With technical support from the United Arab Emirates, the government in Astana is the first in Central Asia to trial cloud-seeding systems, designed to provide moisture to agricultural land even during dry seasons. But former Kyrgyz Prime Minister Akylbek Zaparov has sounded the alarm: artificially induced rainfall in one region could have a negative impact on the climate of another.
His son issued an appeal trying to mobilise the international community. Zhenghis Reskhan is a prominent figure in Xinjiang's literary circles. For now, neither Kazakhstan’s embassy in China nor Chinese authorities have made any official statement about the case.
The foundation stone for a Centre for Turkic Civilisation was recently laid in Astana. It is a symbolic site of integration that responds to Moscow’s century-long attempt to erase this identity within its own “backyard”. And which has now, instead, discovered its own power as the guardian of the main energy and logistics arteries between East and West.
The countries of Central Asia are also taking steps within the framework of strengthening regional cooperation in defence systems, a process triggered by the war in the Middle East. Kazakhstan has announced the opening of its airspace to military flights from Turkey. Together with Uzbekistan, it aims to strengthen the alliance between the Turanian states through coordination plans with European nations.
A regional summit on environmental policies is currently taking place in the capital of Kazakhstan, alongside a meeting of the countries participating in the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea. With the Bishkek government aiming to link the issue of Kyrgyzstan’s melting glaciers to the delicate environmental balance of the whole of Central Asia.
Sentences for ‘incitement to racial hatred’ have been handed down to 19 activists from the Atažurt movement, which campaigns on behalf of relatives detained alongside Uyghurs in Xinjiang’s ‘re-education camps’. Initially charged with violating protest regulations, the offence was upgraded following a note from the Chinese consulate in Almaty describing the actions as “open provocation”.
