Kazakhstan - The Times Of Central Asia

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Trans-Caspian Cable

Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan Launch Trans-Caspian Fiber-Optic Cable

Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have launched the first fiber-optic communications link across the Caspian seabed. The approximately 380-kilometer cable connects Aktau and Sumgait, with Presidents Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Ilham Aliyev inaugurating the line in Baku on October 15. Russian operators have long dominated Kazakhstan’s international connectivity. A 2025 Internet Society report identified them as the country's principal suppliers of international bandwidth. The new route will give operators the option of directing data through Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey toward Europe, providing redundancy independent of existing routes through Russia. This is particularly important during outages or congestion on existing connections. Part of the broader Digital Silk Way initiative, the cable could also benefit Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, both of which rely on Kazakhstan for international internet connectivity. The cable, supplied by a Chinese manufacturer, uses optical fiber made in Japan and terminal equipment from Western suppliers, according to the Caspian Policy Center. It has a design capacity of at least 400 terabits per second and was developed through CaspiLink, a joint venture between Kazakhstan’s Kazakhtelecom and Azerbaijan’s AzerTelecom. The project had been under discussion since 2019. In 2024, planned investment was estimated at more than 23 billion tenge (approximately $50 million). Marine surveys began in August 2025. Underwater cable laying began in July 2026 and was completed on August 5, with the line inaugurated on October 15. Kazakhstan also hopes to use the new connection to attract technology companies. Bagdat Mussin, chairman of Kazakhtelecom’s management board, said the cable could support Kazakhstan’s Data Center Valley, a complex under development in Ekibastuz for cloud computing and artificial intelligence. Mussin also told reporters that adjustments to the line would continue through the end of 2026, with the benefits expected to be felt no earlier than early 2027, according to Tengrinews. As The Times of Central Asia previously reported, Kazakhstan must also secure reliable electricity supplies and sufficient demand for its planned data center capacity. Kazakhstan's Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development estimates that the new route could help more than double the country's international data transit to 21.6 Tbps in the coming years. How much traffic will initially use the cable, including traffic redirected from existing routes through Russia, remains unclear.

Swimming World Cup

Astana Plays Host to the Swimming World Cup

More than 300 swimmers from 39 countries are competing in Astana for the final leg of the 2026 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup. This is Kazakhstan's first time hosting an event in the series, which will determine the overall men's and women's World Cup winners. The competition is taking place from October 15 to 17 at Barys Arena, concluding the three-stage Silk Road series, which began in Baku and continued in Tashkent. The World Cup is organized by World Aquatics, the international governing body for aquatic sports. Unlike the Olympic Games, swimmers compete in a 25- rather than a 50-meter pool, meaning races involve more turns. Competitors, whose ranks include Olympic and world champions, are vying for medals in freestyle, breaststroke, butterfly, and backstroke events over distances ranging from 50 to 1,500 meters. There are also individual medley and relay events. Athletes are also competing for overall standings points accumulated across the series' three legs. The series carries a $1.2 million prize fund. On the opening day, October 15, two Kazakh swimmers set national records. Aibat Myrzamuratov completed the men's 50-meter breaststroke in 26.50 seconds, while Sofia Spodarenko broke her own record in the women's 50-meter butterfly. Kazakhstan's Minister of Tourism and Sports, Yerbol Myrzabossynov, stressed the tournament's significance for local swimmers, who have an opportunity to compete against some of the world's leading athletes on home soil. Kazakhstan has entered 22 swimmers in the competition. Kazakhstan is expanding its calendar of international sporting events. According to the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, the country expects to host seven world championships across various disciplines in 2026 and 2027. These include the World Wrestling Championships, which will take place at Barys Arena from October 24 to November 1.

Podcast

Pannier and Hillard’s Spotlight on Central Asia: New Episode Out Now

As Managing Editor of The Times of Central Asia, I’m delighted that, in partnership with the Oxus Society for Central Asian Affairs, we are the home of the Spotlight on Central Asia podcast. Chaired by seasoned broadcasters Bruce Pannier of RFE/RL’s long-running Majlis podcast and Michael Hillard of The Red Line, each fortnightly instalment will take you on a deep dive into the latest news, developments, security issues, and social trends across an increasingly pivotal region. This week, the team looks at Kyrgyzstan unveiling plans that would require religious bloggers to be licensed and subjected to greater state oversight; further changes to the country's regional security leadership; one of the Central Asian states launching its first satellite into space; and a new round of CSTO military exercises in Russia that could have some troubling implications for the region. We'll also be looking at Turkmenistan marking 35 years of independence with a massive military parade showcasing a range of new weapons systems, as well as a week of blackouts hitting one of Central Asia's key cities. From there, we turn to our main story this week, where we'll be joined by two experts from the World Bank to discuss a major new report examining some of the biggest economic bottlenecks facing Central Asia, where those constraints are emerging, and what governments across the region will need to do to overcome them. Special guests: - Muneeza Alam (World Bank) - Luis Blancas (World Bank)

Cyber Espionage

Silent Lynx Hackers Leave Their Central Asian Spy Campaign Exposed

New findings published on October 14 suggest that hackers spying on Central Asian governments have been operating from Kazakhstan. The group, named Silent Lynx by researchers, used hijacked official email accounts to break into government computers. The hackers left some of their own working files unprotected online, allowing researchers to examine how they prepared and adapted their attacks. Their targets included agencies holding information about regional diplomacy and natural resources. The investigation was conducted by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future and Talos, a security research group at computer networking company Cisco. The two companies, both based in the United States, have not established whether the hackers were working for a government. Hijacked Official Email Accounts Seqrite, an Indian cybersecurity provider, gave the hackers the name Silent Lynx in January 2025. Its investigation found that they had sent malicious emails from an employee’s hijacked account at Kyrgyzstan’s central bank. A message from a real official’s address could make a dangerous attachment look like routine business. One message claimed that correspondence intended for Kyrgyzstan’s Finance Ministry had been sent to the central bank by mistake. Attached was what appeared to be a United Nations meeting invitation, packaged with a malicious program. Running it would allow the hackers to issue instructions to the recipient’s computer and send files through a chat they controlled on Telegram, the messaging app. In related attacks, investigators saw the hackers copying documents and collecting passwords saved in web browsers. One victim had left a file called passwords.txt on the desktop, which the attackers stole and could use to access other accounts. German cybersecurity company VMRay and independent researcher Pol Thill documented these thefts in February 2026. The Files That Gave Them Away Researchers Ashley Shen and Julian-Ferdinand Vögele, from Talos and Recorded Future, respectively, found three online folders where the hackers had left attack software and other tools publicly accessible. A program in one folder led them to an account on GitHub, a website where programmers store and share code. GitHub preserves earlier versions of files, so the researchers could see how the hackers had revised their software and changed the internet addresses used to control infected computers. Moving to a new address did not erase the record, allowing investigators to continue tracking the operation. An attack file identified in April exploited a weakness in WinRAR, a program for unpacking compressed files. It was designed to install software that would start when the user next signed in, allowing the hackers to send instructions to the computer. A July 2025 update had fixed the weakness in WinRAR, but the attack could still work on computers where users had not updated the program. VMRay’s earlier investigation found that some operators had infected their own computers, exposing their browsing histories to the researchers. What Were They Looking For? The victims of those earlier attacks included water and hydropower institutions in Kyrgyzstan and water-related bodies in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Access to water records could be valuable in a region where decisions upstream affect...

CICA Summit

Central Asian Leaders Link Trade and Security at Baku Summit

Central Asian leaders called for better transport links and joint action on water shortages at the Baku summit in Azerbaijan on October 15, arguing that practical cooperation could prevent political disputes from turning into conflict. The seventh summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) adopted the Baku Declaration, admitted Laos as a new member, and approved Azerbaijan’s continued chairmanship through 2028. Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev called for an “infrastructure of trust” based on transparent government actions and the fulfillment of commitments. His proposed concept would connect conflict prevention with joint transport and energy projects, trade, and digital links. He pointed to the damage that conflicts in Asia were causing to economies and security far from the fighting. Mirziyoyev warned, “When dialogue weakens, the risk of misguided decisions increases.” He urged governments to prevent political disagreements from becoming armed confrontations. Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev proposed a preventive diplomacy mechanism within CICA, enabling members to contribute before a crisis develops. He told the summit, “Peace is best built before crises emerge.” According to the Azerbaijani state news agency AZERTAC’s account, the Baku Declaration includes provisions on economic ties, transport and digital connections, and energy security. It addresses the opportunities and risks of artificial intelligence. Trade Routes Across the Caspian Sea The meeting came one week after the Avaza summit, where Central Asian presidents and Azerbaijan’s Ilham Aliyev discussed east-west and north-south trade routes. In Baku, those regional priorities entered a wider Asian forum, alongside calls to make commercial relationships more dependable. Tokayev proposed a CICA Transport Connectivity Strategy covering major routes, including the Middle Corridor across the Caspian Sea. He linked Azerbaijan’s rapprochement with Armenia to new opportunities for east-west transport. Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon called in his summit address for simpler customs and logistics procedures and better connections between different forms of transport. He presented economic cooperation as a foundation for lasting peace, alongside continued action against terrorism and its financing. On the summit’s sidelines, the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan discussed transport and transit cooperation. Their talks covered improvements to logistics infrastructure and international routes connecting Central Asia with the Caucasus, according to Turkmenistan’s government account. During a separate bilateral meeting, Tokayev and Aliyev inaugurated the Trans-Caspian Fiber-Optic Cable Line remotely, opening an approximately 380-kilometer connection between Aktau in Kazakhstan and Sumgayit in Azerbaijan. The project forms part of the Digital Silk Way initiative, with onward connections intended to carry data between China, Central Asia, and Europe. Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development gives the cable a design capacity exceeding 400 terabits per second. The ministry says the additional route will provide backup for existing international connections and allow operators to distribute traffic across more channels. It expects the connection to attract investment in data centers and cloud services as Kazakhstan seeks a larger role in carrying international data. Kyrgyzstan’s President Sadyr Japarov similarly called for fiber-optic routes linking Asia and Europe. He invited technology companies to build data centers...

Drug Smuggling

Russian Rapper Navai Detained at Kazakhstan Border on Suspicion of Drug Smuggling

Russian rapper Navai Bakirov, known professionally as Navai, was detained on October 13 while entering Kazakhstan from Kyrgyzstan. A Kazakh court has since ordered him held in custody as police investigate suspected drug smuggling and unlawful possession of narcotics. Police in Kazakhstan’s Zhambyl region said officers and border guards discovered and seized a narcotic substance during a search of his vehicle at the Korday checkpoint. They have not identified the substance or disclosed the quantity seized. Navai had performed in Bishkek the previous day as part of a Central Asian concert tour. His concert scheduled for October 14 in Astana was canceled, with organizers citing technical reasons. Kyrgyzstan’s State Border Service has launched an internal investigation into how the musician passed through its Ak-Zhol checkpoint. The service said it would take action if any violations by border officials were uncovered. Navai is a singer of Azerbaijani descent who rose to prominence as part of the duo HammAli & Navai. The duo’s popular songs include “Pustite Menya na Tantspol” (“Let Me on the Dance Floor”), “Pryatki” (“Hide and Seek”), and “Devochka-Voyna” (“Warrior Girl”).