Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Kazakhstan

Kazakh President's Daughter Urges Security Head To Quit

Mourners march to the funeral of Altynbek Sarsenbaev on 15 February (RFE/RL)

22 February 2006 -- The elder daughter of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev has called on the leadership of the National Security Committee (KNB) to quit.

TEXT SIZE - +

February 22, 2006

Speaking to reporters on 2 February, Dariga Nazarbaeva also said the KNB's elite unit, Arystan (Lion), should be disbanded.

The call came one day after the KNB said five members of Arystan had been arrested in connection with the murder of the opposition leader Altynbek Sarsenbaev.

Arystan reports directly to the head of the KNB, Nartay Dutbaev.

The body of Sarsenbaev, the co-chair of the Naghyz Ak Zhol (True Bright Path) party, was found on 13 February together with the bodies of his bodyguard and driver. They had been shot.

Opposition figures suspect the authorities had a role in the killing. The Kazakh government denies this.

Dariga Nazarbaeva is a powerful player on the Kazakh political scene. She is a member of parliament and heads her own party, Asar (All Together).

(Reuters)

RFE/RL Central Asia Report

SUBSCRIBE For regular news and analysis on all five Central Asian countries by e-mail, subscribe to "RFE/RL Central Asia Report."

A vendor in the central Bosnian town of Zenica sells heart-shaped cushions with proclamations of love for 1 euro each.

Love It (Or Hate It), It's Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day, the Western holiday celebrating love, has become a global phenomenon over the past two decades. The fall of communism and the emergence of the Internet have helped February 14 become something of an unofficial international day of romance. However, not all the passions the holiday stirs are related to love. While some countries have openly embraced the holiday, others are attempting to ban it or replace it with local customs. More

Production and distribution of rap music is not officially banned, but it

Yo! Turkmen Rappers Flip The Script On Repression

For a growing number of Turkmen youth, rap music has become a way to express their daily struggles and inspire political change in one of the world's most oppressive countries. More