KZBlog

Kazakhstan.NewEurasia published a link to Radio Azattyk’s review of the year from various prominent figures and an English translation here.

The opinions run the gamut from a member of Parliament showing he knows who butters his bread:The year has been very successful as it started with the inauguration of the president. My deep conviction is that there is only one politician in our country – Nursultan Nazarbaev. We are just helping him where we can.
to Andrey Chebotarev, head of the Alternativa think tank, who cited the tragedies of the year (and saw a different event as defining the year) but still saw room for hope:

On the one hand, the year was difficult, it started with the tragic death of Altynbek Sarsenbayev. This year the relations between the government and the opposition have worsened. On the other hand, the year has given the hopes that, following such pressure, there will be at least some reforms. Unfortunately, the government repeated the imitation of the elections, when they conducted the pseudo-elections of the governors. At the same time, we see that the year has seen the rise of social activity. I am talking about Shanyrak and Bakai, and the movement of the banned car drivers – it all means that people themselves, without any opposition or parties, are able to wake up and stand for their rights and freedoms.

Kazinform also has an interview with Askar Nursha of the Institute for Strategic Research on What will happen in 2007 in Kazakhstan? primarily focusing on foreign policy. The most interesting part is that he seems to dismiss the US influence almost entirely, due to militarization of other nations and regional alliances which will lead to dominance by China, Russia, Pakistan, India and Iran. Other than that, he doesn’t predict any changes. Kazakhstan will continue to try to join the WTO, lead the OSCE and generally be recognized in inter-regional and international organizations. China will be an important partner. Etc. Etc.

Finally, The Roberts Report links to forecasts for Kazakhstan’s elite based on their astrological signs in the year of the Pig here.

Too long to summarize and do justice I will just point out that, in general Dariga will be dangerous and the President will have problems at the beginning of the year. Of course, the Chinese Year doesn’t start until the 18th of February.

So what do you think? What were the defining events for 2006? Where are we headed?