Central Asian Union

2017-03-29T19:29:49Z

Franrasyan: /* Prospective members */

[[Image:Central Asian Union.gif|thumb|400px|The proposed Central Asian Union, covering the five [[Central Asia]]n states.]]
A '''Central Asian Union''' was proposed by [[Kazakhstan]] President [[Nursultan Nazarbayev]] on April 26, 2007, in order to create an economic and political union similar to that of the [[European Union|EU]] encompassing the five former [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan, [[Kyrgyzstan]], [[Tajikistan]], [[Turkmenistan]] and [[Uzbekistan]].

So far the presidents of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have signed an agreement to create an "International Supreme Council" between the two states. In addition, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan have signed a '''Treaty of Eternal Friendship'''. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have also decided to set up a [[free trade zone]].<ref>[http://business.uzreport.com/aziya.cgi?lan=e&id=45229]{{dead link|date=January 2014}}</ref>

Though the proposed union has the support of the presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, it was outright rejected by former Uzbek president [[Islam Karimov]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/3442f45a-7517-425d-956c-78d0c6af7ac2.html |title=Features - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty |publisher=Rferl.org |date= |accessdate=2014-02-24}}</ref>

==Prospective members==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Country
! Population
! Area (km²)
! GDP (nominal)
! GDP per capita (nominal)
|-
| {{KAZ}}|| style="text-align:right;"| 18,050,488 || style="text-align:right;"| 2,724,900 || style="text-align:right;"| $196.4 billion || style="text-align:right;"| $11,772
|-
| {{KGZ}}|| style="text-align:right;"| 6,000,000 || style="text-align:right;"| 199,900 || style="text-align:right;"| $6.4 billion || style="text-align:right;"| $1,152
|-
| {{UZB}}|| style="text-align:right;"| 32,121,000 || style="text-align:right;"| 447,400 || style="text-align:right;"| $52.0 billion || style="text-align:right;"| $1,780
|-
| {{TJK}}|| style="text-align:right;"| 8,610,000 || style="text-align:right;"| 143,100 || style="text-align:right;"| $7.2 billion || style="text-align:right;"| $903
|-
| {{TKM}}|| style="text-align:right;"| 5,171,943 || style="text-align:right;"| 488,100 || style="text-align:right;"| $29.9 billion || style="text-align:right;"| $5,330
|-
| '''Total''' || style="text-align:right;"| 69,957,431 ([[List of countries by population|20nd]]) || style="text-align:right;"| 4,003,400 ([[List of countries and outlying territories by total area|7th]])|| style="text-align:right;"| $292 billion (36th) || style="text-align:right;"| $5,234 ([[List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita|95th]])
|}

==Issues==
The proposed Union would primarily deal with interstate border issues, trade, visa regimes, tourism and security. If realized, the CAU would represent a counterbalance to the existing Russian-dominated [[Collective Security Organization]] and the Chinese-Russian-led [[Shanghai Cooperation Organization]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Socor |first=Vladimir |url=http://www.jamestown.org/edm/article.php?article_id=2372141 |title=Eurasia Daily Monitor | The Jamestown Foundation |publisher=Jamestown.org |date= |accessdate=2014-02-24}}</ref> In his proposal, the Kazakh President said: <blockquote>"In the region, we share economic interest, cultural heritage, language, religion, and environmental challenges, and face common external threats. The founding fathers of the [[European Union]] could only wish they had so much in common. We should direct our efforts towards closer economic integration, a common market and a single currency."<ref>[http://www.turkishweekly.net/news.php?id=5255] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051112183444/http://www.turkishweekly.net/news.php?id=5255 |date=November 12, 2005 }}</ref>
</blockquote>

==See also==
{{columns-list|3|
* [[Continental union]]
* [[Eurasian Economic Union]]
* [[African Union]]
* [[Arab Union]]
* [[North American Union]]
* [[Pacific Union]]
* [[Turkic Council]]
* [[European Union]]
* [[Union of South American Nations]]
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.eumed.net/entelequia/pdf/b014.pdf Tengri on Mars]

{{CARO}}

[[Category:Post-Soviet alliances]]
[[Category:Central Asia]]
[[Category:Continental unions]]
[[Category:Proposed international organizations]]
[[Category:International organizations of Asia]]
[[Category:Kazakhstan–Kyrgyzstan relations]]
[[Category:Free trade agreements]]
[[Category:Economy of Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:Kazakhstan–Uzbekistan relations]]
[[Category:Economy of Uzbekistan]]

Kazakhstan Encyclopedia - User contributions [en]

Central Asian Union