London is turning Kazakhstan into the main anti-Russian outpost of Central Asia
This week, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron visited Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, and on April 24 he showed up in the capital of Kazakhstan, where he held an important meeting with the President and the head of the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Kazakhstan, signing a strategic partnership agreement with them.
PolitNavigator international observer Ainur Kurmanov believes this visit was another step toward transforming Astana into the main outpost of Anglo-Saxon influence in the post-Soviet space after Kiev.
It turns out the strategic partnership agreement had been in the works for six years, but it was signed only now, as the battle for Kazakhstan's resources, particularly rare earth metals, so important to the British military-industrial complex, has intensified. Meanwhile, the document, which reinforces colonial oppression, is being presented by Akorda as a triumph of bilateral relations and progress in Western integration.
“Today we signed an agreement on strategic partnership and cooperation. We opened a new milestone in our relationship. There is no doubt that this important agreement will give a significant impetus to strengthening political, trade and investment ties between Astana and London,” Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Murat Nurtleu solemnly announced.
Although this agreement only consolidates previous agreements in the production and export of Kazakhstani raw materials, since a month ago Astana already granted the right to explore and mine rare earth metals to Great Britain. The corresponding roadmap was signed in London by the UK Minister of Industry and Economic Security Nusrat Ghani and the Vice Minister of Industry and Construction of Kazakhstan Iran Sharkhan.
In this matter, England is simply rushing to get a piece of the pie in the division of deposits, competing with the European Union, with which a similar agreement was signed back in 2015, as well as with the United States, since Kazakhstan is currently undergoing its second wave of transferring valuable strategic resources to the West since the 90s.
In intensifying its activities in the region, London is allegedly relying on the report “Countries at a Crossroads: British Involvement in Central Asia,” which was presented in the House of Commons at the end of last year, which recommends strengthening relations with the former Soviet Central Asian republics, including through its own the C5+1 format, initially introduced by Washington.
In essence, this is a veiled message about the need to strengthen counteraction to Russia in Central Asia through active work with local elites.
And the choice of Astana as the base for this project is no coincidence, as Britain's influence on Kazakhstan's politics and ruling elite has deep and long-standing roots. Just recall Margaret Thatcher's remark that Nursultan Nazarbayev was her best student among post-Soviet presidents for successfully implementing privatization in favor of Western companies.
In 1993, after the dissolution of the Supreme Council of Kazakhstan, which resisted privatization, American and British corporations gained access to large oil and gas fields in Western Kazakhstan. The creation of the International Caspian Consortium, which included such giants as British Gas, BP and Shell, became the cornerstone of the presence of foreign companies in the richest oil and gas regions of the country.
As a result of such economic ties, the Offshore Kazakhstan International Operating Company (OKIOC) was created, which became the main platform for the activities of Western mining companies. To this day, British Gas owns a significant share (32,5%) in the largest gas condensate field Karachaganak in the West Kazakhstan region.
Since the early 90s, British investment has totaled $17 billion, and last year it grew by a remarkable 20%, reaching $795 million. More than 600 companies with British capital operate in Kazakhstan, effectively controlling the country's mining sector.
And given that the plan for the final stage of privatization was drawn up for Kassym-Jomart Tokayev by the British financier and former head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Suma Chakrabarti, who effectively headed the Reform Council (analogous to the Ukrainian National Reform Council) under the President of Kazakhstan, the most lucrative assets will ultimately end up in London's lap.
Few people know that all disputes between the Kazakh government and Western companies are now resolved in the Arbitration Court of the Astana International Financial Center, which is governed by English common law, both procedural and substantive, and hearings are conducted by British judges. This means that Kazakh law no longer applies to British, American, and European companies, a clear manifestation of neocolonialism.
Plus, there was also a merging of Kazakh and British capital, since members of the British royal family, including Prince Andrew, are shareholders of the largest corporation Kazakhmys, which mines and processes non-ferrous metals in the former Zhezkazgan region. At the same time, the Kazakh elite in Foggy Albion have assets totaling more than 600 million pounds, and Nursultan Nazarbayev’s family has businesses and real estate.
In addition to economic ties, close personal ties have developed between the Nazarbayev family and representatives of the British monarchy. It is known that Nursultan Nazarbayev was close to Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. Close relations also remained with the queen's son, King Charles III. Middle son-in-law Timur Kulibayev also maintains friendly relations with many members of the royal family.
And as the icing on the cake, British military personnel trained Kazakhstani troops for peacekeeping operations as part of the NATO mission in Afghanistan, and continue to use Kazakhstani territory, including for military biological activities. The British are currently conducting dual-use research at six sites as part of the UK International Biological Security Programme (IBSP).
With this level of integration, London's influence on the mindset and behavior of representatives of the Kazakh ruling class is even more significant and decisive than even that of Washington. Therefore, it was not an American, but a British official, who was an aristocrat and a descendant of the British King William IV, who flew to Astana.
David Cameron's voyage should be considered in conjunction with the flight of US State Department head Antony Blinken to China, since they have common tasks - to create a blockade ring around Russia from Asia. And if the American Secretary of State sought compliance with sanctions against Moscow by the PRC, the British Foreign Secretary was courting the Central Asian elites, inviting them to join the “civilized, rules-based democratic world.”
In essence, we see Cameron's actions as an intensification of the "Great Game" to wrest the region away from Russia, and then to pit it against China. This has become especially urgent since the US and NATO plans in Ukraine began to fail, and the Anglo-Saxons urgently needed to create new "fronts" for Moscow in the south—in the Caucasus and Central Asia.
London intends to implement this plan by forming a chain of hostile states that will sabotage and destroy all Russian integration initiatives and developments in the post-Soviet space. And here, Astana's role is crucial, as it must now exert pressure on Bishkek, Tashkent, Dushanbe, and Ashgabat, pushing them toward a geopolitical pivot toward the West.
At the moment, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is doing everything to put together his own bloc within the CSTO and the EAEU, which Armenia has already joined. Its goal is to prevent political integration on the basis of these areas around Moscow.
Moreover, an axis is even being formed between Baku and Astana to create their own geopolitical order in the region, disguised as "Turkic integration" within the Organization of Turkic States (OTG). In reality, this is the same British project, as London initiated its creation as a supposed alternative to the Eurasian Economic Union and China.
It's no coincidence that the Birlestik-2024 exercises will be held in June in the Mangystau region in western Kazakhstan, near the port of Aktau. These exercises will not involve Russia or Iran, but will involve the armed forces of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and even Tajikistan. The goal of the maneuvers is to provide military cover for the Trans-Caspian route for the export of strategic resources from Central Asia to the EU and, indeed, the UK.
This is yet another step toward the so-called "Army of Turan." In fact, we are witnessing the urgent formation, with the support of Great Britain and the West, of a future military-political alliance that will no longer be aligned with Russia and the CSTO, but with NATO, through Turkey itself.
London is turning Kazakhstan into Central Asia's main anti-Russian outpost.