The Kazakhstan insider, Vol. 3 - Is Kazakhstan awaiting its Arab spring?

[Kazakhstan Insider]

Dear colleagues,

We are glad to present you the third issue of the bulletin "The Kazakhstan insider".

It has been just over a month since a sudden and daring attack took place in the city of Taraz (12.11.2011, Southern Kazakhstan), when sensational news spread all over the world concerning the former Central Asian oasis of serenity: on 16.12.2011, on the Day of Independence in Kazakhstan, military forces violently suppressed the demonstrations of unarmed strikers from the oil industry and civilians in the town of Zhanaozen in Western Kazakhstan.

Moreover, the events in Zhanaozen were reminiscent of the start of revolutionary events in North Africa and the Middle East late 2010 - early 2011, again raising the debate about how likely we are to see an "Arab spring" scenario in Kazakhstan. 

In this newsletter we will take an in-depth look at the current situation in Kazakhstan,  in order to compare it with what was observed shortly before the events of the "Arab spring" in other countries and to answer the question: "Is Kazakhstan awaiting its Arab spring?"

Please see The Kazakhstan insider, vol 3 attached. 

To subscribe for The Kazakhstan Insider bulletin, please visit its page at Google Groups:

http://groups.google.com/group/kzinsider/

Sincerely,

Open Dialogue Foundation

3 Maja St. 18/4
20-078 Lublin, Poland

tel: +48 507 739 025
http://www.odfoundation.eu