Interviews / Kazakhstan
“Instead of suppressing the protests, the authorities need to start a comprehensive dialogue with the protesters because further disregard of their claims can cause even more discontent and tension in the society,” human rights activist Marius Fossum said in the interview to cabar.asia. (more…)
«Strategic forecasting fails to predict any radical change either in political or economic domains. The advantage of scenario planning is that this method makes decision-makers better prepared for a new reality», – Roman Vakulchuk, a senior researcher at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), former employee of the Shell Oil Company (Royal Dutch Shell), a trainer on scenario planning, said in the interview to cabar.asia.
«Central Asian states do not need another organization to cooperate, but rather they need something more flexible, like an informal club between them to regulate and open discussion» – notes Filippo Costa Buranelli, researcher and assistant professor in international relations at University of St.Andrews, in his interview for cabar.asia.
How will Kazakstan’s leader be remembered for his 30 years in power? (more…)
«It will be a kind of probation period for Tokayev because the quality of his performance during this time will show if he could be seen as the key player in the election by the political establishment», – states Kazakhstan-based political analyst, Askar Nursha, in the interview to cabar.asia.
Azerbaijan-based political analyst Ilgar Velizade talks about the foreign policy priorities of Azerbaijan, Central Asia’s spot in it and future development of economic ties with the countries in the region in his interview to analytical portal cabar.asia.
Harmonious religious relations are a very sensitive and relevant topic today for Kazakhstan. Assylbek Izbairov, director of the institute for geopolitical studies, professor of the institute for diplomacy, religious scholar, told about the regulation in this sphere and how to build a system of religious relations in the interview to cabar.asia.
An expert in Islam and Central Asia in the interview to cabar.asia has told about the fate of the Islamic state concept, the role of Central Asians in this project, about religious peculiarities of the region and what can be done about it. (more…)
“Last year Kazakstan adopted many legislation amendments, including law on media, which recognises some statements as propaganda. It means that journalists preparing some material now should think whether it will be taken as propaganda,” said Gulmira Birzhanova, lawyer of Legal Media Centre, in the interview to cabar.asia.
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“First of all, secularism means equal attitude towards all faiths, religions, and beliefs existing in the territory of residence. So, the state may be secular, but human living in this state doesn’t need to be. A man may be a believer, an atheist, gnostic, agnostic, or deist, or anything else. It is their choice. They may believe even in a spaghetti monster or be a Pastafarian. Belief is their personal choice,” said Rasim Chelidze, a Kazakhstan-based theologian, in the interview to cabar.asia.