TIMELINE OF CENTRAL ASIA (1918—2014)

VLADIMIR FEDORENKO

750 First St., NE, Suite 1125 Washington, DC 20002 [email protected] Phone: 202-842-2026 RETHINK PAPER 21 www.retthinkinstitute.org MARCH 2015

TIMELINE OF CENTRAL ASIA (1918-2014)

VLADIMIR FEDORENKO

RETHINK PAPER 21 March 2015

The Rethink Institute is an independent, not-for-profit, nonpartisan research institution devoted to deepen our understanding of contemporary political and cultural challenges facing communities and societies around the world, in realizing peace and justice, broadly defined. The Institute pursues this mission by facilitating research on public policies and civic initiatives centering on dispute resolution, peace building, dialogue development, and education. Toward these goals, the Institute sponsors rigorous research and analysis, supports visiting scholar programs, and organizes workshops and conferences. © Rethink Institute. All rights reserved ISBN: 978-1-938300-28-8 Printed in the USA Rethink Institute 750 First St., NE, Suite 1125 Washington, DC 20002 Phone: (202) 842-2026 [email protected]

This publication can be downloaded at no cost at www.rethinkinstitute.org

CONTENTS

1 Preface

3 Timeline of Central Asia

Timeline of Central Asia (1918-2014) 1

Preface The Timeline of Central Asia aims to serve as a chronological guide offering information regarding essential developments in the Central Asian region. Within the framework of this study, the Central Asian region is defined as the following countries: Kazakhstan, , , Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Each of the five Central Asian republics has its own distinctive features and unique accomplishments. However, due to many common characteristics and mutually-dependent aspects, this study provides the timeline of developments in a regional format, rather than using the conventional way of displaying information by country. The Central Asian states do not just share similar features, such as common political history and administrative experience and similar cultural, ethnic, linguistic and religious identities; they also have to face many common challenges, such as national security, drug trafficking, energy sustainability, transportation of energy resources, trading routes in landlocked economies, improving transportation infrastructure, environmental pollution, labor migration and many others. In order to provide an instrument for comprehensive understanding of developments in Central Asia, the timeline project is divided into three main parts: . The Soviet period summarizes the important milestones and developments of Central Asian republics during the Soviet period, from the time when the five republics of Central Asia, as we know them today, came into existence as political entities within the USSR until they achieved national independence. . The independence period outlines important events featuring political, economic, cultural and international developments in Central Asia that occurred after the breakdown of the and continuing for almost two decades after the collapse. . The third period provides the description of important events and developments occurring between 2009 and 2014. Besides being more detailed, the description of the events that happened during this period is more extensive, since it is important to fully understand key developments in the region in order to understand future trends and events. The Central Asian region has always occupied a position of great importance in both geopolitical and economic terms. For instance, British scholar Halford Mackinder, who is regarded as the founding father of geopolitics and geostrategy, saw Central Asia as “the great pivot” in his Heartland Theory. Later on, American strategist Zbigniew Brzezinski saw Central Asia as a paramount “figure” in his book The Grand Chessboard. Different countries of the world have viewed Central Asia as an important and attractive region for various reasons. For example, for , Central Asia has always been of great interest as a strategic trading partner and a viable means of reaching European markets. Due to China’s ever-growing energy needs, resource-abundant Central Asia has recently become a more important partner than ever. For Russia, Central Asia has been a strategically important region since imperial times. Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Russia has actively sought to maintain its presence in Central Asia in both geopolitical and economic terms. Central Asia was also a hub for trade, development and enlightenment on the historical Silk Road. Nowadays, with its important location, abundant natural resources, fast growing economies, large young population and expanding markets, Central Asia is regarded as one of the lynchpins of revival of the Silk Road. 2 Vladimir Fedorenko

One of the most important features of the layout of chronological events is an ability to demonstrate the continuity of the political course, economic priorities and consistency of the desired development, or on the contrary, to display the circumstances and reasons under the influence of which political elites change trajectories or altered development strategies. The regional layout of this study enables cross-national analyses and stimulates thorough examination of the reasons behind key developments. It is expected that the Central Asian timeline will become a convenient and constructive instrument, allowing not only experts and scholars, but also the general audience, to understand the path of development of the Central Asian republics and the entire region. It is also possible to generate custom Central Asia timelines by applying suitable filters to the master chronological dataset. The dataset can be accessed at our website www.rethinkinstitute.org. Timeline of Central Asia (1918-2014) 3

Timeline of Central Asia

YEAR MON DAY COUNTRY CATEGORY INCIDENT THE SOVIET PERIOD 1918 Apr 30 Kazakhstan, Political Establishment of the Soviet Socialist Kyrgyzstan, Republic of Turkistan Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan 1918 Apr 30 Uzbekistan Political Soviet forces were confronted by the nationalist Basmachi movements and White Anti-Bolshevik military. 1920 Feb Uzbekistan Political Khorezm People’s Socialist Republic was established 1920 Aug 26 Kazakhstan Political Establishment of Kyrgyz Autonomous Soviet Socialistic Republic, Kyrgyz ASSR (Russian authorities used to call the Kazakhs as “Kyrgyz” and the Kyrgyzs as “Kara Kyrgyz” at the time) 1920 Sep 2 Uzbekistan Political After suppressing revolts a local communist leader Faizulla Khojaev gained power in Uzbekistan. Later Khans of Khiva and Bukhara were defeated. 1921 Aug 7 Turkmenistan Political Establishment of the Turkmen Oblast within the Turkestan ASSR 1923 Tajikistan Social Soviets initiated simplification the Persian alphabet 1924 Oct 14 Kyrgyzstan Political Establishment of the Kara-Kyrgyz Autonomous Oblast that was directly connected to Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. 1924 Oct 27 Uzbekistan Political Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR), which included present-day Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, was established by the Soviet Union 1925 Mar 15 Tajikistan Political Establishment of the Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR) 1925 Apr 15 Kazakhstan Political The Kyrgyz ASSR was renamed as the Kazakh ASSR. After dissolution of Turkistan ASSR Turkmen SSR became a constituent Republic of the Soviet Union 1925 May 13 Turkmenistan Political Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) was established 1925 May 15 Kyrgyzstan Political The Kara-Kyrgyz Autonomous Oblast was renamed as Kyrgyz Autonomous Oblast 1926 Feb 1 Kyrgyzstan Political Reorganization into the Kyrgyz ASSR Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR) 1926 Oct 14 Kyrgyzstan Social Introduction of Latin script started 4 Vladimir Fedorenko

1927 Apr 1 Tajikistan Social Persian/Arabic Alphabet was replaced by Latin script 1927 Apr 3 Kazakhstan Political Capital transferred from Kyzylorda to Alma-Ata [Almaty] 1927 Dec 12 Kyrgyzstan Social Latin alphabet became official script alongside with Arabic 1928 Jan 3 Turkmenistan Social Arabic alphabet was changed to Latin script. Educational institutions started using Latin script on the in September 1928 and all official institutions in May 1929 1928 Sep 1 Kyrgyzstan Social Arabic script replaced by Latin script in all educational institutions. On 1st of January 1930 Arabic script was removed from all official correspondence 1928 Oct 18 Uzbekistan Social The reformed Uzbek alphabet based on Arabic and Persian scripts were officially adopted 1928 Turkmenistan Social Religious practices were suppressed and most of mosques and other religious establishments were closed down 1929 May Uzbekistan Social New Uzbek 34-letter alphabet based on Latin script was adopted 1929 Oct 16 Tajikistan Political Became a full republic of the Soviet Union, Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic (Tajik SSR)

1929 Oct 16 Uzbekistan Political Tajik ASSR was separated from Uzbek SSR 1929 Aug 7 Kazakhstan Social The Arabic alphabet was replaced by the Latin 1929 Turkmenistan Social Agricultural collectivization programs launched. Agricultural developments forced Turkmen population to abandon conventional nomadic lifestyle 1930 Uzbekistan Social Forced agricultural collectivization led to mass famine 1932 Mar 20 Uzbekistan, Political Karakalpak Autonomous Oblast was taken Kazakhstan from Kazakh ASSR. In 1936 the Karakalpak ASSR was given to Uzbek ASSR 1933 Kazakhstan Social Kazakhstan was heavily struck by famine between 1932 and 1933. About 2 million people died, and 48% of indigenous population migrated from Kazakh ASSR. The famine made Kazakhs a minority in their own republic 1936 Dec 5 Kyrgyzstan Political Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic (Kyrgyz SSR), a full member republic within Soviet Union 1936 Dec 5 Kazakhstan Political Establishment of Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic (Kyrgyz SSR), a full member republic within the Soviet Union Timeline of Central Asia (1918-2014) 5

1938 Mar 13 Uzbekistan Social Head of the government of Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic Fayzulla Khojaev, who opposed Stalin's heavy-handed control, particularly in the matter of cotton production and entire Uzbek leadership was executed by Stalin and replaced with Russian officials 1940 May 8 Uzbekistan Social The Latin alphabet was replaced by the Cyrillic alphabet 1940 Sep 1 Turkmenistan Social The Latin alphabet was replaced by the Cyrillic alphabet 1940 Sep 28 Tajikistan Social The Latin alphabet was replaced by the Cyrillic alphabet 1940 Nov 10 Kazakhstan Social The Latin alphabet was replaced by the Cyrillic alphabet 1941 Sep 12 Kyrgyzstan Social The Latin alphabet was replaced by the Cyrillic alphabet 1944 Kazakhstan Social Many of Chechens, Tatars, Ingushes, Soviet Koreans, Volga Germans and many others were forced to move to Kazakhstan during mass deportations ordered Joseph Stalin 1944 Nov 15 Uzbekistan Social 144,000 Meskhetian Turks deported from Georgia to Uzbekistan 1948 Oct 5 Turkmenistan Social Earthquake in killed over 110,000 people 1950 Uzbekistan Social Increasing of cotton production by grand irrigation projects, which contributed to the desiccation of Aral Sea 1954 Turkmenistan Social Construction works began on Kara-Kum Canal to irrigate central dry areas of Turkmenistan. [Kara-Kum Canal later became one of the major causes of the drying of the Aral Sea] 1961 Kazakhstan Social Many Uyghur people migrated to Kazakhstan from China 1966 Apr 26 Uzbekistan Social Devastating earthquake in . 100,000 people became homeless. Thousands of the ancient houses and monuments were destroyed 1985 Dec 21 Turkmenistan Political Saparmurat Niyazov became the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Turkmenistan 1988 Sep Uzbekistan Political Uzbek intellectuals founded the first major political opposition party – nationalist movement Birlik. 1986 Dec 16 Kazakhstan Political Long-serving leader of Kazakh Communist Party and ethnic Kazakh, Dinmukhamed Kunaev, was replaced by ethnic Russian Gennady Kolbin. The appointment of Kolbin was followed by protests which were violently stopped and resulted in 2 6 Vladimir Fedorenko

deaths. 1989 Jun 22 Kazakhstan Political is appointed to position of the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan instead of Kolbin 1989 Jun Uzbekistan Political A series of violent ethnic clashes occurred involving Meskhetian Turks (Ahiska Turks) and other groups in Fergana Valley. 1989 Jun 23 Uzbekistan Political Islam Karimov elected as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan 1989 Sep 23 Kyrgyzstan Social Soviet of the Kyrgyz SSR declared Kyrgyz the official state language 1989 Oct 21 Uzbekistan Social The law on "On Official Language" passed by the Uzbekistan Supreme Soviet. Uzbek became the official state language 1990 Jan 13 Turkmenistan Political Saparmurat Niyazov elected as Chairman of the Supreme Soviet 1990 Feb 11 Tajikistan Political Increase of political and ethnic clashes in the capital city and other places 1990 Mar 24 Uzbekistan Political Karimov became the President of Uzbek SSR 1990 May Turkmenistan Social Turkmenistan has changed its official language from Russian to Turkmen

1990 Jun 4 Kyrgyzstan Social 300 people were killed in the city of and Uzgen due to violent dispute between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz. 1990 Jun 20 Uzbekistan Political Uzbekistan declared sovereignty 1990 Aug 22 Turkmenistan Political Turkmenistan declared sovereignty 1990 Aug 24 Tajikistan Political Tajikistan declared sovereignty 1990 Oct 25 Kazakhstan Political Kazakhstan declared sovereignty 1990 Oct 27 Turkmenistan Political Saparmurat Niyazov elected as first President of Turkmenistan receiving 98.3% of the votes 1990 Nov 30 Tajikistan Political Qahhor Mahkamov elected as the first 1990 Dec 15 Kyrgyzstan Political Kyrgyzstan declared sovereignty 1991 Aug 31 Tajikistan Political Mass demonstrations and violent clashes in Dushanbe resulted in resignation of the President Mahkamov THE INDEPENDENCE PERIOD 1991 Aug 31 Uzbekistan Political Declaration of Independence 1991 Aug 31 Kyrgyzstan Political Declaration of Independence 1991 Sep 9 Tajikistan Political Declaration of independence 1991 Oct 26 Turkmenistan Political Turkmenistan's referendum on independence. 94.1% of participants voted for independence Timeline of Central Asia (1918-2014) 7

1991 Oct 27 Turkmenistan Political Declaration of independence 1991 Nov Uzbekistan Political The Communist Party of Uzbekistan reorganized and was renamed the People's Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (PDPU). 1991 Dec 1 Kazakhstan Political As result of elections Nazarbayev became receiving 98.8% of the votes. 1991 Dec 16 Kazakhstan Political Declaration of independence 1991 Dec 16 Turkmenistan Political The Communist Party of Turkmenistan changed its name to The Democratic Party of Turkmenistan, chaired by Saparmurat Niyazov 1991 Dec 29 Uzbekistan Political The first Presidential Election of Uzbekistan resulted in a victory of Islam Karimov representing the People's Democratic Party of Uzbekistan with 87.1% of the vote 1991 Oct 12 Kyrgyzstan Political elected as the first by 95.4 % of the votes

1991 Dec 21 Kazakhstan, International 10 post-Soviet states signed the Almaty Kyrgyzstan, Declaration establishing the CIS Tajikistan, (Commonwealth of Independent States). Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan 1992 Mar 2 Kazakhstan, International Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan became Tajikistan, members of the United Nations Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan 1992 May 3 Tajikistan Political First massive armed conflicts and the beginning of the Civil War in Tajikistan 1992 May 15 Kazakhstan, International The Collective Security Treaty was signed Kyrgyzstan, by Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, Uzbekistan establishing interstate military alliance called The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). 1992 May 18 Turkmenistan Political A new constitution was adopted. Constitution increased powers of president Niyazov, who was proclaimed a ‘Hero of Turkmenistan’ 1992 May 18 Turkmenistan Political People's Council (Khalk Maslahaty) was established as a the highest representative body of Turkmenistan 1992 Sep 7 Tajikistan Political President Rahmon Nabiyev is forced to resign from the office 8 Vladimir Fedorenko

1992 Oct 5 Kazakhstan International At the 47th Session of the United Nations General Assembly Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev proposed the idea of The Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) 1992 Dec 2 Uzbekistan Political The first Constitution of Uzbekistan as an independent state was adopted 1992 Dec 4 Kyrgyzstan Economic Master Agreement for exploitation of Kumtor gold deposits was signed in Toronto 1993 Jan 1 Turkmenistan Social Electricity, gas and water became free-of- charge to all citizens of Turkmenistan

1993 Jan 22 Kazakhstan, International Collective security treaty among Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan was signed to assist Uzbekistan Tajikistan during the civil war 1993 May 3 Kazakhstan, International The TRACECA Program was established at Kyrgyzstan, the Brussels Conference. 8 member states Tajikistan, signed the TRACECA agreement: Armenia, Uzbekistan Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. [TRACECA acronym: Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia] 1993 May 5 Kyrgyzstan Political The Supreme Council (Jogorku Kengesh) adopted a new constitution 1993 May 5 Uzbekistan Social Parliament passed the law on adopting new Uzbek alphabet based on Latin script

1993 Oct 22 Turkmenistan Political President Niyazov received title ‘Turkmenbashy’ (Leader of Turkmen) 1993 Nov 1 Turkmenistan Economic Turkmenistan Manat was introduced as the national currency 1993 Nov 15 Kazakhstan Economic Kazakhstan introduces its new national currency – Kazakhstani Tenge. 1993 Dec 23 Turkmenistan Social Turkmen-Russian agreement signed in Ashgabat granting ethnic Russians in Turkmenistan dual citizenship with Russia. Agreement came to force on 18 May 1995. 1994 Jul Kyrgyzstan International Construction at Kumtor gold deposits began 1994 May Uzbekistan International Uzbekistan signed economic integration treaty with Russia; as well as economic, military and social cooperation agreements with Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. 1994 Nov 6 Tajikistan Political elected as a President with 58% of vote cast 1994 Nov 6 Tajikistan Political As a result of the national referendum a new (and current) Constitution of Timeline of Central Asia (1918-2014) 9

Tajikistan was adopted.

1995 Mar 26 Uzbekistan Political National referendum extended President Karimov's term in the office without elections until next presidential election in 2000 1995 May 10 Tajikistan Economic Tajikistani Ruble was introduced as the national currency in replacement of Soviet/Russian Ruble 1995 Aug 30 Kazakhstan Political Adoption of a new (and current) constitution. It was approved by 89.1% vote as a result of a national referendum. Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan became a bicameral parliament (47- member Senate and 67-member Mazhilis) 1995 Aug 30 Kazakhstan Political According new constitution Kazakhstan has become a presidential republic

1995 Sep 15 Kazakhstan Political By Nazarbayev signed decree about transferring capital from Alma-Ata to Akmola [formerly Tselinograd] 1995 Dec 24 Kyrgyzstan Political Askar Akayev reelected for the second term by 72.4 % of the votes 1995 Dec 21 Uzbekistan Social Parliament adopted Uzbek Latin alphabet- based script as the State Language

1996 Apr 26 Kazakhstan, International The Shanghai Five (later to be renamed to Kyrgyzstan, The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Tajikistan SCO) was founded by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. 1997 Jan 7 Kyrgyzstan Economic Commercial gold production began at Kumtor – Kyrgyzstan’s largest investment project. 1997 Jun 27 Tajikistan Political Peace treaty was signed in between Government and United Tajik Opposition (UTO) ending the five-year civil war. June 27 is currently being celebrated as the Day of National Unity 1997 Sep 24 Kazakhstan Economic An agreement on cooperation in oil and gas was signed between the governments of Kazakhstan and China. This agreement later resulted in project of Atasu- Alashankou pipeline, or aka Kazakhstan– China oil pipeline. 1997 Kazakhstan, International The Central Asia Regional Economic Kyrgyzstan, Cooperation (CAREC) Program was Tajikistan, initiated. Involved member-states are Uzbekistan following Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. 1997 Dec 10 Kazakhstan Political Akmola officially became the capital of 10 Vladimir Fedorenko

Kazakhstan 1997 Dec 23 Tajikistan Political President Imomali Rakhmonov signs a cease-fire with leader of opposition Sayid Abdulloh Nuri 1998 May 6 Kazakhstan Political By a presidential decree the name of the new capital Akmola was changed to Astana. 1998 Aug Uzbekistan Political Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) was established 1998 Sep 8 Kazakhstan, International A multinational agreement aimed to revive Kyrgyzstan, ‘Silk Road’ trade corridor was signed at the Tajikistan, International Conference “TRACECA – Turkmenistan, Restoration of the Historic Silk Route” in Uzbekistan Baku, Azerbaijan. 1998 Dec 20 Kyrgyzstan International Kyrgyzstan became the first Central Asian member to the World Trade Organization (WTO) 1999 Jan 10 Kazakhstan Political Nazarbayev was reelected as president with 81.7% of total votes 1999 Sep 14 Kazakhstan International Establishment of Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA). CICA was formally launched in 2002. 1999 Nov 6 Tajikistan Political Emomali Rahmon reelected as president for his second term with 97% of vote cast

1999 Nov 19 Turkmenistan International On the OSCE summit, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Georgia and Turkmenistan signed agreement to construct an underwater trans-Caspian natural gas pipeline 1999 Feb 16 Uzbekistan Social Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) blamed for bombings in Tashkent, declared as terrorist movement. IMU declared jihad and demanded resignation of Islam Karimov 1999 Apr 25 Uzbekistan Social Uzbekistan officially joins to GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development 2000 Jan 9 Uzbekistan Political The presidential elections in Uzbekistan. Incumbent Islam Karimov receiving 95.7% of the vote was reelected 2000 Feb 27 Tajikistan Political Parliamentary elections in Tajikistan. The second round was on March 12th. Seat distribution in the 63-seat Assembly of Representatives is as follows People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan 36, Communist Party of Tajikistan 13, Independents 10, Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan 2, and Vacant 2. 2000 May 25 Kyrgyzstan Social Russian approved as a second official language of Kyrgyz Republic Timeline of Central Asia (1918-2014) 11

2000 Aug 14 Kyrgyzstan Social As a result of 4-day long clash between government troops and radical Islamic militants 95 people were killed. 1999 Jan 10 Kazakhstan Political In the East Kazakhstan Province Oskemen Kazakh authorities arrested 22 members of nationalist group called Rus’ [Русь] accused of a separatist rebellion. 2000 Oct 6 Kazakhstan, International Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan established Eurasian Tajikistan Economic Community (EEC). Tajikistan became one of the founding members of the EEC. 2000 Oct 29 Kyrgyzstan Political Askar Akayev was reelected for the third term receiving 76.4 % of the votes

2000 Oct 30 Tajikistan Economic Government of Tajikistan introduced new national currency – the Somoni, which replaced the Tajik Ruble 2001 Feb 19 Turkmenistan Political Niyazov declared his intention to resign by 2010 2001 Mar 26 Kazakhstan Economic The Caspian Pipeline Consortium began sending crude oil from the Tengiz field to Russia via 990-mile Tengiz-Novorossiysk oil pipeline owned by Kazakhstan, Oman, Russia, and 8 other oil companies 2001 Apr 26 Kazakhstan, International During the summit in Istanbul leaders of Kyrgyzstan, Turkic-speaking countries signed Tajikistan, agreement on regional partnership on Uzbekistan fighting terrorism, drug trafficking, protection of environment and revival of the ‘Silk Road’. Energy projects such as the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline and the trans- Caspian pipeline were discussed the summit. 2001 May 23 Kazakhstan, International The Collective Security Treaty signatory Kyrgyzstan, countries - Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan- agreed to form a Rapid Reaction Force to combat radical Islamism in Central Asia. 2001 Jun 15 Uzbekistan International Uzbekistan joins to The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) 2001 Sep 12 Turkmenistan Social Initial publication of the book Ruhnama (The Book of the Soul) written by Saparmurat Niyazov 2001 Oct 8 Uzbekistan International Uzbekistan became the first nation in Central Asia granting permission to the USA to use its airspace and deploy troops on its territory for the ‘anti-terrorism’ campaign in Afghanistan after 9/11 2002 Jan 27 Uzbekistan Political As a result of national referendum Islam Karimov’s presidential term extended from 5 to 7 years 12 Vladimir Fedorenko

2002 Apr 3 Kazakhstan Political New political party, Democratic Party of Kazakhstan Ak Zhol, was founded.

2002 Apr 24 Azerbaijan, International Caspian Sea Summit between Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan, , Russia and Turkmenistan Turkmenistan failed to agree on dividing up the oil resources in the region. 2002 Jun 4 Kazakhstan, International Conference on Interaction and Confidence Kyrgyzstan, Building Measures in Asia (CICA) was Tajikistan, formally launched in after 16 Member Uzbekistan States signed Almaty Act during the first CICA summit in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are the founding members of CICA. 2002 Nov 25 Turkmenistan Political Alleged assassination attempt of the president Niyazov 2002 Dec 23 Tajikistan, International Non-intervention agreement was signed Turkmenistan, by Afghanistan’s 6 neighbors – Uzbekistan Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Pakistan and China 2003 Jun 20 Kazakhstan Economic Land Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan allowed private ownership of land for the first time in Kazakhstan 2003 Sep 23 Kazakhstan, International Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Kyrgyzstan, member-states signed a Framework Tajikistan, Agreement to improve economic Uzbekistan cooperation and strengthen security alliance during the SCO summit in Beijing. 2003 Oct 22 Kyrgyzstan Political A 15-year agreement signed between Russia and Kyrgyzstan granted Russian Air Force units access to Kant Air Base in Kyrgyzstan. In 2009 agreement was extended for additional 49 years. 2003 Dec 11 Uzbekistan International Uzbekistan announced that it would allow US troops on its territory to help struggling against terrorism, but permanent deployment would not be allowed. 2004 Jan 9 Kazakhstan Economic Kazakhstan extended Russia’s lease of Baikonur’s launching pad until 2050.

2004 Mar 28 Uzbekistan Political As a result of 2 suicide bombings and clashes between Islamic militants and Uzbek police in Kakhramon, Bukhara and Tashkent approximately 66 people were killed and many more injured. 2004 May 17 Kazakhstan Economic Agreement signed between China and Kazakhstan to build a 744-mile crude oil pipeline. Construction began in September of 2004. Timeline of Central Asia (1918-2014) 13

2004 Jun 16 Uzbekistan International SCO summit in Tashkent. Uzbekistan and Russia signed the Treaty on Strategic Partnership. Additionally Regional Antiterrorism Structure (RATS) was established. 2004 Sep 19 Kazakhstan Political Legislative elections to Mazhilis, the Parliament of Kazakhstan were held. Nazarbayev’s Nur-Otan (Fatherland) Party received 60.6% of the votes winning 42 seats. The total number of seats in Majlis was 77. 2004 Nov 21 Uzbekistan, Political Treaty of friendship signed between Turkmenistan Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan signed in Bukhara. Presidents signed several agreements on water resources, energy cooperation and demarcation of the disputed mutual borders. 2005 Feb 27 Tajikistan Political Parliamentary elections in Tajikistan. The second round was on March 13th. Ruling the People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan won a 41-seat majority in the 63-seat Assembly of Representatives 2005 Feb 27 Kyrgyzstan Political Parliamentary elections were held in two rounds on 27 February and on 13 March. Dominant victory of the presidents Akayev family and affiliates triggered widespread protests over alleged election fraud 2005 Feb Kyrgyzstan Political Beginning of "The ": Parliamentary elections sparked a wave of violent protests resulted in governmental 2005 Mar 24 Kyrgyzstan Political Akayev left the country with his family due to heavy political pressure.

2005 Mar 25 Kyrgyzstan Political Kyrgyz Parliament appointed as the acting president 2005 Apr 4 Kyrgyzstan Political Askar Akayev signed his resignation documents at Kyrgyz Embassy in Moscow

2005 May Kyrgyzstan Social Ethnic clashes in the South between Kyrgyz and Uzbek populations 2005 May 13 Uzbekistan Social Andijan Massacre. Protests triggered by arrest of the 23 local businessmen accused of crime, terrorism and anti-governmental activities were violently suppressed by armed troops. Estimated 700-1000 demonstrators, mostly civilians, were killed. Official sources in Tashkent claim that the death toll was 187. International media and the USA severely criticized the brutal suppression of protesters. 14 Vladimir Fedorenko

2005 May 13 Uzbekistan International Tashkent gave an official notice of withdrawal from the GUUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development. After Uzbekistan's withdrawal name of organization changes back from GUUAM to its original version GUAM. 2005 May 25 Uzbekistan International $600 million oil deal signed between China and Uzbekistan 2005 Jun 2 Kazakhstan Social 50th anniversary of cosmodrome Baikonur 2005 Jun 22 Tajikistan Political A constitutional referendum (by 93% of votes) removed limitation for consecutive presidential reelection allowing President Emomali Rahmon to run for the office in the future elections 2005 Sep 5 Kyrgyzstan International President Kurmanbek Bakiyev said he would allow presence of US military base on the territory of Kyrgyzstan but would increase the rent. 2005 Sep Uzbekistan International Tashkent announced that American troops must leave their air base in Uzbekistan 2005 Dec 4 Kazakhstan Political Nazarbayev won presidential elections receiving 91.15% of the general votes. 2005 Jul 10 Kyrgyzstan Political Kurmanbek Bakiyev became officially elected president receiving 88.9% of votes in presidential elections 2006 Jun 18 Kazakhstan Political Kazakhstan's first national satellite was deployed into orbit 2006 Jul 14 Kyrgyzstan Political US and Kyrgyz officials agreed on extension of using the Manas Transit Center after payment negotiations concluded positively 2006 Sep 8 Kazakhstan, International Treaty of Semipalatinsk was signed by Kyrgyzstan, republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan Turkmenistan, establishing The Central Asian Nuclear- Uzbekistan Weapon-Free Zone (CANWFZ). Treaty was ratified and entered into force on 21 of March, 2009 2006 Oct 26 Kazakhstan International Chinese state-owned CITIC Group agreed to buy the Kazakh Karazhanbas oil field from Canadian National Energy Board for $1.9 billion 2006 Nov 6 Tajikistan Political President Emomali Rakhmonov won reelection to a new, 7-year term receiving 79.3% of the total votes 2006 Dec 21 Turkmenistan Political Sudden death of the Turkmen President Niyazov from a heart attack at the age of 66 Timeline of Central Asia (1918-2014) 15

2007 Feb 11 Turkmenistan Political Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow won the special presidential election with nearly 90% of vote. 2007 Mar 21 Tajikistan Social Emomali Rahmon changed his last name [Ex spelling: Rahmonov]. De-Russification policy initiated encouraging getting rid of “-ov” “-ev” and "-vich" suffixes in last and middle names. 2007 Apr 11 Kyrgyzstan Political Thousands of people gathered in the Ala- Too Square in to protest against President Bakiyev. 2007 May 12 Kazakhstan, Economic A memorandum for renovation and Turkmenistan expansion of the western branch of the Central Asia–Center gas pipeline system pipeline deal signed among countries of Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan. This deal increased Russia’s control over Central Asia’s energy export routes and increased the amount of natural gas transfer from Central Asia to Europe 2007 May 21 Kazakhstan Political Nazarbayev was granted right to run for a presidential office for an indefinite number or terms. 2007 Aug 18 Kazakhstan Political In Majlis Parliamentary elections, Nur-Otan party received 88% of votes and won all available 98 seats in Parliament. Other six parties contesting the election did not pass the 7% threshold. 2007 Oct 21 Kyrgyzstan Political As a result of a national referendum held in Kyrgyzstan constitutional amendment was accepted and came into force after President Bakiyev signed it on 23 of October, 2007. 2007 Dec 16 Kyrgyzstan Political Kyrgyzstan held parliamentary elections: President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's party won 71 out of 90 parliament seats. 2007 Dec 23 Uzbekistan Political Karimov won new term with 88.1% votes in elections, even though constitution barred him from seeking third consecutive term 2007 Aug 26 Tajikistan Economic A bridge over the Pyanj River financed by US was officially inaugurated linking Tajikistan’s Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province and Afghanistan. 2008 Feb 4 Tajikistan Social Tajikistan suffers significant electricity shortages due to the coldest winter in last 50 years as well as an energy crisis. 2008 Feb 2 Kazakhstan Political USA promised Kazakhstan to help bring its military to NATO standards in a new military cooperation pact 16 Vladimir Fedorenko

2008 Mar 5 Uzbekistan International Uzbekistan allowed some NATO members including USA to use an air base on its territory. This signaled melting of cold relationships between Uzbekistan and the US after West’s severe criticism of suppression of 2005 Andijan uprising 2008 Apr 23 Turkmenistan Social President Berdimuhamedow abolished the calendar introduced by his predecessor Niyazov, where months were named after him and his relatives as part of personality cult. 2008 Jul 14 Tajikistan Economic Ownership of the space surveillance station OKNO ELINT was transferred from Tajikistan to Russia in exchange of a $242 million debt write-off. 2008 Sep 26 Turkmenistan Political Amendments to the Constitution were approved. The President gained additional powers, People's Council (Halk Maslahaty) abolished, and the role of elected parliament (Mejlis) was broadened. 2008 Sep 26 Turkmenistan Economic A research by Gaffney Cline & Associates confirmed that South Yolotan-Osman as the fifth largest natural gas reserve in the world. 2008 Oct 5 Kyrgyzstan Social At the epicentrum of a 6.6 magnitude earthquake the town of Nura was destroyed. Earthquake took lives of 75 people [41 children] and injuring 150 people [93 children]. 2008 Oct 13 Kazakhstan Economic In accordance with the Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan a Joint Stock Company National Welfare Fund (Samruk -Kazyna) was established 2009 Jan 8 Tajikistan Political Supreme Court bans Salafism. Supreme Court of Tajikistan sees Salafism as threat to stability and security of Tajikistan. Government preferred to deal with Salafism heavy-handedly, rather than offering moderate teachings of Islam. 2009 Jan 17 Tajikistan International Transit agreement allowing transportation non-military supplies to Afghanistan over Tajik territory, and perspectives of bilateral relations and future developments in Central-Asia were discussed during the meeting of US Central Commander General David Petraeus and the President Emomali Rahmon in Dushanbe 2009 Jan 21 Tajikistan International Frictions between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan regarding the Energy Agreement Timeline of Central Asia (1918-2014) 17

2009 Jan 22 Tajikistan Economic Dushanbe planned to increase natural gas exploration and research alternative energy supply routes to avoid paying high prices and decrease its dependency on Uzbek natural gas. 2009 Jan 23 Tajikistan Economic Government officials consider other destinations besides Russia for labor migration. According to Labor and Social Affairs Minister Shukurjon Zuhurov Tajikistan is capable of sending annually 20,000 to 50,000 workers to the Middle East and South Korea 2009 Jan 23 Uzbekistan International Uzbekistan announced that it is ready to support new trans-Russian gas pipeline. President Islam Karimov promised to sell annually 16 bcm of natural gas to Russia until 2015 and double that amount in upcoming years. 2009 Jan Kyrgyzstan, Economic Uzbekistan increased the natural gas price Tajikistan, from $ 145 to $ 240 per 1000 meter cube Uzbekistan for Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan

2009 Feb 4 Kazakhstan Economic A 25% devaluation of the Kazakh Tenge 2009 Feb 4 Kazakhstan, International Collective Rapid Reaction Force (CSTO) Kyrgyzstan, was established during a summit in Tajikistan, Moscow by the following member-states Uzbekistan Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. The main goal is to protect against military aggression, fight against terrorism and drug trafficking. 2009 Feb 8 Tajikistan International Tajik President pays official visit to Latvia, Estonia and Belgium. The visit was seen as an attempt of strengthening relations with EU and NATO in order have political resilience and economic flexibility 2009 Feb 15 Uzbekistan Economic The Uzbek Som drastically lost its value against the US dollar 2009 Feb 13 Turkmenistan International Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran to discuss new strategic gas deals. Parts agreed that Turkmenistan in addition to annual export of 8 bcm of natural gas is going to provide additional 10 bcm. 2009 Feb 17 Uzbekistan International Commander of United States Central Command General David Petraeus visited Uzbekistan to discuss security issues and supply routes to Afghanistan. 18 Vladimir Fedorenko

2009 Feb 19 Tajikistan, International Dushanbe and Tashkent signed an Uzbekistan agreement on gas, electricity and water cooperation. Tajikistan agreed with Uzbekistan on readjusting timetable for $16 million debt for Uzbek gas, and water- sharing management in transboundary waters in the north part of Tajikistan. Agreement was perceived a positive development for the strained bilateral relationships. 2009 Feb 19 Kyrgyzstan International Kyrgyz parliament voted to close the US air base in Manas. Kyrgyzstan instructed US forces to leave Manas air base after within six months. 2009 Feb 20 Tajikistan Economic Inauguration of the Russia-financed hydropower plant in Tajikistan postponed due to Tajik electricity supplier, Barqi Tojik's, debt of $ 4.4 million. 2009 Feb 26 Kazakhstan International Due to domestic shortages in electricity supply Kazakhstan suspended its partnership in the Central Asian Unified Energy Grid 2009 Feb 25 Uzbekistan International US gained right from Uzbekistan to transport non-military supplies through the country as part of a new supply route to Afghanistan. 2009 Mar 10 Turkmenistan Economic Turkmenistan established a new environmental department to monitor the trees in newly planted "green zones" in the country, most part of which consists of desert. 2009 Mar 11 Uzbekistan International The United States Secretary of the State Hillary Clinton and the First Lady Michelle Obama awarded Uzbek Mutabar Tajibaeva with the International Women of Courage Award. 2009 Mar 12 Turkmenistan, Political Turkmenistan (194) and Uzbekistan (189) Uzbekistan were ranked among the World's worst eight repressive societies according to their human rights standards. [ Total Ranking No: 195 ] 2009 Mar 18 Tajikistan Economic Tajikistan establishes two FEZs: Sughd Free Economic Zone and Free Economic Zone 2009 Mar 19 Tajikistan International Tajikistan began railroad construction connecting Dushanbe to Tajik-Afghan border. The cost of building the 146- kilometre link is estimated at $130 million. It is a very crucial development that diversifies Tajikistan's trading opportunities. Timeline of Central Asia (1918-2014) 19

2009 Apr 7 Tajikistan, International Due to Tajiktransgaz’s unpaid $ 17.5 million Uzbekistan dept Uzbekistan curtails natural gas supply in half. Uzbekistan also raised the price for natural gas by 65%. 2009 Apr 7 Tajikistan Economic IMF grants $120 Million loan to Tajikistan for the poverty-reduction program

2009 Apr 9 Turkmenistan Economic Blast in pipeline carrying Turkmen gas to Russia. The pipeline explosion created tension between Ashgabat and Moscow 2009 Apr 20 Kyrgyzstan International Working visit of Organization of the Collective Security Treaty’s Secretary General secretary Nikolai Bordyuzha in Kyrgyzstan. The purpose of the visit refinement implementation of earlier agreements in the framework of the negotiations on the establishment of a rapid reaction force operating in the CSTO, the decision taken at the previous summit 2009 Apr 20 Kazakhstan International Various Kazakh diasporas from Afghanistan, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan met at the Kurultay of Kazakhs in Dushanbe 2009 Apr 21 Tajikistan International Consensus reached at the meeting of U.S. Assistant Secretary Of State Richard Boucher met and the President Rahmon regarding transportation of nonmilitary NATO cargo through Tajikistan and into Afghanistan. 2009 Apr 23 Turkmenistan International The High-Level Conference on Reliable and Stable Transit of Energy and its Role in Ensuring Sustainable Development and International Cooperation held in Ashgabat. 2009 Apr 23 Turkmenistan International Turkmenistan demonstrated desire to cooperate with the West on natural gas export. President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow - "Turkmenistan needs to create a new system of ties with Europe" 2009 Apr 7 Uzbekistan International Uzbekistan cut gas supplies to Tajikistan several times 2009 Apr 24 Kyrgyzstan Political The signing and ratification of the Agreement on New Terms draft project Kumtor. The based on exploration work, terms of mine Kumtor has been revised and extended to 2019. 20 Vladimir Fedorenko

2009 May 10 Uzbekistan International President Islam Karimov announced that the Navoi airport would service NATO supply aircraft going to Afghanistan. The announcement came 4 years after Karimov had evicted US forces from the Karshi Khanabad air base following American officials' criticism of the government brutal actions in Andijan 2009 May 13 Kazakhstan International Kazakhstan has approved its participation in a Moscow-led gas pipeline, which could divert potential support away from Europe's Nabucco project 2009 May 22 Kazakhstan Social At the summit of CIS prime ministers the President Nazarbaev prompts post-Soviet states to show more tolerance towards migrant workers 2009 May 27 Kyrgyzstan International During a 3-day visit of the Turkish President Abdullah Gul to Kyrgyzstan, presidents Gul and Atambayev discussed the prospects of the Kyrgyz-Turkish economic cooperation and strategic partnership. 2009 Jun 4 Turkmenistan, International Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are Uzbekistan interested in cooperating with Brussels in energy sector searching for the ways to export gas directly to Europe. 2009 Jun 6 Turkmenistan Economic China pledged to lend $3 billion to develop its vast South Yolotan natural gas field 2009 Jun 13 Kazakhstan International Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev says his country has suspended talks on membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO). Astana advocated joint WTO membership together with Belarus and Russia. 2009 Jun 14 Kazakhstan, International Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Kyrgyzstan, Council of Foreign Ministers met in Tajikistan, Moscow to establish rapid-reaction force. Uzbekistan The new force to be comprised from military units of five countries - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan 2009 Jun 23 Kyrgyzstan International U.S. and Kyrgyzstan signed a new agreement on the Transit Center at Manas. The payment for use of the facilities will threefold from previous $17.1 million to new $60 million annually. 2009 Jun 24 Kazakhstan Political A new law tightens control over the internet, especially on the outlets such as chat rooms, blogs and public forums. Many social activists considered this law as limitation of freedom and tool of Timeline of Central Asia (1918-2014) 21

censorship. 2009 Jun 25 Kazakhstan International Due to insufficient gas supplies, ongoing the Caspian Sea pipeline project and export commitments to China Kazakhstan announced that it will not take part in the Nabucco project. 2009 Jul 1 Turkmenistan International Turkmen President Berdimuhamedow invited President Medvedev to resolve disagreement over pipeline explosion and discuss the new terms of natural gas sales. 2009 Jun 25 Kyrgyzstan International Kyrgyz parliament unanimously approved deal on Manas Transit Center.

2009 Jul 9 Kazakhstan, International Kazakhs and Kyrgyz escape from China's Kyrgyzstan tense Xinjiang region. Officials in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan report about massive return of their citizens from China's tense Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. 2009 Jul 15 Turkmenistan Political President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow conducted the ceremony transferring water to the artificial Golden Age Lake located in Karakum Desert. 2009 Jul 23 Kyrgyzstan Political Kurmanbek Bakiyev elected as President of the Kyrgyz Republic with 76.12% of votes. The mission of CIS observers found that the elections passed in compliance with the constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens. 2009 Jul 24 Kazakhstan, International Downstream countries - Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, agreed to Tajikistan, share costs related to transboundary Turkmenistan, water regulation, riverbanks improvement Uzbekistan and management of the rivers that originate in the upstream countries of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. 2009 Jul 26 Turkmenistan Political Turkmenistan held nationwide elections for local councils in rural areas. Turnout for the elections was reportedly low, since residents did not have any information about the candidates and there were no campaigns for the council positions. 2009 Aug 1 Kyrgyzstan Political Bishkek agreed with Moscow to open a second military base in Kyrgyzstan to balance the military presence of US in Kyrgyzstan 2009 Aug 4 Uzbekistan International Uzbekistan did not welcome the idea of establishment of a new Russian base in the Southern Kyrgyzstan. 2009 Aug 22 Kazakhstan Social Kazakhstan has launched its first-ever Islamic TV channel "Asyl Arna" channel on the first day of the holy month of 22 Vladimir Fedorenko

Ramadan 2009 Aug 26 Turkmenistan International President Berdimuhamedow visited Bulgaria and Turkey (27 of August) to discuss Nabucco project. During his visit to Bulgaria and then two-day visit to Turkey state leaders discussed energy issues, bilateral cooperation and Nabucco project. 2009 Sep 3 Turkmenistan Political Turkmenistan banned its citizens to attend foreign private universities. "Since late July 2009, Turkmen authorities have prevented hundreds of students from boarding planes and crossing land borders to depart for study abroad," the New York-based group said in a statement late on August 31. 2009 Sep 14 Kazakhstan Political Kazakhstan's Presidential Nur-Otan party proposed a legislation that would allow Nursultan Nazarbaev to remain president for life. In 2007, parliament adopted constitutional amendment extending the presidential term to 7 years and introduced opportunity for unlimited reelection. 2009 Sep 23 Kyrgyzstan Social Kyrgyzstan celebrates the 20th anniversary of the state language. The language Act was passed in 1989. In 2009 President Bakiyev signed a decree that every year on September 23 will be celebrated as the Day of the state language. 2009 Sep 25 Uzbekistan International Uzbekistan intensified its diplomatic relations with Mongolia by holding first- ever diplomatic meeting in Ulan Bator 2009 Sep 30 Tajikistan International Uzbekistan stops natural gas flow to neighboring Tajikistan due to $18 million debt 2009 Oct 6 Kazakhstan International During the state visit French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev signed various gas and oil deals worth more than $ 6 billion. This made France a key investor in Kazakhstan's energy sector. 2009 Oct 6 Kazakhstan International As a result of presidential meeting in Astana transit to Afghanistan was granted to the French military forces 2009 Oct 6 Tajikistan Social Tajikistan removed Russian's official status of a language for interethnic communication. Due to the new law all domestic official documents and correspondence became only in Tajik. Timeline of Central Asia (1918-2014) 23

2009 Oct 27 Uzbekistan International The European Union lifted arms embargo on Uzbekistan. I was a part of the sanctions imposed on Uzbekistan after Andijan tragedy in May of 2005. 2009 Oct 29 Kyrgyzstan Economic The Central Agency for Development, Investment and Innovations (CADII) was established. The Director of CADII the President Bakiyev's son Maksim Bakiyev. 2009 Nov 6 Uzbekistan International Uzbekistan signed an agreement to export annually up to 10 bcm of natural gas to China. 2009 Nov 18 Uzbekistan International Uzbeks skipped regional security meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) held in Almaty about upcoming counterterrorism exercises. 2009 Nov 24 Kyrgyzstan, International Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan clarified and Tajikistan defined a disputed border area of 14 km. Total length of the Kyrgyz-Tajik border is more than 870 km (540 ml), of which agreed positions and demarcated line 503 km (312 ml) , remained controversial 467 km (290 ml). 2009 Dec 8 Kazakhstan Political President Nazarbayev signed a controversial law on privacy. The new law prohibits any unsanctioned interference into an individual's private life including the use or acquisition of any private article such as written, audio, or video material without owner consent. 2009 Dec 12 Kazakhstan International Chinese President Hu Jintao and President Nazarbayev inaugurated Kazakh part of Central Asia–China gas pipeline. The Central Asia–China gas pipeline (Turkmenistan–China gas pipeline) is an energy corridor connecting Central Asia to China. 2009 Dec 13 Turkmenistan, International Presidents Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow Uzbekistan and Islam Karimov agreed to facilitate border crossing for people residing near common boarders. 2009 Dec 14 Kazakhstan, International The Central Asia–China gas pipeline was Turkmenistan, inaugurated. With 1833 km length the Uzbekistan pipeline’s total annual capacity is 55 bcm. Natural gas will be transferred from the Saman-Depe gas field in eastern Turkmenistan through territories of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan transferred to the western Chinese province of Xinjiang. Presidents of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan Kazakhstan and China attended inauguration. 24 Vladimir Fedorenko

2009 Dec 22 Turkmenistan International Ashgabat and Moscow agreed to resume Turkmen gas supplies to Russia by January 10. 2009 Dec 29 Turkmenistan Economic Turkmenistan signed agreements with several Asian companies to develop the largest in Turkmenistan South Yolotan natural-gas field. 2009 Sep 6 Turkmenistan International Venezuela's Chavez paid the official visit to Turkmenistan to discuss energy cooperation issues. 2010 Jan 1 Kazakhstan International The Eurasian Customs Union was established by Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia 2010 Jan 1 Kazakhstan International Kazakhstan became the first former Soviet republic to chair the Organization of Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). 2010 Jan 2 Tajikistan Social Thousands people left homeless as a result of a 5,2 magnitude earthquake in Gorno- Badakhshan province. 2010 Jan 4 Uzbekistan International Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan restarted border delimitation process. About 600 km of Uzbek-Kyrgyz border were still under dispute. 2010 Jan 6 Turkmenistan International Inauguration of the Dauletabad–Sarakhs– Khangiran Pipeline (Dauletabad–Salyp Yar pipeline) which is the second gas pipeline delivering Turkmen gas to Iran. Annual maximum capacity is 12 bcm. 2010 Jan 6 Tajikistan Economic Initial Public Offering for the Rogun hydroelectric project shares. Sales of Rogun shares aimed to collect $ 1.4 billion for construction of Rogun Dam. 2010 Jan 8 Tajikistan International Uzbekistan blocked the railways access to Tajikistan. Thousands of wagons carrying perishable foods and construction materials were kept on Uzbek territories not allowed to enter to Tajikistan. Tajik- Uzbek railroad is the busiest and the most significant transport connection for a landlocked Tajikistan. 2010 Jan 21 Kyrgyzstan Political Kyrgyz President K. Bakiyev announced the first Concorde Kurultay would be held in March 2010. Kurultay Concorde - a new national advisory body aimed to provide civic consolidation and balance the interests and abilities when making decisions of national importance. 2010 Jan 27 Kazakhstan International Afghan transit deal with Kazakhstan was finalized by NATO. An agreement with Kazakhstan allowed transporting supplies to Afghanistan bypassing more dangerous Timeline of Central Asia (1918-2014) 25

route via Pakistan. 2010 Jan 27 Uzbekistan Social Uzbekistan renamed close to 50 streets and residential areas left from Soviet period to get rid of Tashkent's Soviet inheritance. 2010 Feb 3 Uzbekistan International Uzbekistan worried about the construction of the Rogun Power Plant. Uzbek Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyaev sent a letter to his Tajik counterpart to bring attention to the potential damage by the Rogun Dam to the region. 2010 Feb 9 Kazakhstan Political A court in Kazakhstan overturned a ruling prohibiting media outlets to publish criticism of President Nursultan Nazarbayev's son-in-law Timur Kulibayev. The ban was criticized by OSCE. 2010 Feb 12 Kyrgyzstan, International Uzbekistan limited the number of visits Uzbekistan that Kyrgyz citizens can make to Uzbekistan to only once in a month. 2010 Feb 18 Kyrgyzstan International U.S. Presidential Envoy Richard Holbrooke visited Kyrgyzstan. He visited the State Ministry of Foreign Affairs and met with the President Bakiyev. 2010 Feb 28 Tajikistan Political President Rakhmon's People's Democratic Party wins an overwhelming majority in parliamentary elections. Election results: People's Democratic Party - 71.04% , Islamic Renaissance Party - 8.2% , Communist Party - 7.01%. Registered voters turnout: 90.8% 2010 Mar 22 Kazakhstan Social Floods in Kazakhstan caused serious damages. More than 160 homes, 200 nonresidential buildings, and nine livestock farms were totally destroyed by floods in the past week in East Kazakhstan. Also thousands were replaced and about 40 people were killed. 2010 Mar 23 Uzbekistan International Tajikistan urgently demanded from Uzbek ambassador to speed up resolution about train delays. A note of protest was given to Uzbek Ambassador by the Tajik Foreign Ministry about blocked rail routes in Uzbekistan. 2010 Mar 24 Uzbekistan International Tajik Prime Minister blamed Uzbekistan for rail delays. Prime Minister Oqil Oqilov called Uzbekistan's claims about technical problems blocking freight transportation implausible. 2010 Mar 29 Tajikistan International Tajik government officials suggested constructing railroad through Afghanistan to avoid passing through Uzbekistan which often blocks Tajik trains. 26 Vladimir Fedorenko

2010 Apr 6 Kyrgyzstan Political Beginning of the Second Kyrgyz Revolution. Ongoing political confrontation between North and South , economic hardship, and sharp increase in electricity, fuel and service prices triggered a series of anti- governmental protests. 2010 Apr 6 Kyrgyzstan Political In the city Talas hundreds of protesters seized government buildings and took a local governor hostage and clashed with law enforcement troops. 2010 Apr 6 Kyrgyzstan, Political United Nations severely criticized Tajikistan, Uzbekistan for placing land mines along Uzbekistan undelimited borders with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. 2010 Apr 7 Kyrgyzstan Political In Bishkek thousand people took part in anti-government protests that lead to massive riots. Protesters attacked the main government building and other official institutions including state TV headquarters. More than 83 people were killed and about 1500 injured in various clashes countrywide. 2010 Apr 15 Kyrgyzstan Political President Kurmanbek Bakiyev signed his resignation letter and fled Kyrgyzstan

2010 Apr 17 Uzbekistan Political Uzbekistan tightened security measures in the eastern Uzbek city of Andijan after civil unrest in Kyrgyzstan that ousted Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev 2010 Apr 20 Uzbekistan International Presidents Dmitry Medvedev and Islam Karimov met in Moscow to increase bilateral cooperation. However, due to the recent developments in Kyrgyzstan focus of the meeting was dominated by political changes in Kyrgyzstan. 2010 May 12 Kazakhstan Political Kazakh Parliament approved bill granting more powers to President Nazarbayev, giving him the title of "Leader of the Nation" and immunity from prosecution. 2010 May 13 Uzbekistan International Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi expressed readiness of Iran to help to alleviate tensions between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan stemming from Dushanbe’s plans to construct Rogun power plant 2010 May 14 Turkmenistan Political President Berdimuhamedow announced that Turkmenistan was prepared for a multiparty system Timeline of Central Asia (1918-2014) 27

2010 May 24 Turkmenistan Economic Turkmenistan announced the plan to build the East-West natural gas pipeline without external financing. The East-West pipeline is a proposed 1,000 km-long transporting about 30 bcm of gas from fields in the eastern part of the country to the Caspian Sea coast. 2010 May 26 Kazakhstan Economic The World Bank approved $1 billion loan for Kazakhstan to support government's implementation of its economic program. 2010 May 28 Kazakhstan International Russia and Kazakhstan came to an agreement to establish Customs Union Code on July 1 2010 May 18 Uzbekistan Political Uzbek President Islam Karimov signed a Penal Code amendment allowing the reduction of a prisoner's jail term by up to one-third if prisoners choose to repent for his/her offense. 2010 May 19 Kyrgyzstan Political In Jalal-Abad located in southern Kyrgyzstan ethnic violence broke out. Supporters of the ousted president Bakiyev clashed with the Uzbek minority supporting the interim government. These initially political clashes triggered expansive and destructive ethnic clashes. 2010 May 31 Kyrgyzstan, International Uzbekistan dispatched troops to Kyrgyz Uzbekistan border after interethnic clashes in Sokh enclave located within Kyrgyz territory. 2010 Jun 3 Kazakhstan Political Nazarbayev declared that he wouldn't sign draft law granting him special powers for life. 2010 Jun 3 Kyrgyzstan, International Uzbekistan withdrew armed troops from Uzbekistan Sokh enclave located within Kyrgyz territory. 2010 Jun 9 Kazakhstan, International Chinese President Hu Jintao visited Uzbekistan Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to discuss cooperation in energy. 2010 Jun 10 Kyrgyzstan Social Severe interethnic clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in southern Kyrgyz cities of Jalal-Abad and Osh. About 420 people were killed and 80,000 were displaced. 2010 Jun 12 Kyrgyzstan Social Roza Otunbayeva declared state of emergency to help resolve the violent interethnic conflicts in the south of the country. 2010 Jun 15 Uzbekistan International Uzbekistan reported its plan to close 44 km of rail route connecting Uzbek city of Termez and Tajik province of Khatlon by explaining that they could no longer afford its maintenance. 28 Vladimir Fedorenko

2010 Jun 18 Kyrgyzstan Social According to interim President Roza Otunbayeva about 2,000 people nationwide may have died during the ethnic clashes. 2010 Jun 24 Kyrgyzstan, International Ethnic Uzbek refugees started to return to Uzbekistan Kyrgyzstan from Uzbekistan.

2010 Jun 25 Kyrgyzstan International Delegation representing Collective Security Treaty arrived to Kyrgyzstan. CSTO General secretary Nikolay Bordyuzha met with leaders of the provisional government. To help stabilizing the situation in Kyrgyzstan CSTO operative working group was established. 2010 Jun 27 Kyrgyzstan Political A national referendum on the new Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic. A new constitution was adopted. Kyrgyzstan was declared a parliamentary republic. Roza Otunbayeva was approved as president until December 31, 2011 2010 Jun 28 Kazakhstan Social Nazarbayev University established in the Kazakh capital 2010 Jun 29 Tajikistan, International Uzbekistan ended important air-traffic Uzbekistan agreement adopted in 1993 with Tajikistan and informed about the possible plan to close its airspace to Tajik airplanes. 2010 Jul 2 Tajikistan International Tajikistan signed a CSTO agreement that would provide emergency assistance to help stabilize southern Kyrgyzstan. 2010 Jul 6 Kazakhstan International Kazakhstan and Russia made important agreements on cooperation in civilian nuclear power and hydropower during meeting in Astana. 2010 Jul 6 Kazakhstan International The agreement on Customs Union among Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia came into force. 2010 Jul 3 Kyrgyzstan Political Roza Otunbayeva was sworn in as a 3rd president of Kyrgyzstan 2010 Jul 20 Kyrgyzstan Social Presidential Decree on "The Fuel and Energy Sector Transparency Initiative (FESTI) of the Kyrgyz Republic” was adopted. The Fuel and Energy Sector Transparency Initiative aims to introduce the basic elements of good governance, transparency and accountability. 2010 Jul 28 Tajikistan Economic Preparation to construction of Rogun Dam started with massive resettlement program that would affect about 1,500 families consisting of 6,538 members. The resettlement could last until the end of the 2010 year. Timeline of Central Asia (1918-2014) 29

2010 Jul 9 Turkmenistan Political President Berdimuhamedow announced that Turkmenistan would allow the establishment of private media where all media had been previously controlled by the state. 2010 Aug 1 Tajikistan Social An ancient town of Sarazm located in north-western Tajikistan was included in to UNESCO World Heritage site. 2010 Aug 12 Turkmenistan International Turkmen oil transportation started through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline 2010 Aug 12 Turkmenistan International Turkmenistan worked on necessary steps to receive $4.1 billion loan from Chinese bank to use it for developing its massive South Yolotan natural gas field. 2010 Aug 17 Uzbekistan Political The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) informed that long-time leader Tahir Yuldashev died a year ago, or on August 27, 2009, from a drone strike in Pakistani area near Afghan border. New leader of IMU was named Usmon Odil. 2010 Aug 22 Tajikistan Social 25 militants serving time on terrorism escaped from Tajik prison killing 5 guards

2010 Sep 19 Tajikistan Social Heavily armed radical militants attacked national military convoy. At least 25 soldiers were reportedly killed during grenade attack in Rasht valley 2010 Sep 25 Kazakhstan International Kazakhstan reiterated its idea about the creation of a global currency under UN control which would significantly decrease the possibility of a future financial crisis. 2010 Oct 6 Tajikistan Social 34 people killed at two separate indicents in Rasht Valley. The first incident was military helicopter crash that killed 28 people and the second incident was landmine explosion that killed 6 people. 2010 Oct 7 Tajikistan International Tajikistan formally requested the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to conduct fact-finding investigation to resolve railway dispute between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan 2010 Oct 10 Kazakhstan, International Meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Kyrgyzstan, Organisation Council of Heads of State in Tajikistan, Tashkent. The main goal of the summit Uzbekistan was to promote regional economic cooperation and create of favorable conditions for trade, energy, transport, communications, agriculture, science and technology; also to ensure stability and security in the region by dealing with terrorism, separatism and extremism, 30 Vladimir Fedorenko

illegal drug trafficking and transnational organized crime. 2010 Oct 10 Kyrgyzstan Political The parliamentary elections to Jogorku Kenesh (Supreme Council of Kyrgyzstan) Total number of seats: 120. Ata-Zhurt 28, SDPK 26, Ar-Namys 25, Respublika Party of Kyrgyzstan 23, Ata-Meken 18 2010 Oct 20 Tajikistan International The Tajik Aluminium Company (TALCO) disagreed with Uzbekistan claims that the company was responsible for some $228 million in damage. 2010 Nov 16 Kyrgyzstan International European Commissioner for Development Mr. Piebalgs visited Kyrgyzstan with official visit. During meetings with the President Roza Otunbayeva and various ministers assistance to Kyrgyzstan in the field of social protection and food security, education, rehabilitation of infrastructure, good governance and the rule of law were discussed. 2010 Nov 16 Kyrgyzstan International The Head of the Central Joint Command US General James Mattis arrived to Kyrgyzstan with working visit. He met with President Roza Otunbayeva, Defense Minister and head of state A. Kudayberdiev national security chief K. Duyshebaev. During the bilateral talks, the sides exchanged views on security issues in Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia, on issues related to the US Transit Center “Manas”. 2010 Nov 19 Turkmenistan International Ashgabat announced its readiness to provide about 40 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Nabucco project, supported by EU. 2010 Nov 22 Tajikistan International Government officials express radicalization concerns regarding Tajik students returning from Iranian Islamic schools. About 137 Tajik students studying in Iranian schools were convinced to return home. 2010 Nov 25 Kazakhstan, International The Shanghai Cooperation Organization Kyrgyzstan, (SCO) member states met in SCO Tajikistan, Dushanbe Summit. Kazakhstan, China, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan Uzbekistan agreed on greater cooperation in counterterrorism, combating drug smuggling and border security. 2010 Nov 27 Kyrgyzstan International First turbine-generator launched at Kambarata-2 Hydro Power Plant. First generator (120 MW) was one of the 3 planned generators. Total expected power capacity is 360 MW Timeline of Central Asia (1918-2014) 31

2011 Nov 28 Turkmenistan International Sarakhs-Tehran gas pipeline which delivers Turkmen gas to northeast Iran was inaugurated 2010 Nov 28 Tajikistan International -2 hydropower plant's construction began. Iranian energy minister and Tajik President participated at the opening ceremony of construction. 2010 Dec 2 Kyrgyzstan International U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Kyrgyzstan. The visit included meeting with Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbayeva and civil society representatives. 2010 Dec 5 Turkmenistan Political Local elections held in Turkmenistan 2010 Dec 7 Tajikistan International Drilling operated by Gazprom started in the super-deep Shakhrinav-1P prospecting well at the Sarikamysh gas field. With a depth of 6,450 meters Shakhrinav-1P is the deepest exploration well in Central Asia 2010 Dec 11 Turkmenistan International Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India signed deal to construct new transnational pipeline delivering Turkmen gas to India. Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow said that the 1,700 kilometer TAPI pipeline fully conformed to country's energy policy. 2010 Dec 16 Tajikistan, International Tajikistan and Uzbekistan disagreed over Uzbekistan the new draft for air traffic agreement. Earlier this year Uzbekistan terminated a bilateral air-traffic agreement that had been in force for 16 years. 2010 Dec 21 Kyrgyzstan, International Uzbekistan cut natural gas delivery to Uzbekistan Kyrgyzstan's southern regions due to Bishkek's debts 2010 Dec 21 Kyrgyzstan Social President Roza Otunbayeva signed a decree creating the Presidential National Commission on the Development of the State Language 2010 Dec 24 Kyrgyzstan International OSCE police advisors came to assist local law enforcement agencies in the fight against crime and to restore public trust. Decision to invite about 30 OSCE police advisers was made after the ethnic clashes in June. Also, this initiative caused some degree of concern in the local population. 2011 Jan 5 Kazakhstan Political In his final public speech US ambassador Richard Hoagland, who was going to leave his post shortly, criticized planned national referendum which aimed to allow the extension of Nazarbayev term for another 10 years. 32 Vladimir Fedorenko

2011 Jan 6 Kazakhstan Political The upper chamber of Kazakhstan's parliament approved a referendum to extend President Nazarbaev term by another 10 years. 2011 Jan 12 Tajikistan International Tajikistan settles border dispute with China by agreeing to cede some of its territory.

2011 Jan 14 Turkmenistan International EU officials visited Turkmenistan to secure gas deals. The EU hoped that commitments from Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan would enable the creation of the Southern Gas Corridor that would deliver gas from the Caspian Sea and Middle East, across Turkey, to Europe. 2011 Jan 19 Uzbekistan International Representative of the National Bank of Uzbekistan reported that Uzbek banks and financial institutions blocked monetary transfers to Kyrgyzstan for the past several months. 2011 Jan 20 Turkmenistan Political Berdimuhamedow asked parliament officials to speed up required procedures for the proposed bill that would allow the establishment of multi-party system. 2011 Jan 24 Uzbekistan International President Islam Karimov visited Brussels. NATO and European Union officials met with Islam Karimov, despite of strong criticism from the NGOs which condemned Uzbekistan's human right conditions 2011 Jan 28 Kazakhstan Political Nazarbaev made the announcement that Constitutional Council was ready to hold a proposed referendum, criticized by many Western governments, to extend his rule until 2020. In such a way Nazarbaev would skip elections planned for 2012 and others over the next decade. 2011 Jan 31 Kazakhstan Political Kazakh Constitutional Council rejected referendum that would extend President Nursultan Nazarbaev's term for 10 more years. 2011 Feb 11 Tajikistan Political President Rahmon ordered to make control over unregistered and unlicensed religious institutions tighter due to alleged increase in religious radicalism. 2011 Feb 12 Kazakhstan Political Nazarbayev introduced mandatory Kazakh language test for candidates in presidential elections. All candidates must pass a three-part exam that includes writing an essay, reading a text aloud, and delivering a 15-minute speech. Timeline of Central Asia (1918-2014) 33

2011 Feb 17 Tajikistan International Tajik and Russian security forces discussed a new draft on protecting Tajik-Afghan border. Russian border guards passed the responsibility to protect the boarder to Tajik colleagues in 2005. A five-year cooperation agreement signed in 2005 expired. 2011 Feb 21 Kazakhstan International Nazarbayev made state visit to China. Nazarbayev ended his visit to China with lucrative energy deals and promises of some $7 billion in Chinese loans for upcoming Kazakh projects. An agreement to export 55,000 tons of uranium to China was also signed. 2011 Feb 22 Kazakhstan Political Kazakhstan allocated $32 million on holding presidential elections early on April 3 2011 Feb Kyrgyzstan Economic Removal of customs duties for Kyrgyzstan on fuel exports from Russia. According to experts in 2011 Kyrgyzstan was exempt from customs duties in the amount of $ 335 million. 2011 Mar 1 Kyrgyzstan Economic Kyrgyzstan achieved the status of a Compliant Country at The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). It is expected that membership to EITI promotes transparency, good governance of natural resources, strengthen accountability and improve investment climate. 2011 Mar 18 Turkmenistan Social Turkmenistan eased conditions for graduates of foreign institutions. Turkmen President ordered to start recognizing foreign educational qualifications, signaling a reversal of a policy that prevented graduates of international universities getting state jobs. 2011 Mar 23 Tajikistan Social Tajikistan hosted 4-day festival displaying Iranian culture. As part of the "Days of Culture of the Islamic Republic of Iran" a 120-person Iranian delegation visited Tajikistan 2011 Mar 30 Turkmenistan Political President Berdimuhamedow dismissed National Security Minister Charymyrat Amanov due to unknown "shortcomings" in his work. Amanov, who held the position since 2007, was replaced by Yaylim Berdyev, who had previously been defense minister. 2011 Apr 3 Kazakhstan Political Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev was re-elected for the third term with 95% of the votes. 34 Vladimir Fedorenko

2011 Apr 8 Tajikistan Social Due to continuous electricity shortages Internet users in Dushanbe organized first- known flash mob in order to protest the electricity rationing and disrupts. 2011 Apr 15 Tajikistan Social Electricity rationing implementation ended in Dushanbe, yet remained in other parts of the country. By electricity rationing people have electricity during certain times of the day only. 2011 Apr 18 Kazakhstan Political At the Assembly of Peoples of Kazakhstan Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev announced his intention to remain in power until 2030. 2011 Apr 29 Tajikistan International Tajikistan restarted border delimitation negotiation with Kyrgyzstan. The next round of negotiations on delimitation of 650 disputed kilometers of Tajik-Kyrgyz border was scheduled to be held in Khujand in the upcoming month. 2011 May 3 Uzbekistan International A report on Osh clashes in 2010 was released by an independent international commission. This report focused on the fact that most of the victims were ethnic Uzbeks. 2011 May 10 Uzbekistan Social Alisher Usmanov, who is ethnic Uzbek oligarch, ranked as Second-Richest British Citizen. Usmanov's estimated wealth is more than 12.4 billion pounds ($20 billion). 2011 May 11 Kazakhstan Political Uprisings similar to "Arab-Spring" would not likely happen in Central Asian countries due to their economic and political characteristics, stated Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake. 2011 May 31 Turkmenistan Economic Turkmenistan decided to create new national space agency by the decree signed by the President Berdimuhamedov 2011 Jun 1 Turkmenistan, International Freedom House, which is the international Uzbekistan organization monitoring human rights, issued report of the world's worst human right abusing countries in which Uzbekistan, together with Turkmenistan, were placed among "worst of the worst" countries. 2011 Jun 1 Tajikistan Political Tajikistan Parliament prohibited hunger strikes in public places and near governmental buildings. 2011 Jun 5 Tajikistan International President Rahmon made official visits to several European countries and addressed the European Parliament. Timeline of Central Asia (1918-2014) 35

2011 Jul 1 Kazakhstan Social Lawsuit filed against 2 Kazakh schools in Temirtau due to their planned shift from Russian to Kazakh as the primary language of instruction. Some 1200 children who didn't speak Kazakh had to move to another schools. 2011 Jul 7 Turkmenistan Social Turkmen town Abadan hit by series of blasts at weapon depot. The explosion in the city of Abadan, which is 20 km away from Ashgabat, caused deaths, serious damage and led to a mass evacuation of residents. 2011 Jul 9 Kazakhstan Political One officer was killed and three wounded in overnight clashes with an armed group in Western Aktobe province. 9 armed assailants also died. 2011 Jul 11 Turkmenistan Social Turkmenistan announced that the death toll that resulted from series of blasts in a town of Abadan that happened on July 7th. Authorities reported that two servicemen and 13 civilians died. 2011 Jul 12 Kyrgyzstan Social Health professionals from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan completed "face-to-face" workshops on HIV & AIDS. 2011 Jul 17 Kyrgyzstan Political The Summer School of Parliamentarism organized by EU-UNDP New Legal Framework Project 2011 Jul 20 Uzbekistan Social 6.1 magnitude earthquake killed 13 people in Uzbekistan 2011 Aug 19 Kazakhstan Political Leading Kazakh Nur-Otan party took all 16 available seats in elections to the upper house of parliament/Senate. 2011 Aug 24 Uzbekistan International Korean President visited Uzbekistan to sign about 23 economic and trade agreements including $2.6 billion deal to construct chemical-gas plant in Uzbekistan. 2011 Sep 4 Tajikistan International Iranian President started two day official visit to Tajikistan. President Emomali Rahmon and President Mahmud Ahmadinejad discussed a number of ongoing and future economic cooperation projects. Iranian president also expected to participate in inauguration ceremony of Sangtuda-2 plant. 2011 Oct 4 Uzbekistan International European Union lawmakers refused to sign trade deal that would ease the export of Uzbek textiles to Europe, explaining that the country damages human rights by using child labor in its cotton fields. 36 Vladimir Fedorenko

2011 Sep 1 Uzbekistan Social Uzbekistan Launched Its Own Facebook. The Muloqot (Dialogue) web site, which was aimed to replace Facebook, started operating on Sep 1 to coincide with independence anniversary of Uzbekistan. 2011 Sep 1 Turkmenistan International Hundreds of Turkmen students studying in Tajikistan's universities were prohibited by Turkmenistan's Migration Service from returning to continue their studies. Students were stopped at the border and were not allowed to cross. Turkmen officials refused to comment on the reason on the ban. 2011 Sep 3 Kazakhstan, International 20 years Anniversary CIS Summit took Kyrgyzstan, place in Dushanbe. CIS heads of state Tajikistan, reviewed assessment report “CIS Turkmenistan, Achievements in the Past 20 Years and Uzbekistan Future Objectives” and agreed the Action Plan to foster cooperation within the CIS. 2011 Sep 6 Tajikistan International President Rahmon and Iranian President Ahmadinejad inaugurated Tajikistan’s new Sangtuda-2 hydroelectric power facility. Ownership and profits from Sangtuda-2 will be transferred to Tajikistan after 12 years. 2011 Sep 16 Kazakhstan Political Kazakhstan agreed to trade 300 million cubic meters of gas in exchange for Kyrgyzstan water, if Uzbekistan, which is transit country, agrees to cooperate. 2011 Oct 14 Uzbekistan Economic Uzbekistan reported sales of some $550 million worth of cotton and textiles at the two-day International Cotton and Textile Fair held in Tashkent 2011 Oct 18 Kazakhstan, International Commonwealth of Independent States Kyrgyzstan, Free Trade Area (CISFTA) was established. Tajikistan, CISFTA is a free trade area among Uzbekistan Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. 2011 Oct 19 Turkmenistan International Turkmenistan's Foreign Ministry issued a statement criticizing Russia for its position on Turkmenistan's cooperation with the European Union, especially plans to construct Trans-Caspian pipeline. Russia criticized the pipeline on the grounds that the legal status of the Caspian Sea was not agreed upon by the five Caspian littoral countries. 2011 Oct 19 Kyrgyzstan International EurAsEC Heads approved roadmap on the accession of the Kyrgyz Republic to the Customs Union. Timeline of Central Asia (1918-2014) 37

2011 Oct 21 Kazakhstan, International Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev Kyrgyzstan, invited neighboring Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan Uzbekistan to join a newly established Business Council of Turkic Speaking States. 2011 Oct 25 Turkmenistan Political President Berdimuhamedow declared the 'Hero' of the Nation 2011 Oct 30 Kyrgyzstan Political became the 4th President of Kyrgyzstan by winning the early presidential elections with 63.2 % of the votes. 2011 Nov 7 Kazakhstan, International SCO Prime Ministers met In St. Petersburg. Kyrgyzstan, Founded 10 years ago in Shanghai, the Tajikistan, organization brings together China, Uzbekistan Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. 2011 Dec 5 Uzbekistan Political Uzbekistan's Senate, the upper house of parliament, adopted a bill that would change the term in office for a president back to five years instead of the current seven-year term. 2011 Dec 8 Kyrgyzstan Political President Atambayev signed decree "On Creation of the State Anti-Corruption Committee of the National Security Service". 2011 Dec 14 Tajikistan, International UN's World Food Program (WFP) informed Uzbekistan that Uzbekistan's decision to block trains with goods for Tajikistan may cause severe food shortage. 23 trains with food provided by WFP for Tajikistan are stuck in Uzbekistan. WFP is a regular provider of food for thousands of poor people in . 2011 Dec 16 Kazakhstan Political President Nursultan Nazarbaev received the People's Hero (Halyk Kakharmany) award when the country marked 20 years of independence on December 16. 2011 Dec 16 Kazakhstan Political Zhanaozen Crisis in Kazakhstan: At least 14 protestors were killed by police in the oil rich city of Zhanaozen as they clashed with police on the Independence day. Activists complained that security officers opened fire on unarmed demonstrators. Authorities explained that armed extremists were present among the protesters. 38 Vladimir Fedorenko

2012 Jan 3 Tajikistan, International Tension between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan Uzbekistan increased due to rail freight dispute. Uzbekistan increased fees on different goods that were transported across its territory by an average 32% In addition, Uzbekistan continuously blocked trains with Tajik goods including food. Uzbekistan reported it was only blocking trains with construction materials for Rogun dam. 2012 Jan 6 Uzbekistan Political Uzbekistan asked to release political prisoners. The nine groups, including Human Rights Watch and the Committee to Protect Journalists, said that the gesture would demonstrate Tashkent's commitment to reform. 2012 Jan 9 Turkmenistan Political President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow started his presidential campaign by promising transformation of Turkmenistan "into an industrial power." 2012 Jan 10 Kyrgyzstan Economic President Atambayev issued statement on the need to build the railway China- Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan. 2012 Jan 11 Tajikistan, International Uzbek and Tajik businesspeople Uzbekistan demanded President of Uzbekistan to solve the issues blocking rail traffic along the Tajik-Uzbek border. Because of the dispute 302 railcars with goods were unable to leave Uzbek territory. 2012 Jan 16 Kazakhstan Political Communist People's Party and Ak Zhol Party entered Kazakh parliament as they both passed a 7% barrier for the first time since 2007. 2012 Jan 26 Uzbekistan International The United States put terrorist designations on two members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) and one member of Uzbekistan's Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), prohibiting U.S. transactions with the men and freezing all of their U.S. property interests. 2012 Jan 26 Kazakhstan Political In the western Kazakhstan in city of Atyrau approximately 200 workers from the U.S.- Kazakh Tengizchevroil Oil Company factory in the organized the strike demanding a salary increase. 2012 Feb 4 Turkmenistan Social President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow signed a decree to build a new modern village in the central region of the country, Rukhabat district of the Akhal region 2012 Feb 8 Kazakhstan International Deals worth $4 billion were signed during a two-day visit to Germany by Kazakh Timeline of Central Asia (1918-2014) 39

President Nursultan Nazarbaev. 2012 Feb 10 Kyrgyzstan Social UNDP presented a new project called "Effective disaster risk management for sustainable development and human security" to the local appraisal committee. 2012 Feb 12 Turkmenistan Political President Berdimuhamedow reelected with 97% of votes 2012 Feb 17 Kyrgyzstan Economic The government established an expert group for the implementation of projects for the construction of the China- Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway. The cost of the road is about $2 billion. It's expected that the road would pay for itself through 10-12.5 years with annual revenues of $ 210 million. 2012 Feb 20 Uzbekistan International Uzbekistan and Tajikistan restarted border Talks After Three-Year Pause. An Uzbek delegation arrived in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, to discuss delimitation of the Tajik-Uzbek border. The Tajik-Uzbek border is over 1,000 kilometers long, with 20% of which was disputed. 2012 Feb 22 Kyrgyzstan Economic Construction of the Datka-Kemin overhead power transmission line by JSC “National Grid Kyrgyzstan” and Chinese power construction company Tebian Electric Apparatus (TBEA). The cost of construction is about $390 million. This amount includes the construction of the main line for $342 million, and additional lines and substations to increase the transmission power of electricity for $48 million. 2012 Feb 27 Kyrgyzstan Economic The agreement between the Government of Russia and the Kyrgyz Government for the construction and operation of Kambarata-1 and Upper Naryn cascade hydropower stations. 2012 Mar 3 Kyrgyzstan Political Kyrgyz President met with representatives of the U.S. Embassy, USAID and IDLO regarding the implementation of the Program to strengthen the judicial system. Reform of the judicial system, designed in the country for 5 years, involves updating of existing administrative, criminal, criminal procedure, civil procedural law, operation of the courts, law enforcement. 2012 Mar 23 Uzbekistan Political Uzbekistan's parliament moved the date of presidential elections from December 2014 to the first half of 2015. 40 Vladimir Fedorenko

2012 Mar 26 Uzbekistan International Uzbekistan informed that it would suspend deliveries to Tajikistan, starting next month. Uzbekistan, which is Tajikistan's only supplier of gas, routinely suspends deliveries because of complaints of nonpayment. 2012 Mar 27 Kyrgyzstan Economic The Board of Directors of Upper Naryn hydroelectric project approved feasibility study for construction on Upper-Naryn cascade. Kyrgyz and Russian shared each 50% responsibilities. Russia provided money for the feasibility study and fundraising while Kyrgyzstan granted the right to use land. 2012 Apr 3 Tajikistan Social World Bank and UNICEF reports stated undernourishment resulted in death of 7500 children annually 2012 Apr 4 Uzbekistan International Uzbekistan's government rejected Tajikistan's accusations that Tashkent had imposed an economic blockade on Tajikistan in order to increase Uzbek advantages over its smaller and poorer Central Asian neighbor. 2012 Apr 3 Tajikistan International Tajikistan accused Uzbekistan of an economic blockade, citing gas supply cuts and rail freight issues. 2012 Apr 4 Uzbekistan International Uzbekistan rejected Tajikistan claims about economic blockade by saying that suspension of gas and electricity supplies to Tajikistan were due to technical reasons and not other motives. 2012 Apr 5 Kyrgyzstan International Working visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to Bishkek. During Lavrov's visit intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the humanitarian sphere and the program of cooperation between the foreign ministries of the two countries were signed. 2012 Apr 24 Tajikistan International Russia and Tajikistan continued talks over the future of Russian troops in Tajikistan. Russia has about 7,500 servicemen working for Motorized Rifle Division in Tajikistan. 2012 May 2 Turkmenistan International MTS, Russian mobile operator, informed it was going to resume the business in Turkmenistan, after suspending operation for almost 18 months. New deal was reached between Turkmen President and chairman of the holding company that owns MTS. Timeline of Central Asia (1918-2014) 41

2012 May 23 Turkmenistan International During international gas conference at city of Avaza Turkmen, Indian, and Pakistani officials signed agreement to supply Turkmen natural gas to Pakistan and India through U.S.-supported trans-Afghan pipeline TAPI. 2012 May 25 Tajikistan International The lower chamber of Tajikistan's parliament approved a bill that would allow visa-free visits by U.S., EU citizens, and citizens of several Southeastern Asian states. 2012 May 30 Tajikistan Political A court in the northern Tajik city of Khujand issued severe prison sentences to 17 men convicted due to their engagement in Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. Sentences ranged from 9 to 23 years. 2012 Jun 1 Uzbekistan International Uzbekistan reintroduced exit-visa requirements for Uzbek citizens planning to travel to neighboring states of Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. 2012 Jul 6 Kazakhstan Social Kazakhstan inaugurated Khazret Sultan, one of the largest mosques in Central Asia.

2012 Jun 7 Kazakhstan Political A Kazakh border guard has confessed to killing 14 fellow soldiers and a herder at a remote post near the Chinese frontier, prosecutors said Thursday, adding that hazing, or severe bullying, might have prompted the massacre. 2012 Jun 7 Kyrgyzstan International Turkey ratified the agreement on writing off Kyrgyzstan $ 51 million debt

2012 Jun 8 Tajikistan Economic The Tajik president's office informed that China would provide Tajikistan with some $1 billion in loans and aid, main part of which would go toward construction of a cement factory. 2012 Jun 14 Kyrgyzstan Political Parliament approved the draft law on the introduction of a visa-free regime for citizens of some countries up to 60 days for 44 countries until December 31, 2020. 2012 Jun 24 Uzbekistan International Uzbekistan suspended its membership in the Moscow-dominated Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) because CSTO "ignored Uzbekistan and did not listen to its opinions." 2012 Jun 23 Uzbekistan Social Uzbekistan's government denied reports that the country had a secret program to sterilize women to control birth rates. Uzbekistan, with a population of almost 30 million, is the most populous country in Central Asia. 42 Vladimir Fedorenko

2012 Jun 27 Kyrgyzstan Political Decision of the Parliament of Kyrgyzstan established State Inspection Commission of Kumtor Gold Company. Inspection consisted of environmental and mining technical expertise to conduct legal review of agreements on socio-economic examination. 2012 Jul 17 Turkmenistan International Iran and Turkmenistan pledged to develop trade ties. Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said his country was prepared to raise its trade volume with the Central Asian nation to $10 billion, up from $5 billion in 2011. 2012 Jul 17 Uzbekistan Social Uzbekistan left without mobile-phone Service. The operating license for Uzdunrobita, the Uzbek subsidiary of Russian cellular phone operator MTS, was suspended on July 17 for 10 days. Uzdunrobita complied with the order later that day, leaving the company's declared 9.5 million subscribers with no option but to enlist with a rival operator if they wanted to use their mobile phones. 2012 Jul 20 Kyrgyzstan Economic Head of RusHydro Yevgeny Dod met with Atambayev to discuss HPP construction project in Kyrgyzstan. The project involved the construction of the cascade in the upper reaches of the Naryn River, consisting of four hydroelectric power stations: Akbulunskoy HPP and Naryn HEP- 1, 2,3. The total design capacity of the cascade stations is 237.7 MW 2012 Jul 21 Tajikistan Political Major General Abdullo Nazarov, the head of the Tajik intelligence agency in Gorno- Badakhshan, was killed in Ishkashim. 2012 Jul 24 Tajikistan Political Clashes between government troops and local gunmen in Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous province. It was reported that 42 soldiers dead and possibly many other civilian casualties. 2012 Jul 26 Kazakhstan International A Visa-Free travel agreement to Hong Kong came into force 2012 Jul 26 Tajikistan Political Tajikistan's President Emomali Rahmon demanded that members of armed groups who clashed with government forces in Gorno-Badakhshan region be disarmed and brought to justice. He also offered amnesty to those who would agree to surrender voluntarily. 2012 Jul 24 Tajikistan Political Armed clashes occurred in Gorno- Badakhshan Province. At least 42 people including 12 soldiers and 30 rebels have been killed in fighting in Gorno- Timeline of Central Asia (1918-2014) 43

Badakhshan province. 2012 Jul 30 Uzbekistan Economic Uzbek authorities announced that they have extended the suspension of a Russian-owned mobile communication company's license by a further three months due to some 'technical violations'. 2012 Aug 8 Kyrgyzstan Political Presidential Decree on measures to improve the justice system in the Kyrgyz Republic approved. The Decree was made on the basis of dialogue recommendations for further reform of the judicial system of the Kyrgyz Republic as the framework for the main conceptual and defined goals, objectives and direction of the reform. 2012 Aug 13 Turkmenistan Political Berdimuhamedow signed a decree to amnesty 1,327 convicts, including 44 foreign nationals. The amnesty was linked to the upcoming end of the holy month of Ramadan, which is followed by a three-day celebration of the Islamic holiday Eid al- Fitr. 2012 Aug 21 Turkmenistan Political Second political party, the Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, formed in Turkmenistan. 2012 Sep 4 Kazakhstan International Kazakhstan announced its plans to borrow 1.2 bcm of natural gas from China, Russia and Uzbekistan due to an expected shortage of supplies for upcoming winter season 2012 Sep 12 Tajikistan International Visiting Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov came to Dushanbe to discuss the future of Russia's military bases in Tajikistan. After talks in Dushanbe with President Emomali Rahmon in April, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that the lease for the three Russian- controlled garrisons in Tajikistan, which shares a poorly secured border with Afghanistan, would be extended by 49 years. 2012 Sep 18 Tajikistan Political Tajikistan's president made working visit to the country's restive eastern region of Gorno-Badakhshan after special operation by security forces in the region left some 70 people dead. 2012 Sep 18 Uzbekistan Social Russia's MTS sought arbitration in Uzbek mobile operator dispute. In a statement issued on September 17, the company said Tashkent's move against MTS was illegal, and called the case "impartial" and that it aimed "to take over the assets and business of MTS in Uzbekistan." 44 Vladimir Fedorenko

2012 Sep 19 Uzbekistan International Uzbek President Islam Karimov started a three-day visit to South Korea, aiming to gain new investments in Uzbekistan's economy from the Asian economic power. Karimov arrived just after the South Korean company Daewoo announced it was suspending work at an oil and natural gas field in western Uzbekistan. 2012 Sep 20 Kyrgyzstan International The agreement between the Kyrgyz Republic and the Russian Federation on the construction and operation of the Upper Naryn cascade including the Kambarata Hydro Power Plant-1 was signed. 2012 Sep 24 Kazakhstan Political After resignation of Kazakhstan's long- serving prime minister, Karim Masimov, was immediately appointed by President Nursultan Nazarbaev to the head presidential administration. 2012 Sep Uzbekistan International Addressing the UN General Assembly, Elyor Ganiyev, Uzbekistan's Foreign Minister, called for a full investigation into the June 2010 violence between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks that left 447 people dead, thousands injured, and up to 375,000 displaced. He noted that no political or legal steps were taken to punish the initiators of the massacre, and that unresolved tensions posed a serious threat to peace and stability. 2012 Oct 2 Turkmenistan, International Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan agreed on Uzbekistan the importance of developing transport links and their potential to increase bilateral as well as regional trade during talks between two presidents in Ashgabat. The two leaders agreed that much hope lied in the China-Caucasus-Turkey corridor with the potential to greater access to international markets. 2012 Oct 3 Kyrgyzstan Political Approximately 1000 people clashed with police in front of building of Kyrgyz Parliament in Bishkek. Protesters demanded the nationalization of largest gold-mining company operating in Kyrgyzstan. 2012 Oct 5 Tajikistan International Russia and Tajikistan signed an agreement allowing Russian troops to stay at a military base in Tajikistan until 2042 during Putin's visit to Dushanbe on October 5. Timeline of Central Asia (1918-2014) 45

2012 Oct 11 Uzbekistan International The Uzbek Interior Ministry informed that they signed a memorandum of cooperation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in countering drug trafficking and the spread of drug abuse. 2012 Oct 14 Turkmenistan Economic Minister Kakageldy Abdullaev informed that Turkmenistan will start building gas pipeline to South Asia in 2017. 2012 Oct 16 Tajikistan Political The chairman of Tajikistan's opposition Islamic Renaissance Party informed that public support had increased in the wake of this summer's military operations in Gorno-Badakhshan province. While agreeing that the number of supporters was difficult to count, he said residents of the restive eastern province, particularly youth and women, were increasingly supporting the party "not only because we are an Islamic party, but because they are looking for an alternative." 2012 Oct 20 Uzbekistan International The office of Switzerland's attorney general confirmed it had blocked bank accounts containing hundreds of millions of dollars that Radio Television Suisse reported belong to four Uzbek nationals close to Uzbek President Islam Karimov. 2012 Oct 25 Kazakhstan International President Nazarbayev signed Commonwealth of Independent States Free Trade Area Agreement. The CISFTA agreement came into force 30 days after ratification 2012 Nov 27 Kyrgyzstan International EU foreign-policy chief Catherine Ashton during her visit to Kyrgyzstan as a part of her Central Asia tour concentrated on 'Shared Security Challenges'. 2012 Nov 28 Uzbekistan International EU foreign-policy chief Catherine Ashton emphasized visited Uzbekistan as part of her Central Asia tour to discuss energy and security issues with Uzbek President and top Uzbek officials. She also met with human right activists to discuss situation with human rights in Uzbekistan. 2012 Nov 29 Tajikistan International EU foreign-policy chief Catherine Ashton visited Tajikistan as part of her Central Asia tour. 2012 Nov 30 Kazakhstan International EU foreign-policy chief Catherine Ashton wrapped her Central Asia tour with a visit to Kazakhstan where she and Kazakh President discussed economic and trade ties between EU and Kazakhstan, regional security and Kazakhstan's accession to WTO. 46 Vladimir Fedorenko

2012 Dec 2 Uzbekistan International The director of a California-based labor- rights group informed that more than 100 international clothing makers were boycotting Uzbek cotton over the use of forced child labor. Leading international brands such as Wal-Mart, JCPenney, American Eagle, Zara, and many others, have joined the boycott. 2012 Dec 4 Kazakhstan Political Kazakhstan’s National Security Committee (KNB) announced that some extremist groups such as Jund al-Khilafah (Soldiers of the Caliphate) based on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan pose a threat to national security. 2012 Dec 10 Tajikistan International The General Council approved Tajikistan’s membership to World Trade Organization. During the ceremony in Geneva on December 10 Tajik president and WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy signed protocol on admission of Tajikistan into the organization. 2012 Dec 19 Turkmenistan International After several gas supply disruptions, Iran and Turkmenistan made new gas deal over $1 billion in outstanding payments and also agreed to increase daily delivery of gas. 2012 Dec 20 Kyrgyzstan International Russia and Kyrgyzstan signed an agreement to settle the debt of $188.9 million 2012 Dec 21 Tajikistan Political Tajik Telecommunication Services gave instructions to block 131 sites, mainly those posting music and videos but also Russian social network sites such as Vkontakte and Odnoklassniki. The Twitter website was also ordered blocked, as was topvideo.tj, the Tajik version of YouTube. 2012 Dec 25 Kazakhstan Political Military plane crash killed 27 people including head of the Kazakh border service Turganbek Stambekov as it prepared to land in Shymkent airport after flying from Astana. 2012 Dec 28 Kyrgyzstan Economic The Power Plants OJSC opened tender for a contract on the development of feasibility study (FS) for Kambarata-1.The amount of the tender was $ 15 million. The commissioning of Kambarata-1 HPP will assist to resolve energy crisis in Kyrgyzstan. Timeline of Central Asia (1918-2014) 47

2012 Dec 19 Kazakhstan International CSTO Collective Security Council meeting took place in Moscow. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, President of Belarus , President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambayev, President of Russia and President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon attended the summit. 2013 Jan 2 Tajikistan Political Detained Tajik opposition leader accused Rahmon of running totalitarian regime. In an open letter written from the detention center where he was being held, Umarali Quvatov, who was arrested in Dubai for “illegal business activities”, said the accusations issued against him were "a direct consequence" of his battle against the "oppression of the Tajik people" by Rahmon's government. He was being accused of illegally obtaining about $1.2 million through fraudulent business activities. Earlier he established opposition movement Group 24. 2013 Jan 2 Uzbekistan Economic Uzbekistan prohibited the road transportation of liquefied natural gas through its territory in order to protect environment and safety of its people. The ban is expected to affect neighboring Tajikistan which relies on Uzbek gas supplies. 2013 Jan 4 Turkmenistan International New Turkmen Law promised freedom of media in a new law introduced on Jan 4 which states that "nobody can prohibit or impede the media from disseminating information of public interest". In addition, it states that Turkmen citizens can use any media outlet to express their views. 2013 Jan 5 Kyrgyzstan, International Residents of the Uzbek enclave of Sokh in Uzbekistan southern Kyrgyzstan reportedly attacked Kyrgyz border guards and took Kyrgyz citizens hostage in a series of events that began on January 5. 2013 Jan 24 Kazakhstan Economic Kazakhstan set a new record in uranium production. The state nuclear company, Kazatomprom, announced increase in production of uranium from 19,400 tons in 2011 to 20,900 tons in 2012. Kazakhstan is world's leader in uranium production. 2013 Jan 28 Uzbekistan International Uzbek President Islam Karimov signed a law on Uzbekistan joining the free-trade zone of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which made Uzbekistan the ninth CIS country to join 48 Vladimir Fedorenko

the zone. 2013 Jan 30 Kazakhstan International Russia and Kazakhstan agreed to establish a joint regional air-defense system. The agreement was signed in Astana by Russian and Kazakh Ministers of Defense Shoigu and Dzhaksybekov. 2013 Feb 2 Uzbekistan International Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan agreed to open transit across border through Sokh enclaves 2013 Feb 5 Tajikistan Political Former Prime Minister of Tajikistan Abdumalik Abdullojonov arrested in Ukraine due to very serious crimes including accusation in the assassination attempt of President Emomali Rahmon in 1996. He was residing in the United States and was detained upon his arrival to Ukraine for his personal business. 2013 Jan 11 Turkmenistan International Turkmenistan announced its willingness to join WTO during January 19 cabinet session. Turkmen President ordered to review and prepare necessary documents to enter WTO. 2013 Feb 12 Uzbekistan Political Joint Scandinavian telecoms company TeliaSonera owned by Sweden, Finland and Norway was documented to pay Gulnara Karimova upwards of $300 million in bribes in order to break into the Uzbek mobile-phone market. 2013 Feb 12 Kyrgyzstan Political Military Court of Bishkek sentenced in absentia former President K. Bakiyev to 24 years in prison for abuse of power during his tenure as head of state. His brother Janish was sentenced to life imprisonment for the five articles of the Criminal Code. 2013 Feb 13 Turkmenistan International Ukraine agreed with Turkmenistan to resume imports of natural gas from the Central Asian country during the visit of Ukrainian President Yanukovich to Ashgabat. The deal's completion would require the consent of Kazakhstan and Russia as transit states. 2013 Feb 15 Turkmenistan International Turkmenistan and Afghanistan discussed management of trans-boundary water resources. 2013 Feb 15 Tajikistan Economic According to the report by Asia-Plus, 14 new small HPPs were being constructed in Tajikistan and that after construction of these facilities, the number of small HPPs in the country will reach 296 units. Timeline of Central Asia (1918-2014) 49

2013 Feb 21 Kyrgyzstan Economic Kyrgyzstan adopted a decree regarding the Kumtor Project. The Decree advised that government of Kyrgyzstan ensured the continuous operation of the Kumtor mine, and within three months of the date of the Decree, conducted negotiations with Centerra regarding revision of the Kumtor Project Agreements to return to conditions that existed prior to the restructuring of the project in 2003. 2013 Feb 26 Kazakhstan Political A court in Astana has banned the international Islamic group Tablighi Jamaat. 2013 Mar 2 Tajikistan International Accession agreement regarding Tajikistan’s WTO Membership comes into force. Tajikistan initiated membership application to WTO on May 29, 2001. Tajikistan became the 159th member of WTO after 11 years. 2013 Mar 3 Turkmenistan Social President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow signed a decree increasing the country’s secondary-school education from 10 to 12 years. 2013 Mar 8 Uzbekistan International Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged U.S. State Secretary John Kerry to pressure Uzbekistan over rights abuses. The New York-based group called on Kerry to publicly express concern about Uzbekistan’s deteriorating human-rights situation during his meeting with the Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Komilov on March 12 in Washington. 2013 Mar 18 Tajikistan International Salim Shamsiddinov, a leader of ethnic Uzbeks living in Tajikistan, announced missing after his disappearance for several days. 2013 Mar 21 Turkmenistan International Iranian president visited Turkmenistan in framework of Navruz celebrations as well as to discuss bilateral ties. 2013 Mar 26 Kyrgyzstan Political The Bishkek court sentenced in absentia former president's son Maxim Bakiyev to 25 years in prison on three articles of the Criminal Code. 2013 Mar 29 Kyrgyzstan Political A court in Bishkek found three members of Kyrgyzstan’s nationalist opposition party Ata-Jurt guilty of trying to overthrow the government and handed them short prison sentences on March 29. On October 3rd 2012 Tashiev, and Talant Mamytov organized the rally, which attracted around 1000 people, to demand nationalization of the country’s most- lucrative asset, the Kumtor gold mine. 50 Vladimir Fedorenko

2013 Apr 10 Tajikistan International President Rahmon met with EU leaders in Brussels. During meetings he discussed upcoming Tajik presidential election in 2013, human rights and relationships with Uzbekistan. Rahmon also met with NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen to discuss strategic partnership with Afghanistan. 2013 Apr 9 Kyrgyzstan International Turkish PM Erdogan visited Kyrgyzstan. Erdogan's visit was to establish business contacts between Kyrgyz and Turkish companies as well as to find new investment opportunities for Turkey 2013 Apr 17 Kyrgyzstan International Russian Duma ratified the agreement to write off Kyrgyzstan's $500 million debt. The agreement was signed in Bishkek in September 2012. 2013 May 11 Kazakhstan, International Kazakh and Turkmen Presidents Turkmenistan inaugurated the Bolashak (Kazakhstan) – Serkhetyaka (Turkmenistan) railroad. 2013 May 27 Turkmenistan Social Ashgabat, the capital of energy-rich Turkmenistan, was recorded by Guinness World Records as having the world's highest amount of buildings made from white marble. 2013 May 27 Kyrgyzstan, International Kyrgyz and Tajik Presidents announced Tajikistan plan to construct new railroad connecting Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan before continuing to Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and Iran. 2013 May 27 Uzbekistan Political Karimov public absence for more than a week led to heated discussions and rumors about health condition of the president and who might be his successor. 2013 May 30 Turkmenistan International Turkey and Turkmenistan signed 12 bilateral agreements in the fields of energy, agriculture, diplomacy and youth and sports which are intended to further boost ties between the countries, on the second day of President Abdullah Gül's three-day visit to Turkmenistan. 2013 May 31 Kyrgyzstan Social A state of emergency declared when hundreds of protesters clashed with local police and besieged the offices at the Kumtor gold mine. Protesters demanded more benefits and even nationalization of the company [which belongs to Canadian ]. 2013 Jun 5 Turkmenistan, International Afghan, Tajik, Turkmen Presidents Tajikistan inaugurated the construction of new railway. Turkmenistan-Afghanistan- Tajikistan railway will connect cities of Timeline of Central Asia (1918-2014) 51

Atamyrat, Mazar-i Sharif and Panj. 2013 Jun 14 Kazakhstan, International Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev Uzbekistan signed a strategic partnership agreement with his Uzbek counterpart, Islam Karimov, during a visit to Tashkent. The document signed in the Uzbek capital on June 14 defined cooperation regarding politics, trade, economics, culture, and transportation between the two Central Asian countries. 2013 Jun 27 Kazakhstan, International Kyrgyzstan’s President Almazbek Kyrgyzstan, Atambayev and Tajikistan’s President Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon agreed on construction Turkmenistan of a major railroad connecting Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan to Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, and the Persian Gulf. 2013 May 31 Uzbekistan International A free trade agreement between CIS and Uzbekistan was signed during the meeting of the Council of CIS Heads of Governments in Minsk. Uzbekistan became the 9th member of the free trade zone. 2013 Jul 1 Tajikistan International The French contingent who had been performing repair and maintenance of NATO air forces in Dushanbe since December 2001 left Tajikistan. 2013 Aug 4 Uzbekistan Political The IMU announced that the head of the IMU, Osman Adil, was killed in a U.S. drone attack in Pakistan in 2012. 2013 Aug 16 Kazakhstan, International The presidents of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey met in , Turkmenistan Azerbaijan at The Third Turkic Council Summit Meeting to strengthen their economic ties and promote cooperation in energy, mining, tourism, trade and transportation. 2013 Aug 19 Tajikistan Economic President Rahmon promised to consider all regional stakeholders in national hydropower construction policy. 2013 Aug 20 Tajikistan International Tajikistan hosts High-Level International Conference on Water Cooperation. Experts, academicians and government representatives from more than 100 countries and international organizations of the world gathered in Dushanbe for international conference on water cooperation. 2013 Jun 20 Uzbekistan International U.S. Says Uzbekistan, Russia, Iran Worst For Human Trafficking 2013 Aug 30 Uzbekistan International Uzbekistan banned foreign military bases from its territory as part of a reformulation 52 Vladimir Fedorenko

of foreign policy 2013 Sep 3 Turkmenistan International Chinese President held talks about mutual ties and cooperation with his Turkmen counterpart in Ashgabat as he began his first official trip to Central Asia 2013 Sep 3 Turkmenistan International Turkmenistan and China came to agreement to include Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to the regional gas pipeline network. Additional volumes of the natural gas will be transmitted from Turkmenistan to China. 2013 Sep 7 Kazakhstan International Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev says Kazakhstan and China will sign more than 20 agreements worth $30 billion. 2013 Sep 11 Kazakhstan Economic The North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC) made the first oil extraction from Kazakhstan’s offshore Kashagan field. 2013 Sep 11 Kyrgyzstan International Several strategic agreements were signed during state visit of the President of China Xi Jinping to Kyrgyzstan. The most significant agreements are: Construction the “Kyrgyzstan–China” pipeline and the North-South highway; Credit Agreement with Eximbank of China to modernize the Bishkek thermal power plant; loan agreements between the Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic and RSK Development Bank of China.. 2013 Sep 13 Kyrgyzstan International Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Bishkek. One of the main conclusions of the summit was that SCO member states recognized the need to create a security zone protecting the state from drug transit 2013 Sep 15 Tajikistan International Ministers from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan met in Islamabad for CASA-1000 meeting. CASA- 1000 project aims to transfer surplus electricity generated during a high-water season from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to Pakistan and Afghanistan. 2013 Sep 18 Tajikistan International An agreement to extend positioning of approximately 7,000 Russian troops in Tajikistan was sent to parliament for ratification. 2013 Sep 19 Kazakhstan Political The prominent Kazakh opposition leader and chairman of the Azat Party, Bolat Abilov, announced his decision to quit politics. Timeline of Central Asia (1918-2014) 53

2013 Oct 1 Kazakhstan International Kazakhstan's representative Zhandos Asanov became the Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic Speaking States (TURKPA) 2013 Oct 1 Tajikistan International Tajik lower chamber of parliament ratified an agreement allowing Russian military to stay in Tajikistan until 2042 2013 Oct 3 Kazakhstan International Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan discussed construction of the Caspian segment of Trans-Eurasian Information Super Highway (TASIM). TASIM project is a major regional initiative aiming at creation of transnational backbone connecting the countries of Eurasia. 2013 Oct 4 Tajikistan Political Ruling People's Democratic Party nominated longtime President Emomali Rahmon to run for the upcoming presidential election on November 6. 2013 Oct 6 Kazakhstan International Astana demanded Russia’s compliance with laws of Baikonur Cosmodrome. In particular, Kazakhstan demanded the extension of the application of the Environmental Code on cosmodrome's territory. 2013 Oct 7 Kyrgyzstan Social Civil rally in city in Issyk-Kul oblast. The opponents held a rally Kumtor, which was accompanied by numerous violations of the law, including hostage-taking of the governor Emilbek Kaptagaeva and two attempts to storm the building of local government. President of KR later called the protesters actions “banditry and terrorism”. 2013 Oct 9 Uzbekistan International Uzbek President Islam Karimov and Chinese President Xi Jinping signed agreements worth a reported $15 billion in key Uzbek sectors such as oil, gas, and uranium production. 2013 Oct 9 Turkmenistan Political Opposition Blasted Turkmen government for water and heating cuts. An exiled opposition leader Vyacheslav Mamedov said cuts to basic utilities signal that Turkmenistan’s economy needs drastic reforms. 2013 Oct 11 Uzbekistan International Uzbek authorities have reportedly accepted responsibility for a Tajik train's derailing on its territory. The Tajik train transporting 200 young army conscripts from Dushanbe to Tajikistan's northern Sughd Province derailed on October 10 in Uzbekistan's Jizzakh, injuring dozens. Twenty injured soldiers remained in the 54 Vladimir Fedorenko

hospital. 2013 Oct 11 Tajikistan Political Candidate of the United Reformist Forces of Tajikistan Oynihol Bobonazarova ended her presidential race. Her campaign group failed to collect the required 210 000 of signatures to register for the poll. 2013 Oct 17 Kazakhstan Economic Kazakhstan achieved the status of a Compliant Country at The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) 2013 Oct 17 Kazakhstan International Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev has signed a law ratifying an agreement with China on the development and operation of a joint oil pipeline. The 2,228 kilometer pipeline from Kazakhstan's Caspian Sea shore to the Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region in western China is constructed by KazMunaiGas company and the Chinese National Petroleum Corporation. 2013 Oct 17 Tajikistan International According to decision of Swiss Tribunal, Russian Aluminum Giant RusAl won $275 million from Tajik Aluminum Company TALCO because earlier TALCO breached two agreements signed with Hamer Investing (RUSAL's subsidiary). Under these agreements, Hamer Investing was to supply TALCO with some raw materials, for which TALCO failed to pay. 2013 Oct 17 Tajikistan International Lower chamber of Tajik Parliament ratified an agreement with UK by which UK will be allowed to transport its military equipment through Tajik territory and will be able to use Tajik airspace in emergency situations. 2013 Oct 22 Tajikistan Political OSCE report criticized state-controlled media for their exclusive focus on incumbent president Emomali Rahmon. 2013 Oct 23 Kyrgyzstan Economic Kyrgyz parliament rejected Memorandum of Understanding on the “Kumtor” and instructed the Cabinet to continue negotiations with the company “Centerra Gold” to improve the position of Kyrgyzstan in the joint venture. 2013 Oct 28 Kyrgyzstan International Delegation from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on three-day visit to Bishkek 2013 Oct 29 Kazakhstan Political Kazakhstan established Ministry of Environment and Water Resources. A decree signed by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev transformed the Ministry of Environmental Protection of Kazakhstan into the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources. Timeline of Central Asia (1918-2014) 55

2013 Oct 31 Tajikistan Political Five presidential candidates Ismoil Talbakov ( the Communist Party), Tolibbek Bukhoriev (Agrarian Party), Saidjafar Ismonov (Democratic Party), Abdukhalim Ghafforov ( Socialist Party) and Olim Boboev (Economic Reforms Party) said that that the ongoing election campaign is proceeding in a "fair and transparent way and in accordance with Tajik laws." 2013 Oct 31 Uzbekistan Political Gulnara Karimova revealed an attempt to assassinate her. She wrote “[They’ve] already tried to poison me with heavy metals like mercury. Thank God, they have not killed me, although I am still receiving treatment” 2013 Nov 4 Uzbekistan Political The daughter of the Uzbek president, Gulnara Karimova, accused the chief of the country's National Security Service Rustam Inoyatov of blocking her path to the presidency. 2013 Nov 6 Tajikistan Political President Rahmon won with 83.92% of the vote. The Islamic Revival Party and the Social Democratic Party boycotted the elections 2013 Nov 14 Kyrgyzstan International Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic Erlan Abdyldaev handed note about the end of the agreement on the presence in Kyrgyzstan of Transit Center to U.S. Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic Pamela Spratlen. 2013 Nov 19 Uzbekistan Social Uzbekistan's national soccer team clinched a dramatic late victory to qualify for the 2015 Asian Cup. 2013 Nov 20 Turkmenistan Economic During exhibition "Oil and Gas of Turkmenistan" Turkmen President noted that works to develop the country's largest gas field "Galkinish" actively continued. 2013 Nov 20 Kyrgyzstan International First Annual Kyrgyz American Convention in Washington, D.C. Topics such as the future of US-Kyrgyz relations and investment climate of Kyrgyzstan were discussed. 2013 Nov 21 Uzbekistan Political After an array of critical tweets about her family, Gulnara Karimova's tweeter account was frozen. 2013 Nov 21 Uzbekistan Political UN criticized Uzbekistan for the use of torture and human rights abuses 2013 Nov 21 Kyrgyzstan International Russia and Kyrgyzstan agreed to establish a negotiating groups on labor migration 56 Vladimir Fedorenko

2013 Nov 23 Tajikistan Political President Rahmon dismissed prime minister Akil Akilov who has been in post since 1999 2013 Nov 25 Uzbekistan International Turkmen and Uzbek leaders met to discuss bilateral ties, including cooperation in the energy, and transportation of natural gas to China and the Middle East. 2013 Dec 10 Kyrgyzstan Economic A new strategy in the mining industry was developed. The new strategy designed to meet the provisions of the tax legislation, legal issues, licensing, ecology and more. 2013 Dec 11 Kyrgyzstan Economic Kyrgyz Parliament ratified sale of Kyrgyzgaz to Gazprom 2013 Dec 15 Turkmenistan Political Voters in Turkmenistan for the first time participated to multiparty election since Turkmenistan’s independence. Nevertheless, there was no real competition. Turkmenistan's Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs as well as ruling Democratic Party, openly supported the President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow 2013 Dec 17 Kyrgyzstan, International Scuffles between citizens of Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan and Tajikistan near cross-border Kyrgyz village Ak-Sai in Vorukh exclave triggered series of bilateral negotiations. Around 500 Tajik citizens blocked the highway connecting the village of Ak-Sai with the regional center. 2013 Dec 23 Kyrgyzstan Economic The report conducted with “Centerra Gold” on restructuring of Kumtor project was submitted to Kyrgyz Parliament. 2013 Dec 23 Kyrgyzstan International During Supreme Eurasian Economic Council meeting in Moscow President Atambayev signed accession agreement to join Russia-led EEU on December 23. By this agreement Kyrgyzstan is expected to become full-fledged member of EEU on May 2015. 2013 Dec 23 Uzbekistan Political An Uzbek dissident occupying Karimova's $20-million Geneva mansion said he uncovered a treasure trove of 20th- century paintings pilfered from Uzbekistan's state art museums. 2013 Dec 24 Kazakhstan International Russia and Kazakhstan signed an agreement on joint operation of the Baikonur Cosmodrome until 2016. Russia pays Kazakhstan $115 million for the annual rent of the cosmodrome. 2013 Dec 4 Tajikistan Social Tajik-Born writer Andrei Volos wins 2013 Russian Booker Prize for "Return to Panjrud”. Timeline of Central Asia (1918-2014) 57

2014 Jan 2 Turkmenistan International Kyrgyz President ratified cooperation agreement on construction and operation of Kyrgyzstan-China gas pipeline. The pipeline is part of Turkmen-China gas pipeline, worth $2 billion. 2014 Jan 3 Tajikistan Economic The new Spitamen Bank was opened in Tajikistan on the basis of Spitamen Capital micro financial organization 2014 Jan 3 Turkmenistan International After the linear part of the gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to China is completed China will purchase Turkmen gas in 2016 2014 Jan 7 Turkmenistan Political Turkmenistan's new multiparty parliament reelected Akdzha Nurberdiyeva who occupied the post since 2007 as speaker 2014 Jan 9 Uzbekistan Economic Gasoline prices in Uzbekistan suddenly increased by 20% overnight. Previous increases never were so abrupt. 2014 Jan 11 Kyrgyzstan, International Officials reported that 5 Kyrgyz border Tajikistan guards, 1 Kyrgyz policeman, and 2 Tajik border guards were rushed into hospitals with injuries after tensions escalated into exchanges of gunfire along the Kyrgyz- Tajik border. 2014 Jan 13 Kyrgyzstan, International After negotiations of Kyrgyzstan's and Tajikistan Tajikistan's officials, two countries agreed withdraw military forces from the bordering regions, after the shooting incident on January 11. 2014 Jan 17 Turkmenistan Social Turkmen president decided to end free gas supply that was supplied for free since 1993 along with water, electricity 2014 Jan 17 Kazakhstan Political During the joint meeting of the two chambers of parliament in Astana Nazarbayev presented his strategic plan of linking Kazakhstan with 30 developed world countries 2014 Jan 20 Uzbekistan Economic Uzbekistan trade surplus reached $1.3 billion. At the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers President Islam Karimov made the remark that despite the instability of world market conditions, growth in exports in 2013 in Uzbekistan amounted to 10.9% and in recent years there was clear tendency of an increase in the export sales of finished competitive products. 2014 Jan 23 Kyrgyzstan International Kyrgyzstan reported that 11 members of the unknown “criminal gang" group were killed while putting up resistance on the Kyrgyz-Chinese border. 2014 Feb 3 Tajikistan International Japan agreed to provide $113,000 grant for the construction of the second building of central hospital at district in 58 Vladimir Fedorenko

Tajikistan.

2014 Feb 3 Kyrgyzstan Social Second floor of the madrasah in Osh city collapsed injuring 49 people. It is believed that collapse was an accident but the criminal investigation started. 2014 Feb 5 Uzbekistan Social Being a rare event in Uzbekistan, Uzbek court agreed to review complaint from right activist who complained about unfair treatment by police 2014 Feb 5 Tajikistan Social Tajikistan fights foreign words in . During a news conference, State Committee on Language and Terminology reported that in 2013 266 businesses were inspected for compliance with the law on state language and 64 businesses were fined. 2014 Feb 6 Kazakhstan Social Kazakh President Nazarbayev proposed changing the name of Kazakhstan into "Kazakh Eli" to distinguish it from the rest of Central Asian states by removing "Stan". 2014 Feb 11 Kazakhstan Economic Kazakhstan devalued its Tenge currency by 19% to about 185 per dollar, to resist speculators and adjust to the freer ruble float of its main trading partner Russia. 2014 Feb 11 Tajikistan Economic Shareholders of Tajikistan Rogun hydropower plant project elected new members for the project's observation council 2014 Feb 15 Kazakhstan Social Protests broke up aftermath currency devaluation in Kazakhstan. About 50 people were detained by police. 2014 Feb 19 Uzbekistan Political Ten close associates of the Uzbek president’s eldest daughter, Gulnara Karimova, are under criminal investigation. 2014 Feb 25 Tajikistan International A top U.S. diplomat Richard Hoagland said Washington needs more studies on a controversial Rogun dam project in Tajikistan before it can outline its position regarding the project. 2014 Feb 26 Turkmenistan International Taliban militants in Afghanistan reportedly killed at least three Turkmen border guards in the northwestern province of Baghdis. 2014 Mar 4 Kazakhstan Social Kazakhstan to establish first energy positive city, which would generate energy, accumulate it and give its surplus to Astana on sunny or windy days. Timeline of Central Asia (1918-2014) 59

2014 Mar 7 Kazakhstan International Kazakhstan sued the multinational consortium developing the Kashagan (Kashagan) oil field in the Caspian Sea for $737 million over alleged damage to the environment. 2014 Mar 10 Uzbekistan Political Uzbek President Islam Karimov adopted new law by which top state officials would need to obtain special approval before traveling abroad in order to safeguard state secrets. 2014 Mar 10 Kazakhstan International Obama spoke with Nazarbayev about Ukraine crisis encouraging Kazakhstan to be a mediator in the conflict 2014 Mar 12 Uzbekistan International Swiss prosecutors say they're investigating Gulnara Karimova, the eldest daughter of authoritarian Uzbek President Islam Karimov, on suspicion of money laundering. 2014 Mar 14 Uzbekistan Political Karimov proposed to broaden powers of Prime Minister. 2014 Mar 18 Uzbekistan International Turkmenistan joined search operation for missing Jet MH370. With Turkmenistan's and several other countries joining, the number of countries involved in search operation increased from 14 to 26. 2014 Mar 20 Turkmenistan International During meeting with Chairman of the Afghan High Peace Council Salahuddin Rabbani, Turkmen President confirmed that he would assist in the international efforts aimed at recovery of economy and prosperity in Afghanistan 2014 Mar 23 Kazakhstan International Kazakhstan’s embassy organized an anniversary conference and a reception in dedicated to celebration of 20 years of establishing diplomatic relations with Turkey. Former Turkish President Suleyman Demirel, former parliament speaker Koksal Toptan, the head of the presidential administration and other prominent political and public figures of the country attended the event dedicated to this remarkable date. 2014 Mar 22 Turkmenistan International A high-level delegation of Turkmen officials led by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov arrived in USA to discuss regional security issues, the situation in Afghanistan, economic ties, and cooperation in the humanitarian sphere to develop social and cultural ties and ensure the protection of human rights. 60 Vladimir Fedorenko

2014 Mar 25 Uzbekistan Political Gulnara Karimova's named is under suspicion in Swedish telecoms bribery case. 2014 Mar 27 Kyrgyzstan, International World Bank approved investing of $526.5m Tajikistan into CASA-1000 project on March 27. CASA- 1000 is meant to include sub-stations and more than 1,200km of power lines that will carry excess summer hydro-power from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to Pakistan and Afghanistan. 2014 Mar 31 Tajikistan International China's defense minister, on a visit to Tajikistan, has promised the Central Asian country "hundreds of millions of dollars" in military aid which, if happens, would be a dramatic policy change for Beijing, which had focused more on economic ties in Central Asia. 2014 Apr 2 Kazakhstan Political Serik Akhmetov resigned from the post of the Prime Minister and President Nazarbayev appointed Karim Masimov to the post. Masimov graduated from universities in Moscow and Beijing. is regarded as an expert on China. Kazakh observers to have Kremlin connections. 2014 Apr 3 Kyrgyzstan Political Kyrgyzstan's parliament overwhelmingly elected Joomart Otorbaev to be the new Prime Minister. Otorbaev served as the deputy Prime Minister in the previous government. 2014 Apr 3 Kazakhstan Political The Mazhilis deputies unanimously approved Darigha Nazarbaeva candidacy to the post of Deputy Parliament Speaker after the ruling Nur-Otan party announced her nomination. 2014 Apr 5 Uzbekistan Political Three women in Uzbekistan were jailed on suspicion of being spies of Tajikistan and received lengthy prison sentences. 2014 Apr 4 Kyrgyzstan Political A court in Bishkek sentenced former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev to 25 years in prison with confiscation of property, ex- president's brother Janish Bakiyev to life in prison; Bakiyev's son Marat to 20 years; Bakiyev's son Maksim to life in prison with confiscation of property. 2014 Apr 7 Kazakhstan International Kazakhstan expressed fear about Western sanctions on Russia. Kazakh Minister of Oil and Gas Uzaqbai Qarabalin told lawmakers that Western sanctions might lead to a decrease in the oil volume transported by Astana to external markets via Russian pipelines, therefore Astana will have to focus on the Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey route via the Caspian Sea. Timeline of Central Asia (1918-2014) 61

2014 Apr 10 Turkmenistan International A Tajik delegation arrived to Ashgabat to discuss Turkmenistan-Afghanistan- Tajikistan railway project, which has been active since early June 2013. China, Iran and Kyrgyzstan are planning to join the railway project in the future 2014 Apr 10 Uzbekistan Political The upper chamber of Uzbekistan's parliament approved law on broadening the prime minister's powers. According to the law approved on 10 April, a part of the presidential powers will be transferred to the prime minister. Parliament will also get a right to control the cabinet's activities. 2014 Apr 10 Kyrgyzstan International Gazprom assumed the control of KyrgyzGaz corporation. All debts of the Kyrgyz state company would be transferred to Gazprom. The prices for gas for consumers in Kyrgyzstan and all projects would be outlined and implemented in negotiations with Kyrgyz government. 2014 Apr 12 Kazakhstan International Kazakhstan was appointed as coordinator of the so-called “Modern Silk Road”, a new tourist product of the Turkic Council 2014 Apr 16 Tajikistan Social Tajik President Emomali Rahmon signed a decree announcing 2014 the Year of Mass Football in the country in the aim to promote healthy living and mass sports. 2014 Apr 18 Tajikistan International Tajik President Emomali Rahmon pledged to enhance security cooperation with China to combat terrorism and extremism. 2014 Apr 22 Kazakhstan Social A new law to facilitate citizenship process for repatriates returning to Kazakhstan. Coming from foreign countries ethnic Kazakhs who seek permanent residence in Kazakhstan would be able to obtain Kazakh citizenship in one year. 2014 Apr 23 Uzbekistan Economic Uzbekistan signed three loan agreements with international financial institutions involving Asian Development Bank which envisage attraction of funds worth $151 million 2014 Apr 28 Kazakhstan International Chairman of the Majlis Maulen Ashimbayev reported that trade turnover of Kazakhstan with Turkic states reached $7.5 billion while speaking at the third meeting of the Commission on Legal Affairs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Turkic- Speaking Countries (TurkPA) 62 Vladimir Fedorenko

2014 Apr 28 Kazakhstan International President Nazarbayev denied that EEU was a reincarnation of the USSR. Delivering a lecture at Moscow State University Nazarbaev said that ongoing integration of post-Soviet countries does not have anything in common with reviving Soviet Union. 2014 Apr 28 Kazakhstan International Kazakh authorities launched an investigation to find out whether there were any Kazakh citizens fighting in Ukraine after alleged reports that part of volunteers fighting in Ukraine are from former Soviet Union states 2014 May 2 Tajikistan Social Tajikistan founded the first-ever all-female land mine-clearing team to clear mines left over from the 1992-1997 civil war. 2014 May 5 Tajikistan, International Turkmen president Gurbanguly Turkmenistan Berdimuhamedow visited Tajikistan to talk about possible investment by Turkmenistan in Tajikistan's energy and transportation sectors, as well as other strategic sectors of Tajik economy. 2014 May 7 Turkmenistan International Turkmens and China celebrated the opening of new processing plant at the Bagtyarlyk field feeds a major pipeline to China. 2014 May 7 Kyrgyzstan, International According to the Kyrgyz Border Service, a Tajikistan clash involving 1,500 local residents started on May 7 in Jaka-Oruk (by the Tajik village of Hoja-Alo), when began throwing stones at Kyrgyz cars. Tajiks also burned a Kyrgyz gas station, a shop and two cars, the Border Service said in a statement. 60 people were injured. 2014 May 8 Uzbekistan International US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns arrived in Uzbekistan to discuss bilateral cooperation in political, economic, humanitarian and other fields of mutual interest during the recent meeting. 2014 May 12 Turkmenistan Economic A new thermal power plant with the capacity of 149.2 megawatts was commissioned in the Serdarabat district of Turkmenistan's Lebap province. It is expected that this power plant will increase electricity export to Afghanistan. 2014 May 12 Kyrgyzstan International Bishkek approved the road map to join Russia-led Customs Union. Kyrgyz Economy Minister Temir Sariev said that the government would continue working to implement the road map and adapt Kyrgyz economy to the requirement of Customs Union. Timeline of Central Asia (1918-2014) 63

2014 May 14 Kyrgyzstan, International Bishkek and Dushanbe agreed to Tajikistan accelerate the border delimitation process. 2014 May 16 Uzbekistan International NATO formally opened its liaison office in Uzbekistan, almost a year after it started working despite of heightened Russian disapproval of the western alliance putting roots on its "backyard." 2014 May 19 Kazakhstan International According to the reports of Minister of Emergency Situations, Kazakhstan would send $2 million of official humanitarian aid to Afghanistan during 2014. 2014 May 20 Kyrgyzstan Cultural In 2014 the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek was named the Capital of Islamic Culture by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). 2014 May 20 Tajikistan International Tajik Economic Development and Trade Ministry press office reported that Germany promised to issue €14 million to assist Tajikistan to improve healthcare of mothers and children 2014 May 21 Tajikistan Political At least three people, including a police officer, were killed and at least seven people, including three police officers, were injured during a police attack against alleged criminals in the city of Khorough, the capital of Gorno-Badakhshan region 2014 May 23 Tajikistan Political Hundreds of protesters in Tajikistan's restive eastern province of Gorno- Badakhshan spent the night in tents in the center of the regional capital, Khorugh, trying to convince the government an investigation into deadly clashes on May 21 that killed 3 people. 2014 May 29 Kazakhstan International The three presidents of Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan signed the final documents for the creation of the in Astana on May 29. The new accord would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2015, creating a territory of unified customs tariffs for about 170 million people. 2014 May 30 Kyrgyzstan International Kyrgyzstan's economy minister Temir Sariev says Russia would allocate $ 1.2 billion to help Bishkek join a Moscow-led customs union. $ 1 billion would be given as long-term loan, while $200 million would be provided as Russian grant to implement “road map” earlier implemented by Kyrgyzstan to join Customs union. 64 Vladimir Fedorenko

2014 Jun 3 Kazakhstan International President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev arrived in Bodrum, Turkey, to participate in the IV Summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States 2014 Jun 3 Kyrgyzstan International The United States officially closed the Manas air base it was using in Kyrgyzstan, more than one month before the lease on the base was due to expire. During the ceremony on June 3 to hand over a symbolic "key" to the base to Kyrgyz officials, base commander Colonel John Millard said that about 5.5 million troops had passed through Manas in its more than 12 years in service. 2014 Jun 4 Turkmenistan International Several intergovernmental agreements were signed in Ankara during the official visit of Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow to Turkey. The agreements were in the fields of tourism, scientific research, small business, meteorology at other. 2014 Jun 4 Uzbekistan Social In an effort to develop a domestic Internet system , the government of Uzbekistan began operation to switch all its official correspondence to a domestic electronic- mail system called umail.uz 2014 Jun 5 Kazakhstan International During 4th Summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking Countries in Bodrum, Kazakh President Nazarbayev suggested creating Turkic TV channel 2014 Jun 9 Tajikistan Social At undisclosed reasons Tajik Authorities decided to block popular video-sharing web site Youtube.com 2014 Jun 10 Tajikistan Political Residents of protested against the chairman of the opposition Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (HNIT), Muhiddin Kabiri, during his visit to Kulob region. 2014 Jun 15 Kazakhstan International Kazakhstan annulled visa requirements for 15 countries. Citizens of United States, the Netherlands, the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, and Japan will be able to stay in Kazakhstan visa-free for 15 days 2014 Jun 16 Kyrgyzstan Political A former business partner of the son of ousted Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev Eugene Gourevitch, aka Yevgeny Gourevitch was sentenced to more than five years in prison for his role in a $6 million fraud case in 2012 involving a plan to buy shares in Facebook. Timeline of Central Asia (1918-2014) 65

2014 Jun 16 Tajikistan International Tajik scholar Aleksandr Sodikov residing in Canada was detained on charges of treason and spying. Sodikov traveled through Tajikistan and met with various leader and civil society groups as part of his PhD research on human rights in Tajikistan. 2014 Jun 18 Kazakhstan International The World Bank decided to provide a $21.7 million grant to Kazakhstan for energy efficiency development. The project is expected to decrease energy consumption and increase energy efficiency at schools, kindergartens, hospitals and other institutions. 2014 Jun 20 Turkmenistan International Turkmenistan and South Korea signed a $4 billion in agreement to build natural gas- processing plants in the Central Asian nation. 2014 Jun 23 Tajikistan Social Four teenage Tajik basketball players and their coach drowned after their car plunged into a river in Varzob province of Tajikistan. They were going to Dushanbe to participate in competitions. 2014 Jul 2 Kazakhstan International Nazarbayev ordered implementing South Korean practices in energy efficiency saying that "We are losing up to 20% of the generated electricity - this is the output of an entire power plant, while Korea loses 7- 8% during transportations." 2014 Jul 6 Turkmenistan International The construction of the Turkmen section of the new "North-South" railway which would connect Kazakhstan and Iran has been completed 2014 Jul 10 Tajikistan International As the result of the incident near Kyrgyz- Tajik border at Vorukh enclave one Tajik national was killed and seven others were injured. Joint commission will investigate the incident. 2014 Jul 13 Uzbekistan Political Gulnara Karimova fellows Rustam Madumarov and Gayane Avakian were reportedly sentenced for 6.5 and 6 years respectively for money-laundering and forgery charges. 2014 Jul 17 Kazakhstan International 10 sites of Kazakhstan were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List 2014 Jul 22 Tajikistan Political Canada-based scholar Alexander Sodikov who was held in detention for over the month was freed. 66 Vladimir Fedorenko

2014 Jul 23 Tajikistan Social Ganijon Salomzoda became the founder of the new Tajik social networking site that is expected to become alternative to Russia popular site odnoklassniki.ru. The new site prohibits the use of foul language and publication of extremist material. 2014 Jun 20 Kyrgyzstan Political Kyrgyz Parliament voted to end the lease agreement of the Manas Transit Center. President Atambayev signed the bill into a law on June 25. 2014 Jul 24 Kyrgyzstan International Kyrgyz official said Kyrgyzstan could join Customs Union in 5 years after it completes all necessary steps. 2014 Jul 25 Kyrgyzstan Political Kyrgyz military court sentenced former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and his brother Janish Bakiyev to life imprisonment in their absence. 2014 Jul 30 Tajikistan International Lavrov said Tajikistan was welcome to join the Eurasian Economic Union of Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan that is expected to come into existence on January. 2014 Aug 1 Uzbekistan International "Mobile TeleSystems" (MTS) OJSC signed a settlement agreement with Uzbekistan, in accordance with which the company plans to continue paused activity on the provision of mobile services throughout the country within a joint venture with the government's participation. 2014 Aug 1 Uzbekistan Social To prevent cheating during university entrance exams Uzbekistan blocked SMS and mobile activity 2014 Aug 4 Uzbekistan International Expressing opinion of the government, Uzbek deputy PM Azimov criticized the outcomes and results of the assessment study of Rogun power plant implemented by the World Bank. 2014 Aug 6 Kazakhstan International Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov visited Eastern Kazakhstan. Purpose of the visit was to discuss bilateral ties, international and regional issues, the Eurasian integration process, and cooperation in the political, economic, and cultural spheres 2014 Aug 8 Turkmenistan International Pakistan and Turkmenistan on Friday reviewed the progress on the important Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project and decided to accelerate efforts for the implementation of the project. Timeline of Central Asia (1918-2014) 67

2014 Aug 11 Kyrgyzstan International Russia announced plans to allocate $500 million in assistance to Kyrgyz economy. These funds would allow Kyrgyzstan to prepare its economy to join the Eurasian Economic Union. 2014 Sep 2 Kazakhstan International Nazarbaev criticized Western sanctions by saying that it will create significant changes in the existing economic relations and harm global financial situation 2014 Sep 10 Tajikistan International Rohani and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon participated in a ceremony in which the second generating unit at the Iran-funded Sangtuda-2 hydropower plant was inaugurated. 2014 Sep 12 Kazakhstan Social Astana blocked 54 sites including ones rendering online casino services. Also, the access to 12 files at 10 foreign websites, which promote cruelty and violence, was also blocked. 2014 Sep 16 Uzbekistan Political Several photographs depicting Islam Karimov's daughter Gulnara Karimova during her alleged house arrest were released to the media. The images were distributed to the media September 16 by the 42-year-old's Britain-based spokesman, Locksley Ryan, who said that Karimova and her daughter are often deprived of food and medical attention. 2014 Sep 19 Turkmenistan International Turkmen oil transportation via Baku-Tbilisi- Ceyhan increases 70%. In January-August of 2014, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) transported 3.6 million metric tons of Turkmen oil versus 2.1 million metric tons in 2013, says the report of the State Statistics Committee of Azerbaijan in the first eight months of 2014. 2014 Sep 18 Tajikistan International President Rahmon informed that close to 200 Tajik nationals joined Islamist fighters in Iraq and Syria. He also added that around 30 Tajiks fighting for Islamic militants were killed and several others were arrested 2014 Sep 20 Uzbekistan Political The Tashkent-based Human Rights Defenders' Alliance said wife of Uzbek opposition leader Bahodir Choriyev Feruza Hurramova and her 9-year-old son were barred from entering the country at the Tashkent airport upon arrival from the U.S. city of Chicago via Istanbul, Turkey, on September 20 despite of holding Uzbek passports. 68 Vladimir Fedorenko

2014 Sep 22 Kazakhstan International Secretary of State Kerry expressed strong support for Kazakhstan’s joining to the WTO 2014 Sep 29 Kazakhstan, International Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan participated Turkmenistan in fourth Caspian Summit in Astrakhan hosted by Russia along with Iran and Azerbaijan. Participants hope that agreement on the legal status of the Caspian Sea can be adopted at the next summit of the Caspian Sea's five littoral states. So far the officials from five countries have been unsuccessfully working for years to reach an agreement. 2014 Sep 29 Kyrgyzstan International According to reports of Kyrgyz officials, some 100 Kyrgyz citizens have joined the Islamist insurgency in Syria and 8 were killed recently. 2014 Sep 8 Kyrgyzstan Social First World Nomad Fest took part in Kyrgyzstan on September 8 - 14. Aiming to strengthen the relations among Turkic countries, the event presented the details of daily life of nomads with nine different plays. 2014 Oct 5 Tajikistan Social On October 5, all 8 internet providers in Tajikistan blocked access to Facebook. There were no official statements or comments on reasons behind this move due to Eid Al-Adha holiday. Residents of Tajikistan started using proxy servers to avoid restriction 2014 Oct 10 Kyrgyzstan International Kyrgyzstan requested Britain to extradite former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's son, who was sentenced in absentia to 25 years in jail for corruption. Bakiyev left Kyrgyzstan after his father was toppled aftermath violent protests in 2010. He resides in London. 2014 Oct 13 Tajikistan Social Government officials unblocked Facebook, Wikipedia, popular Russian sites and Tajik news portal that were blocked since October 5. The websites were blocked because Group 24, led by fugitive businessman Umarali Quvatov, called the public for mass protests using social networking sites. The protest didn't take place. 2014 Oct 14 Kazakhstan International Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed law on ratification of EAU. The Eurasian Economic Union, also known as the Eurasian Union, is an economic union established by a treaty signed in May 2014 between the leaders of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia. The Union will Timeline of Central Asia (1918-2014) 69

officially went into effect on 1 January 2015.

2014 Oct 20 Turkmenistan Economic Authorities of Turkmenistan reported that more than 2000 buildings of national importance the total cost of which was $45 billion were successfully constructed. In addition, there are some 237 ongoing projects total cost of which equals to $4 billion. 2014 Oct 21 Uzbekistan Economic Uzbekistan's GDP increased by 8.1% in January - September 2014 compared with the same period in 2013. 2014 Oct 22 Kyrgyzstan Political The Kyrgyz Supreme Court said Maksim Bakiyev, who is currently living in Britain, was sentenced in absentia after being found guilty of diverting millions of dollars of state funds from the Asia Universal Bank. 2014 Oct 24 Kazakhstan International EU may to lift ban on Kazakh Airlines in 2015. The European Commission repeatedly included the Kazakh airlines in the “blacklist” that bans flights to Europe due to safety concerns. Currently all Kazakh airlines except for Air Astana are on “blacklist”. 2014 Oct 24 Turkmenistan, International Uzbek President Islam Karimov awarded Uzbekistan the Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow with the Mustakillik (Independence) Order. 2014 Oct 25 Kyrgyzstan, International Kyrgyz delegation arrived in Turkmenistan Turkmenistan to discuss electricity export. Water levels at Kyrgyz major reservoir decreased by around 25% this year affecting hydro- electric potential. Kyrgyzstan faced an electricity deficit about 2.5 billion kilowatt hours (kWh). Turkmenistan agreed to provide 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity to Kyrgyzstan if Uzbekistan resumes transit of electricity to Kyrgyzstan. 2014 Nov 3 Kazakhstan International Kazakhstan tightened laws against extremism. According a new bill the procedures defining group as terrorist or extremist are simplified. The bill grants authorities rights to shut down any group designated as extremist or terrorist immediately with confiscation of its property. 70 Vladimir Fedorenko

2014 Nov 4 Kyrgyzstan International A court in southern Kyrgyzstan sentenced ethnic Uzbek community leaders from the southern cities of Osh and Jalal-Abad, Kadyrjon Batyrov, Inom Abdurasulov and Karamat Abdullayeva to long prison terms in absentia after finding them guilty of involvement in deadly ethnic clashes in 2010. The first two leaders were sentenced to life in prison while Abdullayeva was sentenced to 16 years in prison. 2014 Nov 7 Turkmenistan International Turkey approved Turkmenistan's joining TANAP. TANAP aims to transport gas both from Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan to Europe through Turkish territory 2014 Nov 7 Uzbekistan Economic In connection with the 20th anniversary of the company Uzbekistan Railways, Uzbek President Islam Karimov said that Uzbekistan has spent more than $6 billion for the railway development and infrastructure. Around $1.8 billion accounted for foreign investments. 2014 Nov 13 Turkmenistan International Company for operation of TAPI pipeline was established, according to reports of ADB. The creation of the TAPI pipeline company is instrumental for the further development of the gas pipeline project 2014 Nov 21 Tajikistan International The deputy chairman of State Committee for National Security Akram Amonov says some 300 Tajik nationals are fighting alongside militants in Syria and the ISIS. The recruited people usually go to Syria via Russia or Afghanistan. 2014 Nov 21 Kazakhstan Social Kazakh singer Zhanar Dugalova won Turkvision contest in Kazan collecting 225 points with her song 'Ozin Kerem'. The Turkvision contest, which was broadcast live was organized by TMB TV, TAT Media and TURKSOY and reached out to an audience of nearly three hundred million people. 2014 Nov 25 Uzbekistan International During official visit to Astana Uzbek President Islam Karimov and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev adopted a joint statement to strengthen the cooperation in counter-terrorism, religious extremism, illegal trafficking in weapons, drugs, and other security challenges. 2014 Dec 2 Kazakhstan International Kazakhstan announced its participation in TAPI project during President Nazarbayev's visit to Turkmenistan. President Nazarbayev: "We support Turkmenistan’s intention concerning the construction of the TAPI gas pipeline, and Timeline of Central Asia (1918-2014) 71

will participate in this project". 2014 Dec 1 Uzbekistan Political Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyaev signed order to ban the import, sale and use of pilotless drone aircraft, citing air safety and security concerns. 2014 Dec 5 Kazakhstan International Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev met with French President Hollande in Astana. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev said that Western sanctions had little effect on Russia. To resolve conflict in Ukraine the West should seek compromise with Moscow. 2014 Dec 10 Uzbekistan Political Prominent Uzbek Imam Sheikh Abdullah Bukhoroy, who was known for criticizing regime of Karimov, was shot dead in Istanbul near his home. He operated madrasah and 8 religious boarding schools in Istanbul after leaving Uzbekistan decade ago. 2014 Dec 12 Kyrgyzstan Political Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev dismissed Education Minister Kanat Sadykov and the Minister of Labor, Migration and Youth Aliasbek Alymkulov. 2014 Dec 23 Kazakhstan Social Residents of Kazakhstan Kalachi village will be resettled due to unknown "sleeping illness". The strange sleeping sickness in the Kalachi village of Kazakhstan was first registered in March 2013. People started to suddenly fall asleep for a few days. After waking up they were having hallucinations, memory loss and fatigue. Hundreds of residents of Kalachi suffered from this illness. It was suspected that strange illness was occurring because Kalachi was located near old uranium plant. 2014 Dec 26 Uzbekistan Political Uzbekistan's Presidential election scheduled for March 29, 2015 2014 Dec 30 Tajikistan Social State Communication Services agency banned access to the most popular social media platforms such as Facebook and Odnoklassniki. 2014 Dec 30 Uzbekistan International Uzbek government has approved 23 national projects with total cost $3.972 and 8 regional projects totaling $80.2 million to be implemented in 2015-2018 for mitigating the consequences of the environmental disaster in the Aral Sea basin. The total cost of these projects exceeds $3.05 billion.

72 Vladimir Fedorenko

About the Author Vladimir Fedorenko is residential research fellow at Rethink Institute. Fedorenko specializes in democratization processes, civil society and civic movements, identity politics and nation-building processes in Central Asia and Russia. He received BAs in international relations from Ege University and accounting at Dokuz Eylul University, Turkey. He received MA in political science from George Mason University. Fedorenko is the founder and president of the Tajik American Cultural Association. He is also a columnist at Turkish Journal. He was previously the research director at the Rumi Forum, Washington DC. He has authored several publications and journal articles: “Importance of the Participation of Civil Society into Effective Counter-terrorism Policies” published in one of the NATO Science for Peace and Security book series titled Building Terrorism Resistant Communities; “The Effect of the Extreme Ethnic Nationalism on the Growth of the Terrorism in Russia” published in the NATO Science for Peace and Security Series book titled Counter Terrorism in Diverse Communities. His most recent work titled Central Asia: From Ethnic to Civic Nationalism, published by the Rethink Institute. He is a fluent in Russian, Turkish and Tajik.