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Cremation Ban

Kyrgyzstan Reverses Cremation Policy as Japarov Signs Ban

In less than two and a half years, Kyrgyzstan has gone from recognizing cremation in law to banning it. On August 3, President Sadyr Japarov signed amendments prohibiting the cremation of human remains and removing the legal framework for the burial or storage of ashes. Law No. 139 will take effect on August 14. Under the new law, “cremation” no longer refers to the burning of a deceased person’s body. It is redefined as the sanitary burning of human organs or tissue resulting from medical activity, while a “crematorium” will mean the technical facility used for that purpose. Such facilities are expressly prohibited from being used for deceased people or aborted and stillborn fetuses. Unidentified and unclaimed bodies must instead be buried. Religious opposition was already part of the debate years before the 2024 law, with a 2018 AKIpress report quoting Baktiyar Toktogazy uulu, a fatwa specialist with the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Kyrgyzstan, as saying that cremating a Muslim body contradicts Islamic canons. The report also quoted Askerbek Aliyev, then head of Bishkek’s funeral service, who said earlier attempts to introduce cremation legislation had faced opposition from religious groups. Despite those objections, implementation was still moving ahead in October 2025, when Kudaibergen Bazarbaev, then-director of the State Agency for Civil Service and Local Self-Government, said cremation would be voluntary and available to people of other faiths or those who chose it. He added that existing burial traditions would remain unchanged and acknowledged that the country had no crematoria or funding for them. An official draft published that month proposed approving rules for operating crematoria. In December 2025, a Cabinet resolution on funeral-service pricing still included cremation followed by the issuing of an urn among regulated services. By March 2026, however, the State Agency was proposing to suspend the 2024 law’s provision allowing crematoria until January 1, 2040, citing a lack of infrastructure and financing. The agency also said environmental requirements and socio-cultural questions remained unresolved. Religious concerns entered the parliamentary debate directly in June, when MP Nurzhamal Torobekova asked whether citizens’ views and religious customs had been taken into account. A State Agency official replied that cremation had been conceived as a service rather than a requirement, citing foreigners whose customs include the practice. The committee subsequently approved the proposed delay in its second reading. The version Japarov signed went substantially further, removing human cremation and provisions governing ashes from the law rather than postponing their implementation. The stated purpose is to distinguish funeral activity from the sanitary handling of biological material, but neither that explanation nor the law says why the proposed moratorium ultimately became a ban. The change also puts Kyrgyzstan on a different course from neighboring Kazakhstan. Almaty has opened the country’s first crematorium, where cremation is offered as a voluntary alternative to burial.

Succession

The Tradition of Power – Why Political Succession in Central Asia Follows Its Own Rules

In January 2027, Kyrgyzstan will hold a presidential election, an event that is anything but routine for the Central Asian republic. Over the past three decades, political crises, often surrounding disputed elections, have repeatedly ended in the removal of presidents. Kyrgyzstan remains an outlier in the region, although it, too, has gradually been moving towards a political model that has long become the norm across the rest of Central Asia. This year marks 35 years since the Soviet republics embarked on independent political lives following the collapse of the USSR. Yet many of the mechanisms governing the transfer of supreme power, shaped during the Soviet era, continue to define politics across the independent states. In Central Asia, three decades of independence have produced a distinctive model of political succession. The final years of the Soviet Union became known as the era of the so-called "gun-carriage race." As one ageing General Secretary after another passed away, an unwritten rule appeared to emerge: the official who chaired the state funeral commission for the deceased leader often became his successor. A remarkably similar pattern later emerged in Central Asia – first in Turkmenistan, then in Uzbekistan. Turkmenistan's first president, Saparmurat Niyazov, died in December 2006. The state funeral commission was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, who simultaneously became acting president. It was during those funeral ceremonies that the wider public was introduced for the first time to the family of Turkmenbashi. Under the constitution, parliamentary speaker Ovezgeldy Atayev should have assumed the presidency. Instead, he was stripped of immunity and arrested, clearing the way for Berdimuhamedov to take the acting presidency. After assuming the presidency in 2007, Berdimuhamedov gradually abandoned the more eccentric elements of his predecessor's personality cult while building a political system centered on his own leadership. If Niyazov styled himself Turkmenbashi – Leader of All Turkmens – his successor adopted the title Arkadag, or Protector of the Nation. In February 2022, Berdimuhamedov unexpectedly announced that he would step down following an early presidential election scheduled for March 12. He explained the decision by saying it was time to "give the younger generation an opportunity to govern the country." Few doubted that he was referring to his son Serdar Berdimuhamedov, who by then had already occupied most of the key positions within the state hierarchy. That is precisely what happened. Serdar Berdimuhamedov became president, while his father moved to the chairmanship of the Halk Maslahaty, retaining the title of National Leader of the Turkmen People. Uzbekistan followed a similar pattern, although under different circumstances. Islam Karimov built a highly centralized presidential system that left virtually no room for political competition. This applied not only to political opponents, but also to those closest to the president. His eldest daughter, Gulnara Karimova, was placed under house arrest while her father was still alive. Following his death, she was convicted and remains imprisoned in Uzbekistan. When Karimov died in September 2016, reports of his death circulated for several days...

Electronic Visas

Kazakhstan Proposes Rules for Paid Electronic Entry Permits

Kazakhstan's Interior Ministry has opened public consultation on rules for a paid electronic entry permit for foreign visitors. The ministry has proposed a phased rollout between August and December 2026, but the published summary leaves several basic questions unanswered. The proposal was posted on July 31, and remains open for comments until August 17. It would amend Kazakhstan's 2012 rules governing the entry, stay, and departure of foreign nationals. The ministry says the system will provide "transparency, speed, and completeness [in] recording the cross-border movements of foreign nationals.” However, the consultation page does not display the proposed amendments, an explanatory note, or a comparative table. Rather, it shows an information summary and one attachment labeled as a Russian-language table, leading one public commenter, Andrei Sukhanov, to ask: "Where is the draft itself? Or is only its title being discussed?" That omission makes it impossible to establish several important terms from the consultation. The page does not state the fee, the nationalities covered, the grounds for refusal, the appeal process, or the date when permits would become mandatory. It also fails to explain whether visa holders would need a further separate authorization. The legal basis for introducing paid electronic entry permits already exists: President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed Law No. 326-VIII on June 24. The law was first published on June 25, and most of its provisions take effect on August 25. The law defines an electronic entry permit as a digital document granting a foreign citizen or stateless person the right to enter Kazakhstan or transit its territory. The Interior Ministry will issue, refuse, or cancel permits in coordination with the National Security Committee. Foreign citizens and stateless persons entering Kazakhstan will undergo identification and authentication, including the processing of personal and biometric data for a digital immigration profile. The government will set the fee and payment procedure. The law directs half of the revenue toward migration and border-control technology, while the other half will support domestic and inbound tourism. The Interior Ministry's summary says differentiated charges would fund technical maintenance, digital infrastructure upgrades, and personal-data protection. It gives no amounts or categories, meaning travelers cannot assess the cost. Kazakhstan is already testing the permit through the QazETA platform. During the pilot, the Electronic Travel Authorization is recommended rather than compulsory for citizens of visa-exempt countries. Applicants are asked to submit requests through the mobile app at least 72 hours before travel, and an authorization remains valid for 180 days. An ETA does not extend the permitted length of stay or guarantee admission, with border officials retaining the final decision. The current pilot exempts holders of diplomatic and service passports, members of official delegations, and accredited diplomats. The government has not announced when the pilot will end or published the list of countries that will face a mandatory requirement. A local report in July said Kyrgyzstan had sought clarification on whether the system would cover citizens of Eurasian Economic Union states. Kazakhstan has not published a decision on that point. The...

Kurultai Election

Kazakhstan Kurultai Election: Can a Third Party Break Through?

With only weeks remaining before Kazakhstan elects its new 145-member Kurultai on August 23, three national surveys point to a commanding victory for Adilet and place Auyl in second. The less certain question is whether Ak Zhol, Respublica, or another smaller party can clear the 5% electoral threshold and join them in the new legislature. Seven political parties have been registered to contest the vote. All 145 seats will be allocated through nationwide party lists, so small changes around the threshold could have a large effect on the composition of Kazakhstan's first Kurultai. The election is the first under Kazakhstan's new constitutional framework, which replaced the former bicameral parliament with a single-chamber Kurultai. The constitutional reform represents the most significant redesign of the country's political institutions in decades and places greater weight on political parties in the legislative process. The available polls differ in timing, method, sample size, and the proportion of undecided voters. Their exact figures are therefore not directly comparable. However, they agree on the broad shape of the race: Adilet leads by a wide margin, Auyl holds second place, and several parties remain close to or below the threshold. The latest Institute of Eurasian Integration survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews with 4,000 respondents in all 17 regions, as well as Astana, Almaty, and Shymkent, from July 16 to 26. Its stated margin of error was no more than 1.54%. That poll put Adilet on 65.1% and Auyl on 5.9%. Ak Zhol stood at 4.7%, marginally ahead of Respublica on 4.6%. The Nationwide Social Democratic Party, or NSDP, received 4.2%, the People's Party of Kazakhstan 4.1%, and the Baytaq Green Party 0.5%. An earlier DATAmetrics poll, commissioned by the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies, interviewed 8,000 people face-to-face from June 13 to July 2. It gave Adilet 54.2%, Auyl 7.3%, Ak Zhol 4.6%, and Respublica 3.4%. One in five respondents had not chosen a party. A telephone survey by the Kazakhstan Institute of Public Development covered 1,200 respondents from July 8 to 20. It put Adilet on 64.8%, Auyl on 5.4%, Respublica on 4.8%, and Ak Zhol on 4.7%, with 10.9% undecided. Taken together, the surveys do not identify a clear third-place party. They do show that Ak Zhol and Respublica are the most consistent contenders for an additional place in the Kurultai. The latest Institute of Eurasian Integration poll also places the NSDP and the People's Party within striking distance, although the other surveys put both further behind. Adilet's lead is unsurprising. Although the Adilet Party was officially registered only this year, it is not starting from scratch. Amanat, formerly known as Nur Otan, merged into Adilet in June, transferring the organization and political network that dominated Kazakhstan throughout most of former President Nursultan Nazarbayev's rule. The merger also placed the former ruling party inside a new organization led by allies of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. It completed a change of political branding while preserving a strong pro-presidential electoral machine. The sharper contest is therefore not for...

AI Governance

Kazakhstan Smart Cities Face the Test of Turning AI Ambition Into Results

Almaty has ranked 38th among 61 cities in the inaugural Intelligent Cities Index, a respectable result that also reveals the distance between Kazakhstan’s digital ambitions and the world’s leading urban centers. The index, compiled by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), assesses how cities use artificial intelligence and digital technology to improve services and outcomes for residents. Almaty scored 62 out of 100, placing it in BCG’s “emerging” category. What Almaty's Ranking Reveals This score placed Almaty 38th among 61 major cities worldwide, ranking above cities including Milan, Melbourne, and Istanbul. However, it remained five points below the lowest-ranked city in BCG’s higher “accelerating” category and 23 points behind London, which headed the index with 85 points. Almaty performed reasonably well on strategy, adoption, and digital infrastructure, but its weakest score was for “ways of working,” which covers institutional readiness, governance, and project implementation. BCG found that leading cities combined technology with clear accountability, reliable funding, and measurable improvements for residents. The publication of these rankings has coincided with Kazakhstan’s adoption of a national methodology for Smart Cities and Smart Regions, approved by the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development. The framework, which took effect on July 12, sets common requirements and deadlines for the country’s cities. The question is whether it will improve urban life or encourage local authorities to accumulate equipment and platforms in pursuit of higher scores. Tackling Everyday Urban Problems The clearest examples in Almaty concern public transport, which residents will be able to judge through their daily journeys. Buses already carry GPS trackers and video cameras, while fares can be paid through the ONAY electronic payment system. The city plans to add payment by bank card, Apple Pay, and Samsung Pay. Electronic information displays are due to be installed at 1,188 bus stops during 2026–27. Officials also announced in February that 50 driverless vehicles would be placed on city roads in cooperation with Yandex Kazakhstan under a pilot program. The stated deadline was May 1, 2026, although no subsequent official announcement confirming the deployment was readily available by late July. This illustrates a wider problem: announcements are often reported more prominently than results. For these projects to improve Almaty’s position, the city will need to show whether digitalization has reduced journey times, made bus arrivals more reliable, improved road safety, or encouraged greater use of public transport. Capital Investment Astana provides a larger-scale example. In February 2025, the capital signed a six-year, $190 million agreement with the UAE-based Presight AI. The project covers traffic management, public services and sensors. Astana is also installing or integrating more than 22,000 AI-enabled facial-recognition cameras. The capital’s iKomek 109 contact center handled approximately 2.5 million requests in 2025, with 83% reportedly resolved during the first call. Alatau City: Kazakhstan’s Largest Test The most ambitious scheme is Alatau City, being developed between Almaty and the Kapshagai Reservoir. Unlike existing cities, Alatau is being designed from the outset with a separate legal and administrative framework and extensive digital management. The government intends...

Presidential Election

Kyrgyzstan Moves 2027 Presidential Election to January 27

President Sadyr Japarov has signed legislation changing the schedule for Kyrgyzstan's next presidential election. Under the amendments, the vote will be held on 27 January 2027, the fourth Wednesday of January, instead of the fourth Sunday of the month, as provided for under the previous legislation. The amendments also retain the requirement that the Jogorku Kenesh, Kyrgyzstan's parliament, must schedule the presidential election no later than four months before polling day. Election day will be a paid day off. According to the explanatory note accompanying the legislation, moving the vote from Sunday to a weekday is expected to encourage higher voter turnout. Lawmakers argue that participation in some local elections has remained low in recent years. This is the second change to Kyrgyzstan's presidential election timetable in less than a year and a half. In April 2025, the authorities moved the vote from October 2026 to January 2027 so Japarov could complete the six-year mandate he won in 2021. The parliamentary calendar was changed separately later that year to prevent the two nationwide campaigns from overlapping. Japarov has served as president since 28 January 2021. Earlier this year, the Constitutional Court ruled that his current six-year mandate counts as his first under the 2021 Constitution, leaving him eligible to seek a second five-year term in 2027. The parliamentary election calendar was revised separately. Early elections to the Jogorku Kenesh were held on 30 November 2025, allowing the parliamentary and presidential electoral cycles to be separated. The authorities said the snap parliamentary vote was intended to prevent the two nationwide campaigns from coinciding in 2027. Earlier, The Times of Central Asia reported that a Kyrgyz court had convicted former security chief Kamchybek Tashiyev, former parliamentary speaker Nurlanbek Turgunbek uulu, and six others of plotting to overthrow the government. The case followed a February 2026 open letter calling for an early presidential election.