Scholars argue for long-term approach to U.S. and European policies to Central Asia
ASTANA – The Central Asia-Caucasus Institute (CACI) at American Foreign Policy Council (AFPC) in Washington, DC, held a book launch May 1 for the most recent work by S. Frederick Starr and Svante E. Cornell, “The Long Game on the Silk Road.” In the book, the authors, who serve as CACI chairman and director respectively,…
Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister Briefs OSCE Colleagues in Potsdam
BERLIN – Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister Roman Vassilenko participated in an informal Sept. 1 meeting of foreign ministers of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) member states. The event was organised by the German chairmanship of the OSCE, which leads the organisation in 2016. According to the Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs,…
Riga Conference Focuses on EU–Central Asia Cooperation
RIGA – The Latvian Institute of International Affairs (LIIA), in cooperation with the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, hosted an international conference April 1 centred on “EU Global Strategy and Central Asia: Vision and Instruments.” The conference, which brought together speakers from countries in…
Serbia Concludes OSCE Chairmanship; Kazakh FM Calls for More Robust Role for Group in Fighting Extremism
BELGRADE – The 22nd meeting of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Ministerial Council in Belgrade Dec. 3–4 saw the culmination of Serbia’s one-year chairmanship of the international security body. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Erlan Idrissov headed the country’s delegation to the council meeting. According to the OSCE website, nearly…
Kazakh FM Stresses Need for Coordinated Policies on Eurasia, Stronger Ties with Europe
VIENNA – Kazakh Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov continued his country’s public campaign aimed at promoting a framework of mutually beneficial cooperation within Central Asia and with its outside partners as he addressed a think tank gathering in Vienna Dec. 2. Idrissov participated in the second annual meeting of the Advisory Council of the Eurasian Council…
FM Idrissov Visits Vienna, Addresses ECFA on Eurasian Challenges
VIENNA – Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Erlan Idrissov held a number of bilateral and multilateral meetings and took part in the second annual meeting of the Advisory Council of the Eurasian Council on Foreign Affairs (ECFA) during his working visit to Vienna Dec. 2. The date of the meeting coincided with the fifth…
“New Dubai” on Kazakh-Chinese Border Set to Change Trans-Eurasian Trade
KHORGOS, ALMATY REGION – Some might say this barren spot on the border between China and Kazakhstan is in the middle of nowhere. And they would be forgiven, for there were only a handful of people and cars spotted along the 300-km, five-hour train ride from Almaty to the nearby Altynkol station (that is, once…
Nazarbayev, Obama Reaffirm Strategic Partnership During New York Meeting
NEW YORK – Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and U.S. President Barack Obama had a bilateral meeting in New York on Sept. 29 to discuss international issues and bilateral trade, investment, energy and security cooperation. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the 70th session of the UN General Assembly. The presidents stressed the importance of…
FM Idrissov Shares Kazakh Approach to Int’l Issues During UN Security Council Open Debate
NEW YORK – Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Erlan Idrissov took part in the United Nations Security Council Open Debate on the Maintenance of International Peace and Security chaired by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Sept. 30 in New York. In his remarks, Idrissov pointed out Kazakhstan’s approaches to international problems. In his…
Kazakhstan, Japan Call for Early Entry into Force of CTBT
NEW YORK – Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Erlan Idrissov and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida as well as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and numerous other top officials and diplomats called for stepping up efforts to ensure an early entry force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty or CTBT. The pact would prohibit all nuclear tests. The…
Kazakh President Outlines MDG Successes, Calls for Portions of Defence Budgets to be Diverted to Development
NEW YORK – President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan took the floor at the UN Summit for the Adoption of the Post-2015 Development Agenda on Sept. 27, describing his country’s success in implementing the Millennium Development Goals and expressing support for the post-2015 agenda of sustainable development. On Sept. 25, world leaders adopted the 2030 Agenda…
Denis Ten Says Gets “Goose Bumps” Thinking about Olympics Coming to Almaty
KUALA LUMPUR – Kazakhstan’s top winter sports stars spoke here July 29 of Almaty commitment to provide the best experience for athletes for both the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. They told more than 50 reporters at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur how the combination of Almaty’s ideal winter climate and the short…
Almaty 2022 Bid Set for Historic Vote in Malaysia’s Capital
KUALA LUMPUR – In the morning hours of July 31, a high-level Kazakh delegation will make one last effort here to persuade the International Olympic Committee (IOC) members to cast their votes in favour of Almaty’s bid to host the Winter Olympic Games in 2022. The Chinese delegation will make a similar try, but naturally…
SCO Considers Expansion, Building Cooperation with Other States during Moscow Meeting
MOSCOW – Kazakh Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov participated in the June 3 regular meeting in Moscow of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). The focus of the meeting was to prepare for the upcoming council of the heads of SCO member states that will take place July 9-10 in…
Kazakh FM Idrissov Visits Russia’s Altai Region for Talks with Lavrov
GORNO-ALTAISK, RUSSIA – Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Erlan Idrissov paid a working visit to Gorno-Altaisk, Russia, on May 29–30, where he met with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, to discuss Kazakh-Russian cooperation in the political, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres. The two also signed a plan of action between the two countries’…
Syrian Opposition Groups Meet in Kazakhstan’s Capital
ASTANA – Representatives of some Syrian opposition groups began their talks in Kazakhstan’s capital on May 25, the Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on May 25, saying the talks are expected to continue until May 27. “Today, the whole world is anxiously watching the events taking place in the Middle East,” the Foreign Ministry…
CIS Council of Foreign Ministers Address Border Security, Disaster Prevention
BISHKEK – Kazakh Minister of Foreign Affairs Erlan Idrissov took part in a meeting of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek on April 3. The agenda of the meeting included fifteen issues related to increasing cooperation within the CIS. At the initiative of the Kazakh…
FM Idrissov Attends Afghanistan-Focused CSTO Council in Dushanbe
DUSHANBE – Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Erlan Idrissov took part in the meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) Council of Foreign Ministers in Tajikistan’s capital, Dushanbe, on April 2, where the discussions centred heavily on the situation in neighbouring Afghanistan. The foreign ministers of the CSTO member states first met in…
Kazakh FM Urges More Progress in Nuclear Disarmament, Stresses Commitment to Human Rights
GENEVA – Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Erlan Idrissov urged greater global efforts in nuclear disarmament at the plenary session of the Conference on Disarmament and addressed the High Level Segment of the 28th session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva on March 4.“Today, the world is experiencing a major transformation. We have…
Kazakhstan’s Ethnic Assembly Calls for Early Presidential Election
ASTANA – At its Feb. 14 meeting, the council of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan (APK) called for an early presidential election in Kazakhstan. The council members, representing more than 800 ethnic associations throughout the country, explained their action by citing “numerous appeals of citizens,” a need to give the President “a new…
Kazakhstan Welcomes New Minsk Agreements on Ukraine, Stresses Implementation
ASTANA – Kazakhstan welcomed the results of the marathon 16-hour talks between the presidents of Russia, Ukraine and France and the chancellor of Germany in Minsk on Feb. 11 and 12 and the signing of a package of measures on the implementation of the Minsk agreements by the contact group. In a statement issued late…
Nazarbayev, Poroshenko Discuss Possible Ukraine Summit in Astana at “End of January”
ASTANA – Presidents of Kazakhstan and Ukraine Nursultan Nazarbayev and Petro Poroshenko spoke on the phone on Jan. 15 to discuss current situation in Ukraine and a possibility of holding an Astana summit on the settlement of the conflict in the eastern part of that country in the Normandy Four format “at the end of…
Five Asylum Seekers from Guantanamo Arrive in Kazakhstan, Astana Confirms
ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed Dec. 31 the acceptance by the country of the five former detainees at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, citing their requests for asylum, petitions from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the country’s obligations under international conventions and humanistic reasons. “According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs…
Astana, Ankara Want to Grow Mutual Trade to $10 Billion, Strengthen Strategic Partnership
ANKARA – Calling their countries strategic partners and brotherly nations, Kazakhstan’s and Turkey’s foreign ministers announced their intentions to further deepen bilateral political and economic ties, including by reaching the mark of $10 billion in annual trade. The two foreign ministers, Erlan Idrissov of Kazakhstan and Mevlut Cavusoglu of Turkey, completed the meetings in the…
New Brussels-Based Think Tank to Focus on EU-Central Asia Relationship
BRUSSELS – Kazakh Minister of Foreign Affairs Erlan Idrissov visited Brussels on Nov. 12 to address a distinguished audience of European politicians and scholars at the launch of a new think tank dedicated to fostering the region’s relationship with the European Union. The new dialogue platform is called the Eurasian Council on Foreign Affairs (ECFA)…
