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How Kyrgyzstan’s new flag design serves as a litmus test for the health of its democracy.
Tom Fort from the University of St Andrews reviews the recent changes to the Kyrgyz Republic’s flag and what this means for its democracy.
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Decolonisation and Adaption for the Future: Language Politics in Kazakhstan
Image via Wikimedia Commons Driving down any street in Astana, Kazakhstan’s new, hyper-futuristic capital city, you may be surprised to note the total absence of any Russian-language signage. In fact, insofar as whoever is in charge of Kazakh road marking is concerned, English takes precedence over Russian, with Latin script transliterations of placenames sitting under…
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Trading Places: The Rise of China in Kazakhstan
Image: Richard Hagues via Flickr The power dynamic in Central Asia is shifting due to Kazakhstan’s changing economic and cultural relations with both Russia and China. Historically, Kazakhstan has maintained close ties with Russia, underlined by substantial trade and cultural affinity. However, due to the war in Ukraine, Kazakhstan is moving away from long-standing Russian…
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Turkic Winds of Change: How Kazakhstan and Türkiye are Forging a New Strategic Partnership
Photograph: Ninara via Flikr In September this year, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan travelled to Astana, the gleaming capital of the Kazakh steppe which has come to embody the ambition of the country’s leaders for the future. To many, a Turkish minister in a Central Asian city may seem to represent a relatively minor act…