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02 May 2025
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02 May 2025
Business & Economy, Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan International Affairs, Kazakhstan Business & Economy

Kazakhstan Sees Surge in Tourists from Arab Countries

Kazakhstan experienced a significant rise in tourism from the Arab world in 2024, with a 62% increase in visitors from five Arab countries, according to the Ministry of Tourism and Sports.

Data from the Border Service indicates that the number of tourists from Oman surged by 80%, exceeding 15,000 visitors. The United Arab Emirates followed closely, with 14,700 tourists, a 40% increase compared to 2023. Saudi Arabia saw a 47% rise, contributing over 9,000 visitors. Meanwhile, tourist arrivals from Qatar increased by 50%, and visitors from Bahrain nearly quadrupled compared to 2022.

In a bid to further attract travelers from the Gulf region, Kazakhstan participated in the Arabian Travel Market, held in Dubai from April 28 to May 1. The national stand highlighted major tourist destinations including Almaty, Astana, and the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The country promoted a diverse range of travel offerings, from cultural and culinary routes to scientific and educational tours.

Kazakhstan was also among the most sought-after destinations for Arab tourists during the Eid al-Fitr holidays, marking the end of Ramadan.

Overall, Kazakhstan continues to solidify its status as a rising international tourism destination. In 2024, the country welcomed 15.3 million visitors, a 66% increase from the previous year. Among them were 655,000 tourists from China, 146,000 from India, 130,000 from Turkey, 92,000 from Germany, and 40,000 from South Korea.

02 May 2025
International Affairs, Uzbekistan, Uzbekistan Justice, Uzbekistan International Affairs

Uzbekistan Leads Repatriation of Deported Citizens from the U.S.

A group of 131 individuals from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan were repatriated from the United States this week on a special charter flight, Fox News reports. The flight, organized and funded by the government of Uzbekistan, followed a bilateral agreement with U.S. authorities and reflects expanding cooperation between the two countries on migration and security issues.

Departing the U.S. on April 30, the flight primarily carried Uzbek nationals who had been living in the United States without legal status. According to the agreement, Uzbek citizens were transported to Tashkent, while those from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are expected to continue on to their respective home countries.

U.S. officials welcomed Uzbekistan’s role in facilitating the repatriation. U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem expressed appreciation for the initiative. “We commend Uzbekistan for sending a flight to return 131 illegal aliens back to their home country,” she said. “This shows the strong security ties between our countries.”

Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the repatriation was conducted in accordance with international standards and aimed to protect the rights of Uzbek citizens in difficult legal and humanitarian situations abroad. Most of those returned had overstayed their visas or were found in violation of U.S. immigration laws.

The Embassy of Uzbekistan in Washington, D.C., and the Consulate General in New York played key roles in organizing the repatriation process. Both diplomatic missions maintained close coordination with U.S. immigration authorities and provided support to citizens throughout their return journey.

This was not Uzbekistan’s first such operation. Earlier this year, the country repatriated seven citizens from the United States to Tashkent after preventing their transfer to Costa Rica. That effort also followed high-level consultations between officials from both governments.

With a population exceeding 37 million, Uzbekistan continues to enhance its collaboration with the United States on migration management, repatriation procedures, and broader regional security cooperation.

02 May 2025
Home, Kazakhstan Lead Story, Lead Story, Tajikistan International Affairs, International Affairs, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan International Affairs, Tajikistan Lead Story

Kazakhstan Has a Deal for Tajik Electricity, Now the Wait Begins

In the latest sign of Central Asian regional cooperation, Kazakhstan has signed a long-term deal to import electricity from Tajikistan. However, that electricity might not reach Kazakhstan anytime soon, as there are some important details that need to be worked out by Tajikistan before supplies can begin.

Kazakhstan’s energy problems

Kazakhstan has been experiencing severe energy deficits for several years now, particularly during winter months. Kazakh Senator Suyindik Aldashev said in late February this year that Kazakhstan would be short some 5.7 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity in 2025, which would be a 46% increase in the country’s electricity deficit compared to 2024.

Kazakhstan was forced to import electricity from Russia during the winter of 2024 to help alleviate energy shortages. These shortages contributed to Kazakhstan’s decision to hold a referendum to approve the construction of the country’s first nuclear power plant (NPP). To date, however, there has been no announcement of which company will build the NPP, so additional electricity from that source could be a decade or more away.

This has led Kazakhstan to explore importing energy resources from its Central Asian neighbors. The head of Turkmenistan’s Halk Maslahaty (People’s Council) Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov just visited Kazakhstan and met with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev with Turkmen gas exports to its northern neighbor high on the agenda.

Kazakhstan has been in discussions with Tajikistan about electricity shipments for months, and the agreement was finalized toward the end of April.

Rogun

The source of the electricity Tajikistan intends to export to Kazakhstan is the Rogun Hydropower Plant (HPP) on the Vakhsh River, some 110 kilometers east of the Tajik capital Dushanbe.

The Rogun HPP has a history of controversy. It was conceived in the 1960s when Tajikistan was a Soviet Republic. Construction on the project started in 1976, but not much had been done by the time the USSR collapsed in late 1991, and work ground to halt shortly thereafter.

Russian company RUSAL signed an agreement in 2004 to invest more than $1 billion and finish building Rogun, but disputes over the project led the Tajik government to cancel the contract in 2007. One of the main differences between the two parties was RUSAL’s insistence the dam wall at Rogun be no higher than 285 meters, whereas the Tajik authorities wanted the original height of 335 meters. At 285 meters, the HPP’s output would have been 2400 megawatts (MW), while at 335 meters, the output would be 3600 MW.

Russia’s Inter RAO EES was in talks with Tajikistan about the Rogun project in 2008, but in the end, nothing came from those negotiations.

With no hope of foreign backing, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon started portraying Rogun as a project of national salvation, the key to energy independence. Rahmon’s government called on citizens to help finance construction of the HPP and when public support in the poorest country in Central Asia proved insufficient, citizens were pressured into buying shares in the project.

The government in neighboring Uzbekistan objected to Rogun’s construction, arguing that water supplies from Tajikistan’s rivers to Uzbekistan’s agricultural lands would be severely reduced as the water was diverted to fill the massive reservoir at Rogun. When Tajikistan continued work at Rogun, Uzbekistan halted railway shipments of construction materials from Iran which were headed to Tajikistan.

Uzbekistan eventually dropped its objections. In recent years several parties, including the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, and European Union, have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars in financial assistance to help complete the Rogun project. Even so, the estimated price tag for Rogun continues to rise and some of the latest estimates have the project costing some $6.4 billion to complete.

So far, only two of the six generator units for Rogun have been installed and are operational, and strict power rationing continues to be implemented during the winter months. President Rahmon said in a speech at the end of 2023 that the third 600-MW unit should start operating in 2025, but some forecasts now say it will be 2035 before all six units at Rogun are installed and operating.

The agreement with Kazakhstan specifies the price for Tajik electricity ($0.034 per 1 kWh) but does not mention how much electricity Kazakhstan is hoping to purchase, or exactly when supplies would start.

Rogun is also one of the sources for the Central Asia-South Asia (CASA) 1000 project to supply hydropower electricity from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to Afghanistan and Pakistan. That project is far behind schedule, but the Taliban said recently that they expect to complete the Afghan section of the power transmission line, the only part still unfinished, by 2026.

The long game

Kazakhstan does need the electricity, and supplies from Tajikistan would be especially welcome as they would target Kazakhstan’s southeast, one of the country’s most populous areas and location of the largest city, Almaty.

The electricity would be shipped through Central Asia’s unified energy grid, another Soviet-era project connecting the then-Central Asian republics to distribute energy by using coal and gas-fired power plants in downstream republics, now countries, during winter, and hydropower from upstream countries during summer. The grid had been abandoned by 2009, but with warming ties among the five Central Asian states in recent years, it has been repaired and put back into operation.

One other attractive feature of the Tajik electricity deal for the Kazakh side is that Kazakhstan will be able to claim carbon credits for the Tajik hydropower it purchases.

The Kazakh-Tajik contract is for 20 years with the possibility of a 10-year extension. That electricity might not reach Kazakhstan soon, but with Kazakhstan’s growing need for additional power, it will no doubt be welcome whenever it finally arrives.

01 May 2025
Home, Uzbekistan, International Affairs, Uzbekistan Features, Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyzstan International Affairs, Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan International Affairs, Features, Uzbekistan International Affairs, Kyrgyzstan Features

U.S. Deports Over 100 Central Asian Migrants on Uzbek Charter Flight

More than 100 people from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan who were illegally in the United States have been deported on a charter flight organized by the Uzbek government, the U.S. Embassy in Tashkent said on Thursday.

The operation, which happened on Wednesday, was “the first in which a U.S. partner proactively provided a dedicated flight to repatriate its citizens” and underscores collaboration on issues such as counterterrorism and law enforcement, according to the embassy.

“By organizing and funding the removal of its citizens present illegally in the United States and allowing the removal of nationals from other countries on Uzbek flights, Uzbekistan demonstrated its role as a trusted and proactive partner in the realm of international security,” it said.

The embassy statement did not provide details on the people who were deported.

U.S. President Donald Trump had campaigned on the promise of the mass deportation of migrants that he said were in the country without permission, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement has carried out deportations in line with that pledge since he took office for a second term in January. The speed and severity of the crackdown have alarmed advocates who have argued in court that the U.S. administration is denying due process to some migrants.

U.S. relations with some of its traditional allies, including Canada and European countries, have frayed since Trump took office.

But Uzbekistan and several other Central Asian countries appear to have maintained a relatively harmonious dialogue with the Trump administration while also collaborating with regional powers Russia and China.

On April 9, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Uzbek Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov met in Washington to discuss investment, critical minerals and security matters. Rubio “thanked Uzbekistan for their efforts to facilitate the return of their deportees from the United States,” the U.S. State Department said.

U.S. plans for mass deportations have been a source of concern for Central Asian communities in the United States.

This month, Kazakhstan urged any of its citizens who are subject to a U.S. deportation order but remain in the United States to voluntarily return home by using a U.S. Department of Homeland Security mobile app. The Kazakh Embassy in Washington urged those nationals to do so in order “to prevent possible negative consequences” such as fines, a ban on re-entry to the United States and other penalties.

In January, Kyrgyzstan warned its citizens to follow U.S. immigration law and always carry relevant documents with them.

01 May 2025
Home, Tajikistan Life & Culture, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan Life & Culture, Life & Culture, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan Life & Culture, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan Features, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan Life & Culture, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan Features, Turkmenistan Features, Features, Uzbekistan Life & Culture, Kazakhstan Featurees, Kyrgyzstan Features

May Day in Central Asia: From Soviet Parades to a Celebration of Unity

In Soviet times, May 1 and 2 were public holidays. May 1 was International Workers’ Day, marked by large-scale parades celebrating the proletariat, while May 2 served as a day to recuperate before returning to work. Today, three of the five Central Asian republics have preserved the tradition of celebrating May Day, effectively marking the arrival of spring twice, once through Central Asian customs – Nauryz – and again through European ones.

Workers of the world, unite!

Coined by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in The Communist Manifesto, this famous communist slogan once appeared on the coats of arms of the Soviet Union and its republics. International Workers’ Day became the living embodiment of this phrase. Celebrated on 1 May, May Day began as a European festival of spring but gained global significance through the labor movement. The Second International, formed at the 1889 International Workers Congress in Paris, called for an annual demonstration advocating an eight-hour workday. The date honors the U.S. general strike that started on 1 May 1886 and led to the tragic Haymarket massacre on 4 May. The date became a powerful symbol of working-class solidarity and a yearly tradition across large swathes of the globe.

Soviet-era poster for International Workers’ Day

Before the Bolsheviks came to power, political agitators in the Russian Empire used May 1 to call for change with slogans such as “Down with the Tsar” and “Give us freedom.” After the October Revolution, May 1 and 2 became official state holidays, with May Day becoming synonymous with International Workers’ Day and mandatory parades. Unlike the more formal and solemn celebrations honoring the October Revolution, however, May Day events were often met with genuine enthusiasm.

After the collapse

The fall of the USSR brought about a widespread reevaluation of Soviet holidays. The celebration of the October Revolution on November 7 was widely discarded, but many post-Soviet republics retained May 1 as a public holiday, albeit with new interpretations and meanings.

In Central Asia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan do not officially celebrate May 1. Turkmenistan has developed a distinct holiday calendar, while in Uzbekistan, May 1 is observed symbolically as the Day of Fountains.

Day of Fountains, Tashkent; image: TCA, Stephen M. Bland

Though celebrations are more modest and it is no longer officially a day off, Tajikistan has retained the holiday’s Soviet-era name, International Workers’ Day. Some traditions, such as honoring outstanding workers, persist.

Kyrgyzstan calls the holiday Labor Day, in line with its American equivalent. It is marked by festive events and activities organized by trade unions.

Kazakhstan has taken a different approach, reimagining May Day as the Day of Unity of the People of Kazakhstan. The name reflects the country’s emphasis on stability and interethnic harmony, a model promoted by the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, an institution established on March 1, 1995, at the initiative of the country’s first president, Nursultan Nazarbayev. Since 2016, March 1 has also been celebrated as Thanksgiving Day, another holiday focused on national unity. Over a hundred different nationalities and ethnic groups reside within Kazakhstan.

On the Day of Unity, cities across Kazakhstan host concerts featuring ethnic groups and pop stars, fairs, exhibitions, and traditional folk festivities. The holiday is a vibrant expression of the country’s multicultural identity, underscoring the idea that “We are different, but we are equal,” a phrase frequently invoked by the current president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

Day of Unity of the People of Kazakhstan celebration; image: el.kz

The modern iteration of May Day originated as a commemoration of American workers’ struggles in the late 19th century, but in East Slavic traditions, among Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians, May 1 also marked the seasonal transition from winter to spring. Bonfires were lit, and straw effigies representing winter were burned. These celebrations often involved gatherings with family and friends, symbolizing rebirth and renewal.

In essence, May Day is the East Slavic counterpart to Nowruz, the Central Asian New Year, which is celebrated at the end of March. While the ideological undertones of May Day have faded, it remains one of the most beloved and eagerly anticipated holidays in the post-Soviet world.

01 May 2025
Central Asia, Silk Road Treasures, Home, Life & Culture, Kazakhstan Life & Culture, Kazakhstan

Twentieth Century Travelogue Documents British Women’s Experiences in Central Asia

Interpreting English-language sources accurately for Kazakh readers can be quite challenging. It often requires drawing on the richness, expressiveness, and natural rhythm of the Kazakh language. I came to appreciate this during an internship in the United States. Each evening, on the first floor of our home in Arlington, Virginia, I would spend about three hours in the study, poring over old library books containing historical records about Kazakhs. A quote often came to mind during those long nights: “A person with a good book is never truly alone.” It became both a source of inspiration and motivation.

One day, I discovered a remarkable book, published in 1927 in both Boston and New York, titled Through the Jade Gate and Central Asia. Written by Mildred Cable and Francesca French, the book recounts their travels as British female missionaries across northwestern China and Central Asia. It offers a vivid portrayal of life in the region a century ago. The authors journeyed through Gansu, Xinjiang, the Gobi Desert, and visited Mongol and Tibetan settlements.

In 1923, Cable, French, and their companion, Evangeline French, traveled more than 2,400 kilometers through Central Asia. They set out from Huozhou, spreading Christianity along the way. During their travels, they opened a mission school, distributed religious literature, and tried to learn local languages, such as Uyghur, to better communicate with Muslim women. However, conversions among local women were rare.

The group crossed the desert five times, traversed the Tibetan plains, and eventually reached Zaysan via Shauyeshek. In Zaysan they met with Kazakh families and documented their encounters. For example, one Kazakh man asked if they knew how to operate a sewing machine, likely one he had purchased from Russians. They also met a Nogai man with two wives and a son, one wife being Kazakh and the other from another Turkic group. Throughout the book, the authors include photographs and descriptions of the people they met along the way.

 

Their journey continued along the Irtysh River, where they were moved by a boatman’s song. Upon reaching Semey, they then traveled by train to Novosibirsk and Omsk. On a boat from Omsk, they observed a Kazakh family and were struck by their blend of nomadic tradition and Western education. The family’s Western-style clothing, musical abilities, and refined manners stood out. One Kazakh man even played traditional music on the piano for his child, a moment that so impressed the authors that they included the musical notation in their book.

The book also records a striking demographic insight: “We were told the Kazakh population exceeds seven million.” The travelers were clearly impressed by the Kazakhs’ adaptability, modesty, and political awareness, suggesting these qualities would soon position them for greater influence. They were especially taken by the poise and beauty of a Kazakh nurse, who left a lasting impression.

In the end, every foreign source that offers insight into our history is an asset. This travelogue stands out as a vivid and respectful portrayal of our ancestors and as a cultural treasure worth remembering.

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