Abraham Accords - The Times Of Central Asia

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Regional Security

The Middle East’s New Rivalry Runs Through Central Asia

Eighty years after Winston Churchill described an Iron Curtain dividing Europe from Stettin to Trieste, another geopolitical rivalry is emerging across the Middle East, with the swing states of Central Asia and the South Caucasus poised to play a pivotal role. From Gwadar to the Golden Horn, the new Mecca Pact brings together Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey. From Pune in India to Piraeus in Greece, the proposed India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor, or IMEC, represents a different vision of regional integration, linking India, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, and Europe. At the heart of the struggle is the Turkey–Israel rivalry for regional leadership in the wake of the Iran war. But the contest will be shaped not only by the Middle East's principal players, but also by countries on its periphery, particularly in the South Caucasus and Central Asia. When Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan walked out of a regional summit in Baku as Israeli President Isaac Herzog began speaking on October 15, he was accompanied by representatives of Iran, Pakistan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the Palestinian Authority, and others opposed to Israel’s actions in Gaza. But none of the five Central Asian leaders followed him. Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev went further. On the sidelines of the summit, he held a bilateral meeting with Herzog, speaking about the “dynamic development” of Kazakhstan-Israel relations. The episode illustrated that the more Turkey plays the Israel card, the more difficult it becomes to maintain cohesion across the Turkic world. The Competition for Swing States At a Hudson Institute discussion in Washington on October 26, analysts examined competing regional alignments as the Middle East prepares for an era of reduced American engagement. [caption id="attachment_59471" align="alignnone" width="300"] From left, Ken Moriyasu, Chaim Martin, Soner Çağaptay, Aslı Aydıntaşbaş and Michael Doran at a Hudson Institute event on Oct. 26. Image: Hudson Institute[/caption] Aslı Aydıntaşbaş, director of the Turkey Project at the Brookings Institution, said the Mecca Pact is “an early experiment” in managing a post-American region. “In the long run, whether it's a Democratic or Republican administration, the notion of reducing U.S. footprint in the region is a very dominant theme, and you only have to look at the American public to see that,” she noted. Soner Çağaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, suggested the pact could best be understood through the countries it excludes, both beginning with the letter "I." Israel and Iran are seen as “part of the regional problems, not the solutions,” he said, adding that the Mecca Pact envisions a broad coalition of countries establishing a new security architecture without either country at its center. India is the third "I," said Chaim Martin, Israel's minister of economic affairs to the United States. "That too is an ‘I’ that is specifically not in that pact," he said. Israel views India as a key strategic partner, with both democracies navigating complex regional environments. Erdogan's Azerbaijan Problem Despite the ambitions of the Mecca Pact,...

Abraham Accords

Kazakhstan Takes Part in Abraham Accords Meeting as Trump-Promised Signing Awaits

Kazakhstan took part for the first time in an official meeting of Abraham Accords countries on September 24 in New York, as Washington works to revive and expand the framework after nearly three years of disruption following the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel. The meeting brought together officials from the United States, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco. It was the first official gathering of the group since October 2023 and was hosted by the N7 Foundation during the UN General Assembly. U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Allison Hooker led the American delegation. Kazakhstan is the first Central Asian and first non-Arab Muslim-majority country to join the Abraham Accords, extending a framework originally built around normalization between Israel and Arab states into Central Asia. Erzhan Kazykhan, Special Representative of the President of Kazakhstan for Negotiations with the United States, told CBS News that “We see the Accords as a platform to reinforce political dialogue across the Middle East and neighboring regions,” adding that Kazakhstan sees opportunities to expand trade and investment, strengthen connectivity, promote technological cooperation and create tangible economic opportunities. Kazakhstan and Israel already have longstanding relations. The two countries established diplomatic relations on April 10, 1992 and have maintained embassies and bilateral cooperation for more than three decades. Economic cooperation has been part of the framework from the beginning. The original Israel-UAE Abraham Accords agreement identified energy, agriculture and food security, water, technology and investment among the areas for cooperation. N7 founder Jeffrey Talpins said the next stage should focus on strengthening existing relationships and finding practical areas where participating countries can work together. He said the Accords show what countries can achieve through shared interests and a common vision for a more integrated and prosperous region. During bilateral talks with Israel earlier this year, Kazakhstan and Israel discussed possible joint projects in high-tech agriculture, water resource management and digital technologies. Kazakhstan is also important to energy and critical-mineral supply chains. It is the world’s largest uranium producer and an increasingly important U.S. partner on critical minerals and secure supply chains. Within Central Asia, Kazakhstan accounts for 56.4% of the region’s combined GDP and 66.4% of its inward foreign direct investment stock. Kazakhstan is also a transport and logistics link between Central Asia, the South Caucasus and Europe, giving connectivity another practical role in its participation in the Accords. Signing Ceremony Still Pending Kazakhstan announced its accession after President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev met U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in November 2025. Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry subsequently announced the country’s accession, describing the decision as consistent with its balanced and peaceful foreign policy and reiterating support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Trump highlighted Kazakhstan’s entry at a dinner with the five Central Asian presidents on November 6. He said Kazakhstan had “officially joined the Abraham Accords” and described it as “a tremendous country with a tremendous leader”. Trump also said a formal ceremony would follow. “We will soon announce...

G20 Summit

Kazakhstan Confirms Tokayev Will Attend Miami G20 Summit

Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on August 12 that President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev will attend the G20 Leaders’ Summit on December 14–15 at Trump National Doral Miami, President Donald Trump’s golf resort near Miami. Kazakhstan is not a member of the G20 and will attend as a guest of the United States, which holds the group’s presidency this year. Trump first said on December 23, 2025, that he would invite Tokayev and Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev following separate telephone calls with the two Central Asian leaders. In a Truth Social post, Trump said the relationship with both countries was “spectacular.” G20 hosts regularly invite countries outside the group to attend leaders’ summits. Two of Washington’s stated priorities for its G20 presidency are reducing regulatory burdens and expanding access to reliable, affordable energy. A third is developing new technologies, another area of recent U.S.-Kazakhstan cooperation. Kazakhstan is the world’s largest uranium producer, while American companies have pursued mineral and technology investments in the country. Relations between Astana and the Trump administration have grown closer. At the C5+1 summit in Washington in November 2025, Tokayev said Trump’s “wise and bold policy” deserved strong support worldwide and praised his “Make America Great Again” agenda. During the same visit, Kazakhstan announced that it would join the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords, although it had maintained diplomatic relations with Israel since 1992. On January 22, Tokayev signed the charter establishing Trump’s Board of Peace. Uzbekistan has also been invited to the Miami summit, although as of August 13, Tashkent had not publicly confirmed that Mirziyoyev would attend. On June 25, Mirziyoyev met U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to discuss trade and investment, including continued U.S. support for Uzbekistan’s accession to the World Trade Organization.

Abraham Accords

Kazakhstan’s Abraham Accords Dividend

Astana’s entry into the Abraham Accords is not the opening of a relationship with Israel so much as the re-platforming of one. Kazakhstan recognized Israel in the early 1990s and has maintained a functional, if understated, partnership since then. What has changed is the format. An existing bilateral channel is being placed inside diplomatic architecture with better access to political attention, private capital, and commercially useful networks. Kazakhstan announced its intention to join the Accords on November 6, 2025, ahead of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s meeting with Donald Trump in Washington. The Times of Central Asia described Kazakhstan as the first Central Asian state and the only non-Middle Eastern or North African country to enter the framework. An official accession ceremony is still pending. For Kazakhstan, the value lies not in symbolism but in the Accords’ convening power. The Accords make Kazakhstan more legible to Israeli technology firms, Gulf investors, American policymakers, and the growing ecosystem of institutions and policy platforms built around regional economic integration. For Astana, this is the practical utility of membership. It does not need the Accords to talk to Israel. It can use them to widen the circle around specific projects. The formulation is also consistent with Kazakhstan’s foreign-policy habits. Astana has not presented the decision as a strategic turn against any other partner. Its Foreign Ministry said accession was made “solely in the interests of Kazakhstan,” and was consistent with a “balanced, constructive, and peaceful foreign policy.” The same statement reaffirmed support for a two-state settlement of the Middle East conflict. That wording appears carefully calibrated. It allows Astana to engage with a Trump-associated diplomatic framework while presenting the decision as an extension of Kazakhstan’s established multi-vector foreign policy, not a departure from it. The better interpretation is additive multi-vectorism in the form of another channel, another table, and another set of possible transactions. A Times of Central Asia analysis made this point directly, arguing that Kazakhstan’s aims include converting symbolic capital into policy traction, developing Gulf co-financing, and preserving equilibrium with Moscow and Beijing. The commercial agenda is already visible. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar’s January 2026 visit to Astana, the first by an Israeli foreign minister in 16 years, produced a package of institutional and economic steps. A Kazakhstan-Israel business forum ran alongside the official meetings, and the sides identified a project map covering high-tech agriculture, water management, digital technologies, artificial intelligence, infrastructure, logistics, energy efficiency, renewables, healthcare, and pharmaceuticals. These sectors are not ornamental but match Kazakhstan’s own reform priorities of productivity, digital administration, non-resource growth, infrastructure modernization, and technology transfer. Israel’s appeal lies less in its market size than in its applied capability. Gulf participation, where available, adds scale and financing. The Accords can help package those elements into projects that are easier for companies, development institutions, and governments to recognize. Energy and infrastructure may become the most consequential tests. The Times of Central Asia has argued that the Accords could give Israeli firms a clearer political and legal framework for...

Board of Peace

Central Asia and Azerbaijan on Board as the Gaza Peace Effort Gets Underway

As the Trump Administration is trying to drag the world toward the reconstruction of Gaza, an undertaking fraught with security, political, and economic challenges, a gap is emerging between the “old” Europe, skeptical of Trump, and nation-states seeking to expand cooperation with Washington. Central Asian and Caucasian "middle powers" are among the emerging allies in the Trump Administration's latest diplomatic gambit for peace. Kazakhstan took a leadership position as the first Muslim-majority state outside the Middle East to join the Abraham Accords in November 2025. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, an experienced diplomat, former Foreign Minister, and high-level U.N. official, represented his country at the Board of Peace inauguration during the January 2026 session of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. So did Ilham Aliev, President of Azerbaijan, and his First Lady and First Vice President, Mehriban, both of whom met with Trump in Davos. The attendance and participation of leaders of other majority-Muslim states outside the Middle East are also noteworthy. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan, Prabowo Subianto of Indonesia, Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu of Kosovo, and Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan signed the Charter on behalf of their respective nations. Those who chose not to participate are equally noteworthy. France, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Portugal, Canada, and Australia, which publicly announced or reaffirmed recognition of a State of Palestine around the U.N. General Assembly in September 2025, each determined not to attend the signing ceremony at Davos, despite the fact that the establishment of the Board was officially welcomed by the UN Security Council in November 2025. This underscores the challenges that will arise as Trump’s Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict enters its second phase, which foresees Hamas’ disarmament. Similarly, differences in policy toward Israel among the Muslim-majority countries that signed the Charter speak to the complexity of the Board’s task. Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan have longstanding diplomatic and trade relations with Israel. This contrasts with the complex and often hostile stances of Qatar, long ruled by the Al Thani family, and Turkey under Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, both of which support the Muslim Brotherhood and shelter Hamas terrorists. Then there are countries like Indonesia and Pakistan, which have never had diplomatic relations with Israel. Indonesia, under Subianto, continues to condition recognition of Israel on the creation of a Palestinian state. Pakistan has been officially hostile since its founding, and is particularly fearful of Jerusalem’s increasingly close relations with India, though it does have a history of covert information sharing and unofficial cooperation. Once again, navigating the political agendas and moving the reconstruction project forward will require a multi-dimensional chess game. Nevertheless, the Trump White House is working on the Board of Peace's first meeting, set for February 19th. Currently, there is no official word about whether the leaders of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan will attend, while other leaders plan to, such as President Aliyev, who just signed a Strategic Partnership Charter during a visit by U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance to Azerbaijan, and PM Nikol Pashinyan of...

U.S.-Kazakhstan Relations

Tokayev Praises Trump’s ‘Common-Sense’ Governance, Backs U.S.-Led Peace Initiatives

Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has offered rare and explicit praise for the domestic and foreign policies of U.S. President Donald Trump, describing him as a strong leader whose governance model prioritizes national interests, law and order, and pragmatic diplomacy. In an exclusive interview with The News International during his visit to Islamabad, President Tokayev described President Trump’s leadership as “forward-looking,” pointing to what he characterized as strong economic performance and ongoing transformative reforms in the social sphere in the United States. “President Trump is a strong and forward-looking leader who puts the national interests of his country first,” Tokayev said, pointing to what he described as strong economic performance and transformative reforms in the social sphere. He added that Trump’s emphasis on law and order resonated with Kazakhstan’s own governance philosophy, which prioritizes compliance with the law and respect for state institutions. Tokayev said that in an increasingly complex global environment, governments must ensure internal stability by enforcing the rule of law. “All citizens must comply with the law and respect law-enforcement agencies while avoiding any obstruction,” he noted, drawing a direct parallel between Washington’s and Astana’s domestic policy approaches. Support for the Abraham Accords The Kazakh president also defended his country’s decision to join the Abraham Accords, an initiative launched during Trump’s presidency to normalize relations between Israel and several Muslim-majority countries. Describing the accords as “a truly forward-looking initiative,” Tokayev said Kazakhstan’s participation reflects its long-standing commitment to peace, stability, and international dialogue. He stressed that diplomacy remains the most effective instrument for resolving conflicts and fostering long-term regional and global stability. While reaffirming Kazakhstan’s strong relations with Israel, Tokayev underscored that Astana continues to support the Palestinian people and advocates a two-state solution. From a national interest perspective, he said, joining the Abraham Accords creates opportunities to attract foreign investment, advanced technologies, and concrete economic benefits. He also expressed hope that Kazakhstan’s accession would help broaden Arab–Jewish rapprochement into a wider Muslim–Judaic dialogue. Board of Peace and the UN Framework Addressing criticism surrounding the newly established Board of Peace, which he co-founded with Pakistan’s prime minister, amongst others, Tokayev rejected claims that the initiative seeks to undermine the United Nations. He said President Trump had personally emphasized that the Board of Peace is designed to complement, not replace, the United Nations, which he acknowledged is currently facing institutional strain. Tokayev highlighted that the initiative implements United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803, reinforcing the principle that peace efforts must combine international legitimacy with effective leadership. According to Tokayev, the Board of Peace aims to deliver swift and practical outcomes through flexible mechanisms for conflict resolution, positioning it as a pragmatic addition to existing global peace architectures. Gaza and the Limits of Diplomacy On the prospects for peace in Gaza, Tokayev offered cautious realism. He said proposals put forward by U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and senior adviser Jared Kushner appeared ambitious, structured, and grounded in development-oriented thinking. However, he warned that no plan can succeed without genuine political...