difficult.”
Kohn recommended that the Kazakh delegation pursue policies that encourage and incentivize whistleblowers to come forward. He presented a report from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners that highlights how whistleblowers are the single most effective source of detection globally.
How did Kazakh poet Abai Qunanbaiuly’s name reach the US?
Kazakh literature is filled with towering figures who have shaped the nation’s cultural and spiritual identity. Among them, Abai Qunanbaiuly (1845–1904) remains the most iconic. A poet, philosopher and intellectual of global stature, Abai left behind a legacy that continues to resonate within world literature. As Kazakhstan celebrates the 180th anniversary of his birth, it is a fitting moment to explore how his influence extended far beyond the steppe, reaching as far as the United States, Times of Central Asia wrote on Aug. 5.
“In 1885, American journalist George Kennan visited Semei (then Semipalatinsk) and was deeply impressed by the city’s public library. To his surprise, local Kazakhs actively borrowed and read books, a rare sight for that time and region. In his influential work “Siberia and the Exile System,” Kennan specifically mentioned Abai, marking one of the earliest references to the Kazakh thinker in Western literature.
Kennan’s account stands out for its authenticity. It is based not on secondhand stories but on direct observation. His writings confirm Abai’s presence in Semei’s intellectual life and suggest that the poet had begun to attract attention well beyond the Kazakh steppe,” the article noted.
