Tag Archives: Kazakhstan

The Moscow Times reports: Kazakhstan will ensure the care and safety of Russians fleeing a “hopeless situation,” the president of the Central Asian country said on Tuesday, as Russian men fled the Ukraine military call-up. “Recently we’ve had many people from Russia coming here,” Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was quoted as saying by his press service. “Most of them are forced to …

Reuters reports: Kazakhstan’s president said Friday he had ordered his troops to “shoot to kill without warning” in an effort to quash anti-government protests that have been raging since the weekend. Chaotic and violent scenes persisted in the resource-rich Central Asian country of 19 million, as the first “peacekeeping” troops from a Russia-led military alliance arrived following the leader’s request …

The New York Times reports: The revolt began on Sunday in western Kazakhstan as a protest against a surge in fuel prices. Four days later, with government buildings, TV stations, the airport and numerous businesses stormed by thousands of anti-government protesters, the uprising has expanded into a full-throated attack on an entrenched Kazakh elite widely reviled as autocratic and corrupt. …

The New York Daily News reports: If you can’t beat Borat, join him. After condemning Sacha Baron Cohen’s first “Borat” movie for portraying the former Soviet republic as backward and bigoted in 2006, Kazakhstan has now embraced the character’s famous catchphrase as a tourism slogan. The Kazakh Tourism board released a series of promotional spots Sunday showing travelers exploring the …

The BBC reports: A US astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut were forced to make an emergency landing after their Russian Soyuz rocket malfunctioned en route to the International Space Station (ISS). Shortly after taking off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Nick Hague and Alexey Ovchinin reported a problem with the rocket’s booster. The men were forced into a “ballistic descent”, …

The Independent reports: A man in Kazakhstan has been sentenced to three years in prison for insulting Vladimir Putin, reports suggest. Sanat Dosov, a businessman and activist, was found guilty of breaching a Kazahk law that bans the incitement of “national hatred” and will now have to serve his sentence in a penal colony. Dosov is alleged to have posted …

Via Eurasianet: Kazakhstan’s Constitutional Council has struck down a controversial law that would have outlawed “propaganda” of homosexuality to minors, amid signs the legislation was damaging the country’s bid to host the Winter Olympics. The law was “not in line with the constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan” the Vlast.kz website quoted the Constitutional Council (which rules on the legality …

Kazakhstan, which has already seen an attempt to copy Russia’s ban on “homosexual propaganda,” might be taking things a step further. Kazakhstan’s Parliament deputy Bakhytbek Smagul has suggested drafting a law to ban same-sex relationships in Kazakhstan, Tengrinews reports from the plenary meeting of the Majilis (lower chamber of the Parliament). “I believe it necessary not only to enhance the …

The parliament of Kazakhstan may soon consider its own version of Russia’s ban on “homosexual propaganda.” Kazakhstan parliament wants to follow in Russia’s footsteps and put through a bill banning homosexuality ‘propaganda’ in Kazakhstan, Tengrinews.kz reports. MPs believe that Kazakhstan needs a law that would route out gay-clubs and ban LGBT community’s pride parades. Member of the Majilis (the Lower …