Kazakhstan - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Latest Kazakhstan News

Deputy Education Minister Sayat Shayakhmetov (center) in a public appearance from late April

Kazakh Deputy Minister Arrested

Kazakhstan's deputy education minister, Sayat Shayakhmetov, has been arrested and charged with embezzlement. More

Six On Trial In Kazakhstan For Islamic Extremism

Six men accused of religious extremism have gone on trial in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana. More

Treatment Of Kazakh Reporter Criticized

Kazakhstan's Bureau for Human Rights has criticized authorities for placing a journalist in a psychiatric clinic. More

Lukpan Akhmedyarov in a 2012 photo from a visit to Washington

Kazakh Journo's Suspected Attackers On Trial

Lukpan Akhmedyarov, a reporter for the "Uralskaya nedelya" weekly, was left in serious condition when he was stabbed and shot with an air pistol in April 2012. More

Canadian Chris Hadfield, Russian Roman Romanenko, and American Tom Marshburn rest after leaving the Russian Soyuz space capsule following its landing in Kazakhstan on May 15.

Three-Man ISS Crew Returns To Earth

A Soyuz space capsule carrying a three-man international crew has landed safely on the steppes of Kazakhstan. More

More Kazakhstan News

Latest Blog Posts

Aliya Nazarbaeva is touted as the "successor of her father

Daughter's Film Touts Kazakh President’s Green Credentials

New York film buffs can get a taste of Eurasia this week as the New York Eurasian Film festival opens. Among the offerings -- a film touting Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev’s role in spearheading "green development" as a solution to a “worldwide crisis.” The producer of the film is none other than his youngest daughter, Aliya Nazarbaeva. More

A still from the film "Harmony Lessons" by director Emir Baigazin shows the main character, Aslan, played by amateur actor Timur Aidarbekov.

Kazakhstan's 'Harmony Lessons' Wins Over Tribeca Critics, Crowds

Young Kazakh director Emir Baigazin continues to impress in the West, with reviewers at this week's Tribeca Film Festival describing his debut film, "Harmony Lessons," in glowing terms. More

Blog Archive

Features & Commentary

In Kazakhstan, Spending Saturday Night In The Gulag

A museum of the Stalin-era prison camp system in central Kazakhstan has given visitors a night-time tour, where they were "treated" to prison meals and a performance of mock interrogations.

Disabled antinuclear activist Karipbek Kuyukov was born in the eastern Kazakh region of Semey, formerly known as Semipalatinsk, which was used by the Soviet Union to test nuclear weapons.

Armless Kazakh Artist Says 'Poor-Quality' Fingerprints Cost Him British Visa

An armless Kazakh artist says he was denied a British visa recently because he was unable to provide fingerprints. Karipbek Kuyukov says British authorities returned his passport without issuing him a visa due to the poor quality of his fingerprints.

An HIV center in the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh

Interview: Lack Of Data On Gay Men Impedes HIV Fight In Central Asia

In recent years, the countries of Central Asia have experienced some of the fastest growing rates of HIV infection in the world. One of the key populations at risk is men who have sex with men.

Kyrgyz farmer Baktybek Kupeshov cobbles together makeshift tractors from bits of old Soviet-era cars.

Aging Farm Machinery Hampers Central Asian Productivity

In parts of Central Asia, obsolete farm machinery keeps agricultural production low. A look at Kyrgyzstan shows how much.

Many Kazakh traders travel across the border to China to buy goods to sell at home in local markets.

On The Road With Kazakhstan’s Women Shuttle Traders

Women shuttle traders in Kazakhstan travel far and wide to provide for their families. Their grassroots role in the market economy has earned them thanks and praise from everyday citizens -- there are even plans in motion to erect a monument in their honor.

"A huge problem with alcohol," is how the report

Low Life Expectancy Continues To Plague Former Soviet Countries

The dramatic drop in life expectancy in Russia and much of the former Soviet Union has yet to be reversed, according to a recent study.

Roya Rafiyeva with her son, Shakir, and the family cockatiel

'It's Really Hard': Working Mothers Talk, From Tajikistan To Czech Republic

The question of how women balance work and child care is a topic of intense debate worldwide. In honor of International Women's Day on March 8, we look at the lives of working mothers in Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Montenegro, Iraq, Ukraine, Tatarstan, and the Czech Republic.

Sotheby’s Exhibit Taps Into Art – And Money – Of Caucasus, Central Asia

A new exhibition set to open on March 4 at the Sotheby’s auction house in London will offer a sale of nearly 50 works of Soviet and contemporary art from Central Asia and the Caucasus. For the artists, it’s an opportunity for exposure and profit. And for Sotheby’s, it’s a chance to find potential new clients among the post-Soviet super rich.

RFE/RL's Radio Azattyq has been an important source of information for people in Kazakhstan for decades. In 2009, Azattyq won the prestigious 2009 Online Journalism Award for "standing in defense of citizen’s rights to seek and receive information."