International Affairs - The Times Of Central Asia

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World Nomad Games

Independence Day, SCO Summit and World Nomad Games Converge in Bishkek

Kyrgyzstan is preparing for one of its busiest days in years. August 31 marks the 35th anniversary of the country’s independence, a day which will also see the opening ceremony of the sixth World Nomad Games. Meanwhile, leaders from the SCO’s ten member states, including Russia, China, India, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan, are also expected in Bishkek for a summit. The overlap is partly by design. Organizers say the World Nomad Games opening ceremony will be staged at Bishkek Arena on August 31, alongside the SCO summit program, ahead of the stadium’s formal opening later in September. The new stadium is designed for 51,000 spectators. The formal SCO Council of Heads of State meeting is scheduled for September 1. A detailed public timetable for the summit has not yet been issued. Presidential spokesman Askat Alagozov has said 21 heads of state are expected in Kyrgyzstan during this period, with several also making state visits. The World Nomad Games ceremony will include a parade of participating teams and a short concert program in front of the visiting leaders. Independence Day itself remains set for August 31. President Sadyr Japarov has instructed organizers to hold concerts and entertainment across the regions that day. The main state celebration of the 35th anniversary, however, will take place in Talas on September 11 and 12, which had already been selected to host the program before the August schedule took shape. [caption id="attachment_53765" align="aligncenter" width="1774"] Dancers perform during a previous Independence Day celebration in Bishkek. Photo: Stephen M. Bland/TCA.[/caption] Bishkek is preparing for the movement restrictions that come with diplomatic gatherings. Alagozov asked residents, where possible, to spend August 30, August 31, and September 1 at Issyk-Kul or elsewhere. “Otherwise, the inconvenience will affect you first of all, because roads in the city will be frequently closed for three days,” he said. September 1 will be a paid day off for employees of state and municipal institutions in the capital, with private employers advised to make similar arrangements. City Hall began planning well in advance. In October 2025, Mayor Aibek Dzhunushaliev called for a single operational protocol covering public transport, restrictions, fan zones, and other logistics. “Our main goal is to create comprehensive infrastructure and ensure a high international standard for these events,” he said. The city has since been preparing fan zones so residents and visitors can follow the main programs away from secured venues. Health and emergency planning has followed the same approach. Kyrgyzstan has already held public-health exercises ahead of the Games. The Ministry of Health said on August 10 that more than 600 medical workers are expected to support the SCO and World Nomad Games. Medical posts, strengthened ambulance teams, and a mobile hospital are planned at event sites. The World Nomad Games are familiar territory for Kyrgyzstan. The country staged the first three editions in 2014, 2016, and 2018, before the event moved to Turkey in 2022 and Kazakhstan in 2024. Its return to Kyrgyzstan has grown into a much larger operation....

Caspian Pipeline Consortium

Vance Personally Asked Zelensky to Halt CPC-Linked Tanker Strikes, FT Reports

U.S. Vice President JD Vance personally asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on July 31 to halt attacks on oil tankers serving the Caspian Pipeline Consortium’s Black Sea terminal near Novorossiysk, the Financial Times reported on August 12. Citing Ukrainian officials and others familiar with the call, the newspaper said Kyiv had agreed not to target CPC infrastructure or non-Russian vessels unless they were under Ukrainian sanctions or carrying Russian oil or other Russian cargo. Ukraine has not struck tankers near the CPC terminal since the July 31 call. Vance’s intervention came after repeated July attacks had disrupted Kazakhstan’s main oil-export route, halted loading several times, and forced producers to cut output. Washington was also concerned that the attacks were destabilizing oil markets and harming U.S. commercial interests. A U.S. official confirmed to the FT that Washington had warned Kyiv against attacks on non-Russian vessels and CPC infrastructure, describing the pipeline as “a vital conduit of Kazakhstan-origin energy for European markets” and an alternative to Russian energy supplies. The latest incidents before the call came on July 30, when two more tankers were attacked. NISSOS SIFNOS was struck while loading Tengizchevroil crude at CPC’s SPM-3 mooring, while MARATHI was attacked while awaiting a berth about six nautical miles offshore, forcing CPC to stop loading again. The Vance-Zelensky call took place the following day. Washington had already warned Kyiv about attacks affecting U.S. and Kazakh economic interests. Ukraine’s ambassador to Washington at the time, Olha Stefanishyna, disclosed in February that the State Department had delivered a formal démarche after an earlier strike on Novorossiysk. On July 23, Representative Bill Huizenga, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on South and Central Asia, told TCA that Ukraine had an obligation to avoid legitimate allied energy exports and infrastructure, and that further strikes would "not be tolerated." The Wall Street Journal later reported that Chevron CEO Mike Wirth had raised the tanker attacks with Trump administration officials, after which Washington cautioned Ukraine against targeting non-Russian vessels in the Black Sea. By early August, the disruption was showing clearly in export data. Reuters reported on August 7 that CPC loadings in July fell more than 20% behind schedule to around 1.2 million to 1.3 million barrels per day. The reduction amounted to a loss of about 400,000 barrels per day of CPC Blend from international markets in July. Kazakhstan’s oil production fell 14% in July from June. CPC is the dominant route for Kazakhstan’s oil exports and normally handles roughly 1.5 million to 1.7 million barrels per day. The 1,511-kilometer pipeline runs from the Tengiz field through Russia to the Black Sea. Its shareholder structure also gives U.S. companies a substantial direct interest: Chevron owns 15%, while Mobil Caspian Pipeline Company, an ExxonMobil affiliate, owns 7.5%. Responsibility for the individual tanker attacks has remained politically sensitive. Russia has blamed Ukraine. Kyiv has not publicly claimed responsibility for attacks on vessels carrying predominantly Kazakh crude. According to the FT, the July 31 call resulted in a...

Middle Corridor

Central Asia and Azerbaijan Extend Cooperation Across the Caspian

Central Asia’s presidential forum now spans both shores of the Caspian. Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan anchor the principal Caspian crossing at the center of the Middle Corridor, the rail-and-sea network linking Central Asia to European markets through Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Türkiye. Azerbaijan’s full participation brings the corridor’s eastern and western Caspian gateways into the same regular political setting. The six governments can use it to coordinate the transport, energy, digital, and investment links already developing across the Caspian, even though Georgia and Türkiye remain essential to the route’s westward operation. On July 31, 2026, the presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan signed the Cholpon-Ata Declaration at an informal Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia and Azerbaijan in Kyrgyzstan. The Declaration gave formal political expression to cooperation that had already been developing. Official accounts said the leaders emphasized expanded regional cooperation, including trade, transport and logistics, and energy. The full text has not been released, so those priorities come from official accounts rather than the declaration itself. Proposed by Uzbekistani President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in 2017 and first convened in Astana in March 2018, the Consultative Meetings brought together the five Central Asian states in an informal presidential format. They expanded in November 2025 with Azerbaijan’s admission as a full-fledged participant, while retaining their consultative character. Azerbaijan attended in 2023 and 2024 as a guest; Cholpon-Ata was its first informal meeting in the new capacity. Official documents continue to call the format “Central Asia and Azerbaijan.” C6 is analytical shorthand for the enlargement, not the name of a new bloc or formal organization. Azerbaijan’s admission follows several years of practical cooperation. At a ministerial meeting in Aktau on November 25, 2022, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Türkiye signed a 2022–2027 roadmap for the simultaneous elimination of bottlenecks and development of the Middle Corridor. At its 2023 Baku summit, the UN Special Programme for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA) adopted a digitalization roadmap and established a multi-partner trust fund, followed by work on digital data exchange and port-to-port cooperation. The transport roadmap includes Georgia and Türkiye, while SPECA also includes Afghanistan; neither is institutionally identical to C6. The enlarged format gives the six governments a regular political setting in which to coordinate existing transport, digital, and investment mechanisms. The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route Association reports that freight through the seaports of Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan reached 3.3 million tons in 2024, 20% above the 2023 level, while container traffic within the same scope rose 176% to 56,500 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU). Freight remains the principal basis of integration. Oil transit, prospective electricity links, and joint investment instruments are extending cooperation into adjacent sectors. Kazakhstan's use of the route for oil exports is also rising: according to KazMunayGas reports, Kazakhstani oil shipments from Aktau through the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan route increased by 34% to 1.4 million tons in 2024. At COP29 in Baku on November 13, 2024, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan signed a strategic-partnership agreement on producing and transmitting green energy,...

Civilian Casualties

Uzbekistan Forms Commission After Nizhnekamsk Drone Strike as Russia Puts Uzbek Death Toll at Eight

Uzbekistan has formed a special commission after its citizens were killed in a drone attack on several locations in the Russian city of Nizhnekamsk on Monday. Russian authorities now say eight Uzbek citizens were among the 13 people killed, one more than Uzbekistan’s consulate in the Russian city of Kazan initially reported. A Tajik citizen was also reported among the dead. Moscow blamed Ukraine for the attack, the latest in a campaign of long-range strikes by the Ukrainian military in the long-running war with Russia. Ukraine has often targeted oil facilities in an attempt to undermine a key source of revenue for Russia, though there were conflicting accounts of what was hit in the Nizhnekamsk attack. Ukraine’s General Staff said it hit an oil refinery and caused a fire, while local Russian officials said residential areas as well as industrial facilities were hit, and a child was among those killed. Uzbekistan’s consulate in Kazan did not name the Uzbek nationals who died in the attack on Monday and did not provide any further personal information. The consulate initially put the Uzbek death toll at seven. Azattyq Asia subsequently reported that Russian authorities put the number at eight. Tajikistan’s Foreign Ministry said one Tajik citizen was also killed. “Necessary contacts have been established with local responsible authorities, agencies, and investigative bodies to clarify the details of the incident,” the consulate said. “We would like to inform you that the necessary arrangements are being made to repatriate the bodies of the deceased citizens to their homeland after the completion of forensic examinations and the necessary official procedures.” The consulate quoted law enforcement agencies in Tatarstan, the region of Russia where Nizhnekamsk is located, as saying that 13 people were killed and 39 people were injured in the drone strikes. Nizhnekamsk is a major industrial center that lies about 900 kilometers east of Moscow.

Caspian Sea

Iran Moves to Ratify Caspian Sea Agreement Amid Tensions

Iran wants its parliament to ratify a long-delayed agreement among the littoral states of the Caspian Sea that it says could facilitate economic cooperation. The initiative comes as tensions between Iran and the United States remain high, increasing pressure on the Iranian economy. The Iranian government’s plan to submit the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea for ratification in the parliament “follows changes in the security environment” around the sea, according to Kazem Gharibabadi, deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs. Gharibabadi was quoted in an interview published by the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency, or IRNA, on Saturday. The IRNA report did not go into detail about those security changes, but Iran had blamed Ukraine for a Caspian Sea attack last month that it said resulted in an explosion on an Iranian commercial vessel, killing one sailor and injuring another. Ukraine has acknowledged conducting long-range strikes in the Caspian, saying it was targeting vessels transporting military cargo linked to Iran, an ally of Russia. The Iranian move in the parliament, which is dominated by conservatives, comes ahead of Iran´s reported plan to host a meeting of the Caspian littoral states next week. In 2018, the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea was signed in Aktau, Kazakhstan, by Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan. The convention includes security provisions, including a ban on the presence of armed forces from non-littoral states. It also aims to assign territorial waters and regulate access to resources, including fisheries and offshore oil. However, some details were not clarified and, unlike the other countries, Iran´s parliament did not ratify the deal. Some critics in Iran had argued that the convention left the country at a disadvantage. Iran’s recent decision to urgently submit the convention to its parliament “comes amid public debate over the convention’s provisions, Iran’s rights and interests in the Caspian, and questions surrounding the country’s share of the sea,” IRNA reported. It quoted Gharibabadi as saying that, in addition to Caspian security concerns, there is a need to increase economic cooperation among the littoral states and resolve legal issues concerning the sea. Some Iranian commentators say Iran is under pressure to make concessions and could end up compromising the country’s rights in the Caspian. In the IRNA interview, Gharibabadi sought to downplay criticism, saying Iranian parliamentary ratification would have “no impact on the delimitation of the seabed and subsoil of the body of water,” and that those issues would have to be resolved through negotiations among states with adjacent Caspian coastlines. “By ratifying the Convention, Tehran could gain certain advantages, including legal certainty regarding the Caspian Sea and the preservation of its partnership with Moscow, which is pushing for the issue to be resolved. At the same time, the potential costs for Iran appear more significant,” said the Regional Center for Democracy and Security, a research center in Armenia, a South Caucasus country that could be affected by developments in the Caspian Sea. The center’s analysis this month...

Caspian Pipeline Consortium

U.S. Reportedly Secures Ukrainian Pledge to Avoid Strikes on CPC Infrastructure

Turkey has begun restricting some commercial vessels from entering the Black Sea on voyages to Novorossiysk, adding a potential new obstacle to Kazakhstan’s oil exports through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium amid reports that Ukraine has agreed to spare CPC infrastructure and qualifying non-Russian tankers from attack. Turkey’s Directorate-General of Coastal Safety has told multiple ships bound for Novorossiysk that it is not currently issuing transit permits for those voyages or needs more time to review applications through the Dardanelles. The authorities have not publicly explained the measure. Some vessels were told the restriction also applied to ships heading to Ukraine, while traffic bound for Bulgarian and Turkish ports continued. There is no confirmation that any tanker scheduled to load Kazakh crude at the CPC terminal has been denied passage. The measure nevertheless comes at a difficult point for CPC, where repeated attacks and stoppages have already made some shipowners reluctant to accept voyages to the terminal near Novorossiysk. On August 7, Reuters reported that CPC loadings fell more than 20% behind schedule in July, to around 1.2 million to 1.3 million barrels per day. That removed about 400,000 barrels a day of CPC Blend from the international market. Loadings averaged roughly 1.1 million to 1.2 million barrels per day in the first week of August, while Kazakhstan’s oil production has fallen 14% from June. CPC normally handles around 1.5 million to 1.7 million barrels per day and carries more than 80% of Kazakhstan’s oil exports. Four tankers completed loading after the July 30 attacks, but operations remained intermittent as tanker availability and security concerns continued to limit the recovery. The Turkish restrictions emerged on the same day as a potentially important change in the security picture around CPC. According to an unnamed U.S. government official cited by Bloomberg, Ukraine has agreed not to target CPC infrastructure or qualifying non-Russian vessels bound for the terminal, provided they are not under Ukrainian sanctions, are not carrying Russian cargo, and are not owned by Russian individuals or entities. Ukraine has also established points of contact through which commercial shippers can provide vessel information and seek safe passage. The arrangement follows months of U.S. pressure over the exposure of Kazakhstan-origin crude and Western commercial interests at CPC. During a July 29 call, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister Yermek Kosherbayev discussed the need for “reliable and uninterrupted” exports of Kazakhstan-origin oil through the system. The commitment could reduce one source of risk for ships serving CPC, but it does not immediately resolve the commercial disruption. Previous attempts by companies to identify vessels that should not be targeted did not prevent all attacks, while war-risk insurance and charter costs have risen sharply. Ankara has become increasingly vocal as attacks spread across the Black Sea. Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said the Turkish-owned civilian vessels Yaşar and Nadezhda were attacked by drones on August 3 after leaving Novorossiysk, injuring crew members including Turkish citizens. It warned that further escalation could have broader consequences, including...