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Quick Hits #6: A roundup of recent developments in the Caucasus and Central Asia [1]

['Klara Lisinski']

Date: 2025-07

Tajik leader Emomali Rahmon (right) participates in the opening ceremony of “Central Asia’s first AI cluster and techno park” that marks a step in his ambitious plan to make Tajikistan a regional AI hub. (Photo: Tajik presidential press service)

Leading off…

Azerbaijan is locked in acrimonious verbal tussles with both Russia and Iran. Tensions flared between Baku and Moscow after two Azerbaijani nationals died under mysterious circumstances during a police raid June 27 in the Siberian city of Yekaterinburg. Azerbaijan reacted by abruptly canceling a Russian deputy prime minister’s visit to Baku and an Azeri parliamentary delegation’s visit to Moscow. Baku also canceled all Russia-related cultural events scheduled for the near future. Azerbaijani-Russian relations have remained prickly since December, when Russian security forces accidentally shot down a civilian Azerbaijani jetliner. So far, Russian officials have refused to take responsibility for the airliner tragedy. Meanwhile, a June 28 statement issued by Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry excoriated the Iranian ambassador to Armenia, Mehdi Sobhani, for making comments in support of Armenia’s territorial integrity. Azerbaijani officials of late have taken to describing Armenia’s Syunik region as “West Azerbaijan.” In public comments made in Yerevan June 27, Sobhani rebuked Baku for using the “West Azerbaijan” term and also questioned whether several Israeli drone attacks during the recent Iranian-Israeli clash originated from Azerbaijani territory. “The Ambassador’s regular and systematically provocative anti-Azerbaijani rhetoric is aimed at undermining the relations between Azerbaijan and Iran,” the Foreign Ministry statement read.

In case you missed it from the Caucasus…

Azerbaijan also is not letting up on its belligerent rhetorical attacks on Armenia. During a June 24 event marking the opening of a new power plant, President Ilham Aliyev went out of his way to condemn Armenia as a state that has “repeatedly violated international humanitarian law.” Aliyev added that Yerevan’s “actions clearly demonstrate its status as a war criminal state.” The level of vitriol still directed at Yerevan suggests Azerbaijani leaders are nowhere near ready to sign a peace treaty.

The intensifying crackdown on opposition leaders in Georgia is not going unnoticed in the West, but neither is it drawing vigorous condemnation. Over the past few weeks, various leading opposition figures have received prison sentences of up to eight months. The US State Department issued a mild statement expressing deep concern over “the continuation and increase in anti-democratic actions in Georgia.” Meanwhile, Marta Kos, the European Union’s Commissioner for Enlargement, characterized the sentencings as “an attack at Georgia’s democratic foundations, which are being eroded by the day.”

Meanwhile, across the Caspian...

The Kyrgyz parliament has adopted a law enhancing the status of the Kyrgyz language in relation to Russian. The new measures stipulate that at least 60 percent of all television and radio broadcasts must be in Kyrgyz. The font size of Kyrgyz content in advertisements must also be larger than that of Russian, and all civil servants, including judges and prosecutors, need to be fluent in the titular language. Kyrgyz and Russian are recognized under Kyrgyz law as official languages.

In a June 26 speech focusing on anti-narcotics operations in Kazakhstan, the country’s prosecutor general, Berik Asylov, reported that the volume of synthetic drugs seized by authorities has skyrocketed over the past five years from 13 kilos to 1.5 tons. Since the start of this year, law enforcement agents have broken up nine criminal gangs and confiscated over $19.2 million is illicit assets, Asylov added. He called attention to a joint operation conducted with the US Drug Enforcement Agency that traced cryptocurrency transactions to uncover a drug distribution network, yielding 18 arrests and the confiscation of almost $1 million in drug proceeds. Kazakhstan is increasing punishments for drug trafficking, Asylov added.

Almassadam Satkaliyev, the chair of Kazakhstan’s nuclear energy agency, announced that the cost to build the country’s first nuclear power station will be at least $14 billion. Kazakhstan has awarded the Russian nuclear entity Rosatom the contract to build the facility. Satkaliyev also dodged commenting on a statement made earlier by First Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar, who suggested that a second nuclear power station due to be built by China’s National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) might actually be completed before the Rosatom facility.

Tajikistan’s leader, Emomali Rahmon, attended the opening ceremony of “Central Asia’s first AI cluster and techno park,” marking a step in his ambitious plan to make Tajikistan a regional AI hub. The techno park is intended to “become a national platform for research, pilot implementations and international cooperation,” the Asia-Plus news agency reported, adding that it is designed to bring together “researchers, companies, government structures and investors for the implementation of AI in key industries — energy, finance, healthcare and education.” According to a statement issued by Rahmon’s office, a top priority of country’s AI strategy “is to increase the sale of electric power production in Tajikistan to the neighboring countries by means of artificial intelligence.”

Uzbekistan and Iran are discussing a visa-free regime for Iranian citizens traveling to Uzbekistan. (Uzbeks can already visit Iran visa-free for up to 10 days.) If the two countries reach agreement, Uzbekistan will become one of just a handful of countries offering Iranians visa-free visits, including Turkey, Armenia and Georgia. Uzbekistan is intent on boosting the country’s tourism industry, but Iran’s recent clash with Israel may give officials in Tashkent a reason to think twice. In the event of another bout of violence, visa-free travel could prompt Iranians to seek refuge in Uzbekistan and other visa-free destinations.

Gold accounted for nearly $6.6 billion, or roughly 45 percent, of Uzbekistan’s $14,8 billion in export earnings during the first five months of 2025, according to official statistics. The next largest export category was “industrial goods,” but metals accounted for about half of the goods in that category.

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[1] Url: https://eurasianet.org/quick-hits-6-a-roundup-of-recent-developments-in-the-caucasus-and-central-asia

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