Dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries as authorities opened fire on protestors. Violence erupting through tear gas. Rubber bullets, followed by live ammunition. Journalists beaten and detained. Pervasive fear, even among those who have hidden inside.

The dust from the sudden Taliban takeover of Afghanistan has not settled yet, and it is likely that new turmoil is just round the corner. But the fallout of the crisis on neighbouring countries can already be felt, and much more can be anticipated.

Moscow is moving to transform the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) into a more unified political and economic bloc, an apparent response to perceived Western pressure against the grouping. 

Police in Kazakhstan detained dozens of protesters on Sunday (28 February) who were calling for the release of political prisoners in line with a resolution passed by the European Parliament.

 Torn between China and Russia, and haunted by the ghosts of its communist past, Kazakhstan has taken an authoritarian turn.

Nazarbayev’s online outbursts showed that a ruling family is not always a happy one.

 Birgemiz, a charitable foundation set up in March by the former president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, was meant to be a feel-good exercise in solidarity.

There is distinct group in immigrant community from the former USSR. Many of those who pretend that they fled and left all belongings behind came with wealth of at least unexplained origin.

Kazakhstan, like many corners of the world this past weekend, was the site of protests.