Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

December

• Resettlement Of Afghanistan's Ethnic Kazakhs To Kazakhstan Hampered By Taliban Takeover RFE/RL Gandhara 28 Dec 2021 -- Abdul Kabir Wakil Khan traveled from Kazakhstan to the Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif in July to help his family members - all ethnic Kazakhs - relocate to their ancestral homeland.
• Kazakhstan Tightens Security To Prevent Mass Protests On Independence Day RFE/RL 16 Dec 2021 -- Security measures have been beefed up in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, to prevent mass protests as the country marks the 30th anniversary of independence.
• Water Under The Bridge? Kyrgyzstan's Liquid Transfer To Kazakhstan Causes Controversy Amid Major Shortages RFE/RL 11 Dec 2021 -- When Kazakh Prime Minister Askar Mamin thanked Kyrgyz cabinet chief Akylbek Japarov for the extra water Bishkek provided to Kazakhstan this summer, he had no idea how much trouble it would cause.
• 'Unlawful Intrusion:' Kazakh Activists' Mobile Devices Infected With Pegasus Spyware RFE/RL 09 Dec 2021 -- Amnesty International says four Kazakh activists have had their mobile devices infected with Pegasus spyware in what it said further shows that the malicious software is being used by governments to try to "silence social movements and crush dissent."
• 'First Brother': Bolat Nazarbaev Goes From Plumber To President's Spoiled Sibling RFE/RL 04 Dec 2021 -- They say you can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family.
• Telephone conversation with Nursultan Nazarbayev President of Russia 01 Dec 2021

November

• Kazakh Ex-President To Give Up Leadership Of Ruling Party RFE/RL 23 Nov 2021 -- The former president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbaev, has decided to give up the leadership of the ruling Nur-Otan party, a move that strengthens the position of the current president, Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev.
• Kazakh President Rejects Violent Brawl Last Week Was Interethnic RFE/RL 05 Nov 2021 -- Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev has denied reports that a violent brawl last week, which erupted following a fight at school between ethnic Uyghurs and Kazakhs in the Almaty region, was sparked by ethnic tensions.
• Facebook Denies Kazakh Claim Of Exclusive Access To Content Reporting System RFE/RL 02 Nov 2021 -- Facebook owner Meta Platforms has denied a claim by Kazakhstan that it had been granted exclusive access to the social-media giant's content reporting system.
• Kazakhstan Granted Access To Facebook's Content System To Flag 'Harmful Content' RFE/RL 01 Nov 2021 -- Kazakhstan has obtained access to Facebook's internal content-reporting system after the two sides came to an agreement - the first of its kind in Central Asia - that will allow the government to remove content it deems "harmful."

October

• Kazakh President Warns Against 'Illegal Public Gatherings' Ahead Of Opposition-Planned Rallies RFE/RL 21 Oct 2021 -- Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev has warned of repercussions for what he called "illegal public gatherings" ahead of protest rallies planned by exiled opposition politician Mukhtar Ablyazov.
• Visiting Kazakh Envoy Discusses Trade, Economic Ties With The Taliban RFE/RL Gandhara 18 Oct 2021 -- A visiting Kazakh presidential envoy has discussed humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan and the resumption of trade and economic ties with top members of the Taliban-led administration.
• Blast Hits Ammo Depot in Southern Kazakhstan Over Month After Fire Sputnik 10 Oct 2021 -- An unidentified object exploded on the premises of an engineering ammunition depot in southern Kazakhstan that burned down in August, the Kazakh Defence Ministry said on Sunday.
• Kazakh Rights Commissioner Meets People Demanding Release Of Relatives From Chinese Custody RFE/RL 04 Oct 2021 -- Kazakhstan's human rights commissioner, Elvira Azimova, has held a rare meeting with a group of people whose relatives are being held in custody in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang and who have asked for the Central Asian country's government to help secure their release.
• Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan Open Channels With The Taliban RFE/RL Gandhara 01 Oct 2021 -- It took Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan a little longer than their neighbors to articulate their stances on a Taliban-led government in Afghanistan.
• Kazakh Police Detain Demonstrators Protesting Relatives' Detention In China's Xinjiang RFE/RL 01 Oct 2021 -- Kazakh police detained eight protesters, mostly women, demanding the release of relatives they say are being illegally held in China.

September

• Firms Linked To KazTransGas Chairman Landed Billions In Kazakh Gas Deals RFE/RL 23 Sep 2021 -- An investigation by RFE/RL's Kazakh Service has uncovered indirect ties between the chairman of Kazakhstan's monopoly gas trader, KazTransGas, and emergent companies that have benefitted from massive business deals linked to the state -- including a multibillion-dollar, 20-year contract to process so-called associate gas from KazTransGas.
• Joint Statement of the C5+1 on Addressing the Climate Crisis US Dept. of State 21 Sep 2021 -- The text of the following statement was issued by the Governments of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, the Republic of Uzbekistan, and the United States of America, on the occasion of the C5+1 Climate Ministerial held virtually on September 16, 2021.
• Controversial Kazakh Bill Allowing Blocking Of Social Networks Passes First Hurdle RFE/RL 15 Sep 2021 -- Kazakhstan's lower chamber of parliament, the Mazhilis, has approved the first reading of a bill that would allow the blocking of social networks and messaging apps if their owners fail to establish local offices in the Central Asian country.
• Readout from Gen. McKenzie's Visit with Kazakhstan's Defense Minister, Sept. 13th, 2021 CENTCOM 13 Sep 2021 -- U.S. Central Command's Gen. Frank McKenzie met with Kazakhstan's Defense Minister Murat Bektanov in Nur-Sultan today.
• Dozens of Ethnic Kazakhs Brought To Kazakhstan From Kabul On Late-Night Flight RFE/RL Gandhara 10 Sep 2021 -- Kazakhstan says it has evacuated a group of ethnic-Kazakh Afghan nationals from Kabul to the Central Asian nation as countries continue to try and move people out of the war-torn country following the Taliban's seizure of power.
• Leader Of Unregistered Kazakh Party Charged Over Public Gathering RFE/RL 08 Sep 2021 -- The leader of Kazakhstan's unregistered El Tiregi (People's Pillar) party has been charged with violating the law on public gatherings following a protest rally in the capital, Nur-Sultan.

August

• Russia to hold naval drills with Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan in early September Press TV 31 Aug 2021 -- The Russian Defense Ministry says the country is set to stage joint naval exercises with three other Caspian Sea littoral states, including Iran, early next month.
• Kazakh Defense Minister Resigns Over Deadly Explosions At Military Warehouse RFE/RL 31 Aug 2021 -- Kazakhstan's Defense Minister Nurlan Ermekbaev has resigned after a series of explosions last week in the Central Asian nation's south that left at least 15 people dead.
• Kazakhstan Arms Depot Blast Death Toll Rises To 14 RFE/RL 30 Aug 2021 -- The death toll from a series of blasts triggered by a fire at an arms depot in southern Kazakhstan has risen to 14 after another victim was discovered.
• Thirty Years Ago, Kazakhstan Closed Soviet-Era Nuclear Test Site RFE/RL 29 Aug 2021 -- August 29 marks 30 years since Kazakhstan closed its Semipalatinsk test site, a vast, remote area that was used by the Soviet Union for hundreds of atmospheric and underground nuclear tests over a period of 40 years.
• Thirteen Dead, Nearly 100 Injured In Blasts At Kazakh Military Base RFE/RL 28 Aug 2021 -- Thirteen people were killed and nearly 100 injured in a series of blasts triggered by a fire at an arms depot on a military base in southern Kazakhstan, prompting the country's defense minister to offer his resignation.
• Secretary Blinken's Call with Kazakhstani Foreign Minister Tileuberdi US Dept. of State 13 Aug 2021
• All Kazakh Regions Labeled 'Red Zone' Amid New Coronavirus Wave RFE/RL 11 Aug 2021 -- Authorities in Kazakhstan have labelled all regions of the Central Asian nation as "red zones" as they are facing a new wave of coronavirus infections.

July

• Lengthy Prison Sentences For 12 Of 16 Defendants Behind Deadly Kazakh Ammo Blasts RFE/RL 26 Jul 2021 -- A court in Kazakhstan's southern city of Shymkent has handed lengthy prison terms to 12 of 16 military officers and Defense Ministry officials on trial in the high-profile case of deadly ammunition warehouse blasts in 2019.
• Kazakhs Elect Village Mayors In Direct Vote For First Time RFE/RL 25 Jul 2021 -- Voters in Kazakhstan's rural districts are casting their ballots in the authoritarian Central Asian country's first-ever direct election of local mayors.
• Strikes In Kazakhstan's Restive Zhanaozen Widen Amid Wage, Conditions Complaints RFE/RL 22 Jul 2021 -- Workers at another company in the southwestern Kazakh town of Zhanaozen have launched a strike, demanding a salary increase amid a series of labor issues in the restive town.
• Joint statement following the fourth meeting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan foreign ministers on the developments in Afghanistan Russia Ministry of Foreign Affairs 16 Jul 2021 -- The fourth foreign minister meeting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan took place in Tashkent on July 16, 2021.
• HRW Criticizes Kazakhstan For Increased Targeting Of Government Critics RFE/RL 07 Jul 2021 -- Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused authorities in Kazakhstan of increasing their misuse of vague and overreaching criminal charges relating to the crime of "extremism" to harass and prosecute government critics.
• Kazakh Police Detain Activists Involved In Xinjiang Protests Outside Chinese Consulate RFE/RL 01 Jul 2021 -- Police in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, have detained several activists who have been involved in ongoing pickets in front of the Chinese Consulate to demand the release of their relatives held in China's Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region.
• Kazakh Police Detain Hunger Strikers Demanding Release Of Political Prisoners RFE/RL 01 Jul 2021 -- Police in the southern Kazakh city of Shymkent have detained more than a dozen activists, including three who have been on a hunger strike for weeks to push for the release of political prisoners.

June

• Meeting with Nursultan Nazarbayev President of Russia 30 Jun 2021 -- Vladimir Putin met with First President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, who is in Russia on a working visit.
• More Activists Jailed In Kazakhstan Ahead Of Nazarbaev's Birthday Celebrations RFE/RL 30 Jun 2021 -- More activists have been jailed in Kazakhstan's capital, Nur-Sultan, as police keep on rounding up activists amid preparations to mark the 81st birthday of former President Nursultan Nazarbaev in the tightly controlled Central Asian country.
• How Top Officials, Relatives Scooped Up Kazakhstan's Higher-Education Sector RFE/RL 25 Jun 2021 -- Most of Kazakhstan's 130 colleges and universities are owned either by high-level officials or their relatives, an investigation by RFE/RL's Kazakh Service has revealed.
• New Civil Movement Established In Kazakhstan Saying It Will Create 'Real' Change RFE/RL 23 Jun 2021 -- A group of activists in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, say they are creating a new civil movement -- People's Trust, which will eventually transform into a political party.
• Kazakh President Signs Into Law Controversial Bill On Attorneys RFE/RL 10 Jun 2021 -- Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev has signed into law a controversial bill regulating the work of attorneys that lawyers have criticized as a move to impose state control over their professional activities.
• Kazakhstan Rejects Russian Proposal Of Joint Response To Western Sanctions RFE/RL 05 Jun 2021 -- Kazakhstan has rebuffed a proposal floated by a senior Russian official of a joint response to Western sanctions against Moscow and its allies such as Belarus by the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) trade bloc.

May

• Kazakhstan Denies Citizenship To Three Ethnic Kazakhs Who Fled Xinjiang RFE/RL 24 May 2021 -- Kazakhstan has officially refused to grant citizenship to three ethnic Kazakhs who fled China's northwestern region of Xinjiang for illegally entering the country as they fled persecution.
• 100 Days In, Kazakhs Continue Protests For Release Of Relatives In Xinjiang RFE/RL 18 May 2021 -- Rallies in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, by demonstrators demanding their relatives be released from prisons and so-called reeducation camps in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang have entered the 100th day.
• Kazakh President Signs Into Law Long-Debated Bill Banning Land Ownership By Foreigners RFE/RL 13 May 2021 -- Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev has signed into law a long-debated and sensitive bill that bans selling and leasing agricultural land to foreigners in the oil-rich Central Asian state.
• Protesters Detained In Almaty After Demanding Relatives Be Released In Xinjiang RFE/RL 12 May 2021 -- Police in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, have detained at least nine protesters who have been picketing the Chinese consulate for 93 days to demand the release of relatives they say are being "illegally" held in China.
• Despite Assurances, Some Kazakhs Leery Of Little-Known, Homegrown COVID-19 Vaccine RFE/RL 06 May 2021 -- The fact that it hasn't completed its clinical trials hasn't stopped thousands of Kazakh citizens from getting their first shot of the domestically developed coronavirus vaccine QazVac.
• Kazakhstan Extends Suspension Of Visa-Free Visits By Citizens Due To Pandemic RFE/RL 04 May 2021 -- Kazakhstan has extended until December the suspension of visa-free visits for citizens of 54 countries that were introduced last year to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

April

• Xinjiang Activists In Kazakhstan Dismiss Chinese Film Of Happy Muslims As Propaganda RFE/RL 30 Apr 2021 -- A young Uyghur man says he has turned his dream into reality by opening a popular coffee house at the heart of Kashgar's historic Old City to "blend the old and the new."
• Kazakh President Says Ready to Help Restore Mutual Trust Between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan Sputnik 29 Apr 2021 -- Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev voiced concern over the conflict between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and expressed his readiness to make efforts to restore confidence between the parties.
• Dozens Jailed Over Deadly 2020 Ethnic Clashes In Kazakhstan RFE/RL 27 Apr 2021 -- A court in Kazakhstan's southern Zhambyl region has handed down sentences to 51 defendants in a case over deadly ethnic clashes that shocked the Central Asian country in February 2020.
• Kazakhstan Rolls Out Domestic COVID-19 Vaccine RFE/RL 26 Apr 2021 -- Kazakhstan has rolled out its locally developed vaccine against COVID-19, with Health Minister Aleksei Tsoi receiving the first injection.
• Secretary Blinken's Call with Kazakhstan Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Tileuberdi US Dept. of State 22 Apr 2021
• Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan Break Ground On Trade Hub RFE/RL 12 Apr 2021 -- Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan have broken ground for a giant trade and economic-cooperation hub, the largest of its kind in Central Asia, along the border of the two neighbors.
• Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's statement and answers to media questions at a joint news conference with Deputy Prime Minister – Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Mukhtar Tleuberdi, Nur-Sultan, April 8, 2021 Russia Ministry of Foreign Affairs 08 Apr 2021
• Kazakh Activism Against China's Internment Camps Is Broken, But Not Dead RFE/RL 04 Apr 2021 -- When 67-year-old pensioner Qalida Akytkhan decided to join a small protest outside the Chinese Consulate in Almaty, it was three years after three of her sons were detained at a so-called "reeducation camp" in China's northwestern Xinjiang region.

March

• Amid COVID-19 Surge, Kazakhstan Admits First Patients To Sports Arena Converted Into Hospital RFE/RL 31 Mar 2021 -- Health authorities in Kazakhstan's largest city have admitted the first patients into a sports stadium that has been converted into a COVID-19 hospital as infection cases have multiplied, officials in Almaty said on March 31.
• Anti-China Protests Staged Across Kazakhstan; At Least 20 Detained RFE/RL 27 Mar 2021 -- Kazakh authorities detained at least 20 people as demonstrators staged anti-China protests in towns and cities across the Central Asian nation on March 27.
• Four Killed, Two Seriously Wounded In Plane Crash In Kazakhstan RFE/RL 13 Mar 2021 -- Four people were killed and two others seriously wounded when a military plane crashed and caught fire while trying to land in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty.
• Four People Killed as An-26 Plane Crashes in Kazakhstan's Almaty Airport - Video Sputnik 13 Mar 2021 -- An Antonov An-26 airplane, supposedly belonging to the Kazakh National Security Committee's border service, has crashed during landing in Almaty International Airport with six people on board, the airport said on Saturday.
• Kazakhstan Military Plane Crashes; 4 Killed VOA 13 Mar 2021 -- At least four people were killed Saturday in a military plane crash in Kazakhstan, the government said.
• Empty Promises: Kazakh, Uzbek Leaders All Talk And No Action On Reforms RFE/RL 12 Mar 2021 -- When new leaders came to power in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in recent years, people hoped it would spark an era of significant change in how the countries were governed.
• Nur-Sultan Wants China 'To Help Resolve Issues' Raised By Ethnic Kazakhs From Xinjiang RFE/RL 12 Mar 2021 -- Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry says it has asked Chinese authorities to "help resolve issues" raised by ethnic Kazakhs in China, who have been demanding their relatives' release from custody in the northwestern Chinese region of Xinjiang.
• Kazakh Authorities Withdraw Permission To Hold Rally By Kazakh Lawyers, Citing COVID-19 Fears RFE/RL 12 Mar 2021 -- Authorities in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, have withdrawn permission given to local lawyers to hold a protest rally on March 13, citing precautions over the coronavirus pandemic.

February

• Dozens Detained By Police At Opposition Rallies In Kazakhstan RFE/RL 28 Feb 2021 -- People have taken to the streets in cities and town across Kazakhstan to press for democratic reforms.
• Kazakh President Proposes Ban On Sale, Lease Of Farmland By Foreigners RFE/RL 25 Feb 2021 -- Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev has proposed a ban on the purchase and renting of farmland by foreigners ahead of the expiration of a moratorium on land sales.
• Kazakhstan Authorises Russia's Sputnik V Vaccine Against Coronavirus Sputnik 12 Feb 2021 -- The development signifies that Kazakhstan has become the 27th nation to authorise the vaccine. Earlier in the day, the Russian Direct Investment Fund announced that Sputnik V had been authorised in a total of 26 nations after Montenegro and St Vincent and the Grenadines greenlighted the medication.
• Kazakhs Speak Out About Rape in China's Xinjiang Camps Radio Free Asia 10 Feb 2021 -- A former inmate of China's mass detention camps in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) has spoken out about sexual violence against fellow inmates after Uyghur women testified to the BBC that they were serially and gang-raped in the camps.
• Kazakh Activist Boqaev Demands New Constitution At Rally Held After His Prison Release RFE/RL 04 Feb 2021 -- Maks Boqaev, a well-known Kazakh rights activist and outspoken government critic, has been released from prison and he immediately held a rally demanding a new constitution for the Central Asian nation.
• Kazakhstan begins mass vaccination against COVID-19 Global Times 02 Feb 2021 -- Kazakhstan began its coronavirus vaccination campaign Monday using Russian-made Sputnik V.

January

• Case Of Deadly 2019 Kazakh Ammo Blasts Returned To Investigators RFE/RL 29 Jan 2021 -- A court in Kazakhstan's southern city of Shymkent has returned to investigators the case of a series of deadly ammunition warehouse blasts in 2019 citing "irregularities."
• Almaty Reimposes Coronavirus Restrictions Amid Case Spike RFE/RL 28 Jan 2021 -- Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, will reimpose coronavirus restrictions from February 1 for an indefinite period.
• HRW Denounces Kazakhstan's 'Shocking' Crackdown On Rights Groups RFE/RL 20 Jan 2021 -- Human Rights Watch (HRW) says an ongoing "crackdown" on human rights groups in Kazakhstan for alleged financial-reporting violations casts "serious doubt" that the Central Asian country's leadership is serious about improving its human rights record.
• Activist Defending Ethnic Kazakhs In China Explains Why He Had To Flee Kazakhstan RFE/RL 18 Jan 2021 -- Tens of thousands of ethnic Kazakhs in China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region have been sent to "reeducation camps" along with hundreds of thousands of others from that western province after being rounded up by China because they are Muslims.
• Kazakh Lawmakers Vote Mamin Back In As PM After Elections Deemed 'Not Competitive' RFE/RL 15 Jan 2021 -- NUR-SULTAN -- Kazakhstan's newly elected parliament has voted to keep Prime Minister Asqar Mamin in the post following the recent elections as the country looks for continuity to attract foreign investment into its oil, gas, and mining sectors.
• Trial Over Deadly 2019 Kazakh Ammo Blasts To Continue Behind Closed Doors RFE/RL 13 Jan 2021 -- A court in Kazakhstan's southern city of Shymkent has decided to continue behind closed doors a trial concerning a series of deadly ammunition warehouse blasts in 2019. It cited classified materials in the case for doing so.
• OSCE Monitor Blasts 'Bad Intention,' 'Bad Practice' In Kazakh Election RFE/RL 13 Jan 2021 -- The head of an election-monitoring team to Kazakhstan from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has detailed a litany of failings and seemingly "concerted" moves by Kazakh authorities to hinder transparency in recent national elections.
• Elections In Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan Fail To Satisfy RFE/RL 12 Jan 2021 -- There were expectations that the January 10 elections in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan would fail to truly reflect the will of the people in those two Central Asian neighbors.
• Nazarbaev's Daughter Gets Seat In New Kazakh Parliament RFE/RL 12 Jan 2021 -- Darigha Nazarbaeva, the eldest daughter of Kazakhstan's first president, Nursultan Nazarbaev, is one of the 76 lawmakers from the party led by her father who acceded to the newly elected parliament.
• Kazakh Ruling Party Keeps Tight Grip In 'Uncompetitive' Vote RFE/RL 11 Jan 2021 -- Kazakhstan's ruling Nur Otan party has kept its firm grip on power in parliamentary elections called "uncompetitive" by international observers after the only registered opposition boycotted the vote to protest a lack of development and freedom in the Central Asian nation's political landscape.
• Several Activists Detained Amid Election Day Protest in Almaty, Kazakhstan Sputnik 10 Jan 2021 -- Kazakh police are trying to prevent a protest rally in the centre of the biggest city of Almaty and have detained several demonstrators as the country goes to the polls on Sunday to elect its new parliament and local legislative bodies, a Sputnik correspondent reported.
• Dozens Detained As Kazakhs Vote With No Opposition On Ballot And Little Hope Of Change RFE/RL 10 Jan 2021 -- Kazakhstan's ruling Nur Otan party appears set to sweep a parliamentary election in a vote lacking any serious opposition and with dozens of protesters detained in at least three major cities, including the capital.
• Former Almaty Mayor, Wife -- Wanted On Corruption Charges - Given Asylum In Switzerland RFE/RL 08 Jan 2021 -- Former Almaty Mayor Viktor Khrapunov and his wife, Leila Khrapunova, both sentenced to lengthy prison terms in absentia in Kazakhstan on corruption charges that they have rejected as politically motivated, have been granted asylum in Switzerland.
• Kazakh Elections Under New President Looking A Lot Like Previous Votes Under Nazarbaev RFE/RL 06 Jan 2021 -- Kazakhstan will hold its first parliamentary elections on January 10 without longtime authoritarian Nursultan Nazarbaev as the president.
• Kazakh Activists Warn Of Crackdown As More Jailed Ahead Of Parliamentary Vote RFE/RL 06 Jan 2021 -- Kazakh activists have been jailed across the Central Asian country in what rights activists say is a crackdown on civil liberties and free speech ahead of parliamentary elections this weekend.
• Russia, Kazakhstan To Increase Oil Output At Saudi Expense Following New OPEC+ Deal RFE/RL 05 Jan 2021 -- Russia and Kazakhstan will increase oil production in February and March at the expense of Saudi Arabia as Riyadh seeks to keep the OPEC+ alliance together and maintain a tighter oil market as a resurgent pandemic cools demand.
• Kazakh President Says Country Didn't Receive Territory As 'Gift' From Russia RFE/RL 05 Jan 2021 -- Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev has rejected recent comments by two Russian lawmakers describing Kazakhstan's current territory as being a "gift" from Russia, saying such "provocative" remarks aimed to "spoil" relations" between the two neighbors.
• Controversial 'Russian Gift' Comments Spark Mixed Feelings In Northern Kazakhstan RFE/RL 05 Jan 2021 -- The remote village of Dolmatovo is located on the banks of the Ishim River in northern Kazakhstan, just 4 kilometers from the Russian border.
• Russia, Kazakhstan Seek Higher Oil Output As Other OPEC+ Members Remain Cautious RFE/RL 04 Jan 2021 -- Russia and Kazakhstan are seeking another increase in oil output during the January 4 meeting of OPEC+ members as other nations express concern about global energy demand amid the rapid spread of a new strain of the coronavirus.
• Kazakhstan Officially Abolishes Death Penalty After Nearly Two-Decade Freeze RFE/RL 02 Jan 2021 -- Kazakhstan has abolished the death penalty, making permanent a nearly two-decade freeze on capital punishment in the Central Asian country, a statement on the presidential website said on January 2.
• Kazakh president vows to continue reforms in New Year message People's Daily 01 Jan 2021 -- Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev hailed the achievements of his country over the past year and vowed to continue reforms in 2021 in his New Year address.