Jun 2010
Russia’s Rwanda
18.06.2010. Category:Kyrgyzstan
As it contemplates the violence that has claimed the lives of well over a hundred people in its backyard nation of Kyrgyzstan, Russia should look to France's experience in Central Africa for lessons. There are distinct parallels. Just as Paris maintained strong links with its former colonies across Africa, Russia has maintained its with the governments of former Soviet Republics in Central Asia. But just as Paris lost so much traction when Rwanda ignited in 1994, wrong moves in Kyrgyzstan might alter those treasured links between Moscow and Central Asia for good. More ...
Joint Letter to the UN Security Council Regarding the Ongoing Crisis in Kyrgyzsta
18.06.2010. Category:Kyrgyzstan
To: Security Council Ambassadors
Your Excellency,
We urge the United Nations Security Council to take immediate steps to address the ongoing crisis in Kyrgyzstan. With a death toll likely to reach far higher than the official count of 200 and an estimated 400,000 displaced in Kyrgyzstan and across the border in Uzbekistan, the situation poses a significant threat to international peace and security. The Kyrgyz authorities have primary responsibility for halting the violence and resolving this crisis, but reports from the ground provide ample evidence that the government is unable to protect those in need, and Kyrgyz authorities have already acknowledged that they need substantial assistance. More ...
Your Excellency,
We urge the United Nations Security Council to take immediate steps to address the ongoing crisis in Kyrgyzstan. With a death toll likely to reach far higher than the official count of 200 and an estimated 400,000 displaced in Kyrgyzstan and across the border in Uzbekistan, the situation poses a significant threat to international peace and security. The Kyrgyz authorities have primary responsibility for halting the violence and resolving this crisis, but reports from the ground provide ample evidence that the government is unable to protect those in need, and Kyrgyz authorities have already acknowledged that they need substantial assistance. More ...
Death, dictators and the Soviet legacy
18.06.2010. Category:Kyrgyzstan
It is arguable that the wave of ethnic killings in southern Kyrgyzstan that started last Saturday – which has left hundreds of Uzbeks dead and tens of thousands homeless – is, at root, the fault of Joseph Stalin. The Soviet Union was in theory just that – a union of Soviet socialist republics. Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan were three of them. But whatever the theory, Stalin had no intention of allowing the republics to become viable entities or potential power bases for rivals. So he intervened personally and the republics were deliberately messed up with boundaries that cut across natural economic units and severed cultural and ethnic links.More ...
Kazakhstan’s regional media is in tatters
18.06.2010. Category:Kazakhstan
“While government-supported media have been earning ever more, the independent outlets’ declining incomes have been putting brakes on their development”, Askar Shomshekov of the Pavlodar-based Regional Journalism Centre said.
Regional media have only themselves to blame for advertising and sales shortfalls, he said.
“Most of them have been doing nothing to adapt their business strategies to the changing market environment”, Shomshekov said. “Therefore, their circulations and, hence, their earnings have been decreasing”.More ...
Regional media have only themselves to blame for advertising and sales shortfalls, he said.
“Most of them have been doing nothing to adapt their business strategies to the changing market environment”, Shomshekov said. “Therefore, their circulations and, hence, their earnings have been decreasing”.More ...
U.S. officials in Ashgabat spin human rights message as oil executives line up for Turkmen President
18.06.2010. Category:Turkmenistan
A delegation of U.S. State Department officials and business executives travelled to Turkmenistan this week to launch a comprehensive program of dialogue that is to include human rights discussions as well as talks on energy security. Washington hopes to tap Turkmenistan's vast hydrocarbon riches, as well as gain Ashgabat's assistance in supplying NATO troops in the war in Afghanistan and promoting regional stability. Currently, the U.S. has a "gas-and-go" arrangement with Turkmenistan, landing planes in Ashgabat to refuel en route to Afghanistan with non-lethal freight.More ...
Why is ethnic violence erupting between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in Southern Kyrgyzstan?
18.06.2010. Category:Kyrgyzstan
As we watched the horrible news of violent chaos that overtook Southern Kyrgyzstan over the last week, the first question that came to mind was – why? Why would people who have been neighbors for decades be drawn into such senseless violence? Is it related to the overthrow of Bakiyev's government, or are we witnessing something completely unrelated? While information coming out of Osh and Jalalabad remains spotty, there is plenty reason to believe that the triggers of the unrest are related to the political instability in the country. More ...
Bakiyev sought
17.06.2010. Category:Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan's interim government has stepped up pressure on Kurmanbek Bakiyev, the former president, whom it suspects of fomenting the recent ethnic clashes in the country, write Charles Clover in Moscow and James Boxell in London.
The government is seeking to have Mr Bakiyev, who fled the country on April 7 after a violent coup, and his son extradited to Bishkek to face charges of terrorism and mass murder.
Officials accuse Mr Bakiyev of planning the violence in the cities of Osh and Jalalabad on June 10. Mr Bakiyev is in exile in Belarus, which has refused to extradite him.
Mr Bakiyev's son Maksim was detained by border police in Britain on Sunday, but the circumstances are unclear.
He reportedly sought political asylum. UK officials said he would only be formally arrested once an extradition had been agreed with Kyrgyzstan.
The elder Mr Bakiyev denies taking part in any plot. The younger could not be reached for comment.
Financial Times
The government is seeking to have Mr Bakiyev, who fled the country on April 7 after a violent coup, and his son extradited to Bishkek to face charges of terrorism and mass murder.
Officials accuse Mr Bakiyev of planning the violence in the cities of Osh and Jalalabad on June 10. Mr Bakiyev is in exile in Belarus, which has refused to extradite him.
Mr Bakiyev's son Maksim was detained by border police in Britain on Sunday, but the circumstances are unclear.
He reportedly sought political asylum. UK officials said he would only be formally arrested once an extradition had been agreed with Kyrgyzstan.
The elder Mr Bakiyev denies taking part in any plot. The younger could not be reached for comment.
Financial Times
U.S. ties to ex-Kyrgyz regime are questioned
17.06.2010. Category:Kyrgyzstan
Weeks before ethnic clashes killed hundreds of people in this Central Asian republic, an audio recording was posted on YouTube that presaged the mayhem.
"We need to find 500 b—ds…and keep [the country] in a constant mess," said a voice that government officials here say was that of Maksim Bakiyev, the 32-year-old son of the ousted president. "Somebody needs to kick up a fuss."More ...
"We need to find 500 b—ds…and keep [the country] in a constant mess," said a voice that government officials here say was that of Maksim Bakiyev, the 32-year-old son of the ousted president. "Somebody needs to kick up a fuss."More ...
Russia and the crisis in Osh
17.06.2010. Category:Kyrgyzstan
As Moscow grapples with the question of whether to intervene to stop the violence in southern Kyrgyzstan, it is forced to confront a vexing issue: can Russia utilize its political and military potential to help resolve local and regional conflicts in Central Asia?More ...
A test for mutual security
17.06.2010. Category:Kyrgyzstan
Politically driven ethnic violence in Kyrgyzstan has already claimed more than 100 lives and threatens to erase the country’s progress toward self-government following the April ouster of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev.
It is an ominous sign that a society which had undertaken impressive reforms aimed at creating the region's first parliamentary democracy is now teetering on the brink of outright civil war and state failure.More ...
It is an ominous sign that a society which had undertaken impressive reforms aimed at creating the region's first parliamentary democracy is now teetering on the brink of outright civil war and state failure.More ...
Kyrgyz violence began with coordinated attacks -UN says
15.06.2010. Category:Kyrgyzstan
Violence in Kyrgyzstan appears to have begun with five coordinated attacks and has taken on an inter-ethnic character that could spiral out of control, the U.N. human rights office warned on Tuesday.More ...
Kyrgyzstan presses Russia to quell unrest
15.06.2010. Category:Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday held out the possibility of reviewing an airbase agreement with the US in an apparent effort to convince Russia to provide peacekeeping forces to quell unrest in the south of the country.More ...
Aid starts to arrive in Kyrgyzstan as violence abates
15.06.2010. Category:Kyrgyzstan
OSH, Kyrgyzstan — A plane carrying 40 tons of flour, pasta, cooking oil and other food landed at the airport in this traumatized city on Tuesday, and citizens tentatively ventured out onto the street for the first time since spasms of ethnic violence seized the city last Thursday.More ...
Kyrgyzstan requested U.S. military aid and rubber bullets but was turned down
15.06.2010. Category:Kyrgyzstan
Before Kyrgyzstan turned to Russia, it informally asked Washington for military assistance including a supply of rubber bullets to quell ethnic bloodletting in the south of the country, but was turned down, I am told by people privy to the situation. Russia says it may deploy troops if it's a collective regional decision.More ...
Kyrgyzstan unrest gives big powers cause for concern
15.06.2010. Category:Kyrgyzstan
If recent history is any guide, the ethnic violence roiling southern Kyrgyzstan is unlikely to be prolonged or to spark a wider conflagration in neighbouring Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Similar outbreaks ignited by disputes over land, food prices and poll results across the divided Fergana valley in 1990 and 2005 eventually subsided, with or without the type of foreign intervention sought at the weekend by the interim government in Bishkek.More ...
Provocateurs seen behind ethnic clash
15.06.2010. Category:Kyrgyzstan
As reported, on June 10, clashes between the ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbek population in the southern Kyrgyzstan have developed into a large-scale violence and further exodus of the Uzbeks residing in Kyrgyzstan.
Three days of pogroms have led to serious humanitarian disaster in the isolated conflict zone - the population still has limited access to telephony, electricity and food products after several nights of shooting and looting. There was a threat that the conflict could involve other regions of the Southern Kyrgyzstan, including Jalal-Abad (the former president Bakiyev's homeland), which is close to Osh, the place of initial unrest.More ...
Three days of pogroms have led to serious humanitarian disaster in the isolated conflict zone - the population still has limited access to telephony, electricity and food products after several nights of shooting and looting. There was a threat that the conflict could involve other regions of the Southern Kyrgyzstan, including Jalal-Abad (the former president Bakiyev's homeland), which is close to Osh, the place of initial unrest.More ...
Danish journalist Michael Andersen: I am ashamed that European media and politicians do not understand the tragedy in Kyrgyzstan
15.06.2010. Category:Kyrgyzstan
European media pay little attention to the tragedy in South Kyrgyzstan. They view it as an interethnic clash between nations which they know very little about. Current media interest is motivated by either national interests – European interests do not include small and poor Kyrgyzstan – or having by vivid pictures which are not widely available since Southern Kyrgyzstan cannot be easily reached by foreign correspondents. This means that in Western media, the pain and blood of Osh cannot compete with this week’s main story – the football World Cup. Danish journalist Michael Andersen informed Ferghana.Ru about the reaction of European media and politicians.More ...
Uzbeks itching to join the fight in Osh
14.06.2010. Category:Kyrgyzstan
Not everyone in Uzbekistan is happy with the fairly moderate statement on the violence in Osh that Tashkent made on Saturday, saying that the violence was provoked by "forces, whose interests are totally remote from the interests of the Kyrgyz people." I talked today with Sukhrobjon Ismailov, the ace Tashkent-based analyst who told me that many people in the Uzbekistan military and security services want to intervene in Osh on the side of the Uzbeks. Ordinary Uzbeks in the Ferghana Valley are also itching to get into the fight, and many in Uzbekistan are calling what is happening in Osh a "genocide" against Uzbeks. It is Islam Karimov, Ismoilov said, who is trying to keep Uzbek emotions in check.More ...
War in Kyrgyzstan: what is causing the violence?
14.06.2010. Category:Kyrgyzstan
When the five former Soviet republics of central Asia gained their independence with the breakup of the USSR there were hopes that Kyrgyzstan might achieve a semblance of responsible rule.
This small country of 5.5 million people had a relatively developed civil society and free press. But hopes were dashed under Askar Akayev, a president accused by the opposition of nepotism, corruption and growing authoritarianism.More ...
This small country of 5.5 million people had a relatively developed civil society and free press. But hopes were dashed under Askar Akayev, a president accused by the opposition of nepotism, corruption and growing authoritarianism.More ...
Kyrgyzstan Violence: Conspiracies Abound
14.06.2010. Category:Kyrgyzstan
Some random, hastily collected thoughts as a study break: Who is to blame? Who is doing the killing? Why?
These questions have been asked over and over again in regards to short episodes of violence in Central Asia since 1986, starting with the Almaty “Kunaev” riots. Other examples of violent riots/pogroms include the May 1989 attacks on Armenians in Turkmenistan, the 1989 Uzbek pogroms against Meskhets in the Ferghana valley, summer 1989 fighting between Tajiks and Kyrgyz in Isfara, the February 1990 riots in Dushanbe that left 50 dead (half of them non-Tajiks – including Slavs), summer 1990 in Osh as Uzbeks and Kyrgyz killed each other, May-September 1992 in the collective farms of the Vakhsh valley, etc….More ...
These questions have been asked over and over again in regards to short episodes of violence in Central Asia since 1986, starting with the Almaty “Kunaev” riots. Other examples of violent riots/pogroms include the May 1989 attacks on Armenians in Turkmenistan, the 1989 Uzbek pogroms against Meskhets in the Ferghana valley, summer 1989 fighting between Tajiks and Kyrgyz in Isfara, the February 1990 riots in Dushanbe that left 50 dead (half of them non-Tajiks – including Slavs), summer 1990 in Osh as Uzbeks and Kyrgyz killed each other, May-September 1992 in the collective farms of the Vakhsh valley, etc….More ...
Kyrgyzstan death toll rises as ethnic slaughter continues
14.06.2010. Category:Kyrgyzstan
Sporadic gunfire continued through the night and fresh fires raged in southern Kyrgyzstan today, as the country's worst ethnic violence in decades showed no signs of abating.
The official death toll reached 117, with 1,500 hurt, the health ministry announced this morning. Thousands have already fled the country.
Accounts from international aid agencies and other witnesses suggest the real toll could be much higher: the Red Cross has said its delegates witnessed about 100 bodies being buried in one cemetery.
An ethnic Uzbek woman at the border of Uzbekistan after fleeing the riots in southern Kyrgyzstan. Photograph: AFP/Getty ImagesMore ...
The official death toll reached 117, with 1,500 hurt, the health ministry announced this morning. Thousands have already fled the country.
Accounts from international aid agencies and other witnesses suggest the real toll could be much higher: the Red Cross has said its delegates witnessed about 100 bodies being buried in one cemetery.
An ethnic Uzbek woman at the border of Uzbekistan after fleeing the riots in southern Kyrgyzstan. Photograph: AFP/Getty ImagesMore ...
Osh burning again
14.06.2010. Category:Kyrgyzstan
Registan is naturally from the top of the information food chain when it comes to the situation in Kyrgyzstan. Reading these stories, along with our own attempts to parse meaning and motive from ethnicity and criminality, I’m struck by the lack of information available to anyone at all. Whatever the cause, the violence is approaching a state of chaos.
New fires raged Monday across Osh — the second-largest city that’s on the border with Uzbekistan, and where food and water were becoming scarce. Armed looters smashed stores, stealing anything from televisions to food.
No police could be seen on the streets, though authorities insisted some of the improvised checkpoints dotted around the city of 250,000 were theirs.
Cars stolen from ethnic Uzbeks raced around the city, most crowded with young Kyrgyz wielding sharpened sticks, axes and metal rods.
In some parts of Osh, Kyrgyz residents protected homes housing both Kyrgyz and Uzbek.
In another city beset by violence, Jalal-Abad, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) away, armed Kyrgyz amassed at the central square. Their stated goal was to travel to the nearby Uzbek settlement of Suzak in search of an Uzbek community leader they blame for starting the trouble.
The Uzbek border is just 3 miles (5 kilometers) from Osh. Uzbek refugees were mostly elderly people, women and children, with younger men staying behind to defend their property. Some were fired on as they fled.
Internet news stories seem to have the news only as it gets edited and regurgitated from the forum and twitter feeds, and who knows how reliable any of those is? Without people on the ground or a government in power, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to describe the situation, let alone hope for a quick and merciful end to the violence.
The military presence is clearly not enough, as a military patrol in Jalalabad was almost hi-jacked by gangs of Kyrgyz men. Even though the military has been given permission (or shall I say ordered?) to fire on sight any and all violent looters, there are allegations that the military refuses to fire on fellow Kyrgyz men. It doesn’t take much more than this to make people start using the G-word.
But there may yet be a reckoning for some of those responsible, as “The commandant of Jalalabad Kubatbek Baibolov said that the authorities managed to apprehend one of the suspects alleged to have organized and carried out the mass ethnic riots in Osh.” (another link to that story, also Russian and one more from the BBC in Russian) The suspect will be charged also with attempting to overthrow the government, suggesting some connection with the government’s accusations that Bakiev & Co. are behind the riots. Perhaps even a Bakiev brother?
“You could say that it is well-known political figure.”
Registan
New fires raged Monday across Osh — the second-largest city that’s on the border with Uzbekistan, and where food and water were becoming scarce. Armed looters smashed stores, stealing anything from televisions to food.
No police could be seen on the streets, though authorities insisted some of the improvised checkpoints dotted around the city of 250,000 were theirs.
Cars stolen from ethnic Uzbeks raced around the city, most crowded with young Kyrgyz wielding sharpened sticks, axes and metal rods.
In some parts of Osh, Kyrgyz residents protected homes housing both Kyrgyz and Uzbek.
In another city beset by violence, Jalal-Abad, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) away, armed Kyrgyz amassed at the central square. Their stated goal was to travel to the nearby Uzbek settlement of Suzak in search of an Uzbek community leader they blame for starting the trouble.
The Uzbek border is just 3 miles (5 kilometers) from Osh. Uzbek refugees were mostly elderly people, women and children, with younger men staying behind to defend their property. Some were fired on as they fled.
Internet news stories seem to have the news only as it gets edited and regurgitated from the forum and twitter feeds, and who knows how reliable any of those is? Without people on the ground or a government in power, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to describe the situation, let alone hope for a quick and merciful end to the violence.
The military presence is clearly not enough, as a military patrol in Jalalabad was almost hi-jacked by gangs of Kyrgyz men. Even though the military has been given permission (or shall I say ordered?) to fire on sight any and all violent looters, there are allegations that the military refuses to fire on fellow Kyrgyz men. It doesn’t take much more than this to make people start using the G-word.
But there may yet be a reckoning for some of those responsible, as “The commandant of Jalalabad Kubatbek Baibolov said that the authorities managed to apprehend one of the suspects alleged to have organized and carried out the mass ethnic riots in Osh.” (another link to that story, also Russian and one more from the BBC in Russian) The suspect will be charged also with attempting to overthrow the government, suggesting some connection with the government’s accusations that Bakiev & Co. are behind the riots. Perhaps even a Bakiev brother?
“You could say that it is well-known political figure.”
Registan
Kyrgyzstan erupts into ethnic war
14.06.2010. Category:Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan was tonight in the grip of a bloody ethnic war after rioting that erupted four days ago in the southern city of Osh spread rapidly to other areas, with gun battles raging between Kyrgyz and Uzbek youths.More ...
Ethnic Uzbeks tell of slaughter in Kyrgyz city
14.06.2010. Category:Kyrgyzstan
Ethnic Uzbeks said Kyrgyz gangs were carrying out genocide on Sunday in besieged neighbourhoods of Kyrgyzstan's second city Osh, burning residents out of their homes and shooting them as they fled.More ...
Partial military mobilization raises risks in Kyrgyzstan
14.06.2010. Category:Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan's provisional government is partially mobilizing its armed forces, raising the possibility of the military's attempted intervention in civil violence that has devastated southern regions of the Central Asian nation. Some experts are interpreting the move as a sign of desperation.More ...
I call it a massacre!
13.06.2010. Category:Kyrgyzstan
Call it whatever you want, but I name it a massacre of Uzbeks in Osh and Jalalabad (Kyrgyzstan), which is, at the moment, still going on and the Interim government headed by Rosa Otunbaeva cannot do anything to prevent it. I knew of disaffection, I knew of tension, but I never knew there was so much hatred against Uzbeks in the South of Kyrgyzstan. I am not blaming all Kyrgyz for this. I am blaming the incapable Interim government, and those people, who provoked masses, and especially those stupid Uzbeks and Kyrgyz, who are buying it.
More ...
More ...Kyrgyzstan gives police shoot-to-kill powers amid ethnic violence
13.06.2010. Category:Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan's interim government has granted its security forces shoot-to-kill powers after a third night of violence left at least 83 people dead and more than 1,100 wounded in the country's worst ethnic violence in 20 years.
Ethnic Uzbeks gather near the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border in southern Kyrgyzstan, trying to seek refuge from mobs of Kyrgyz men. Photograph: D Dalton Bennett/APMore ...
Ethnic Uzbeks gather near the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border in southern Kyrgyzstan, trying to seek refuge from mobs of Kyrgyz men. Photograph: D Dalton Bennett/APMore ...
Uzbek foreign ministry confident Bishkek can cope
13.06.2010. Category:Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan's struggling interrim government is trying to handle the growing humanitarian crisis ensuing from Kyrgyz-Uzbek clashes in the southern Kyrgyz towns of Osh and Jalal-Abad. The death toll in clashes from the last 3 days is now at 84 with 1,117 wounded, AKIpress.orgreports. While Uzbekistan has issued a statement condemning the violence and expressing confidence that Kyrgyzstan will cope on its own, Tashkent has sent troops to the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border to help strengthen security, 24.kg has reported.More ...
Kyrgyzstan closes borders as death toll mounts
13.06.2010. Category:Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan has closed its borders with China, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, as the death toll inarmed clashes between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in the Kyrgyz city of Osh reached 50, with 650 more wounded, regnum.ru reported June 12. The border with Kazakhstan remains open. A state of emergency has been declared in the cities of Osh and Uzgen and also Aravan and Karassu districts of Osh region.
A key factor in the clashes between "the political elite of Kyrgyzstan" and leaders of the ethnic Uzbek population in the south is the status of the Uzbek language, the independent online Uzbek news service ferghana.ru reported. On June 1, two weeks after clashes broke out in Jalalal-Abad, members of the Uzbek national center in Osh distributed an appeal protesting what they termed "the violation of the rights of Uzbeks on the use of their native language."
The authors of the appeal say there are about one million ethnic Uzbeks in Kyrgyzstan, which they consider their "historic homeland." The Uzbeks complained that there was a lack of television broadcasting on the state channels KTR and ElTR in their native language. The draft constitution, the subject of a referendum to be held June 27, does not mention that Uzbek language, says ferghana.ru.
Efforts have been made to poll citizens on their attitude toward multilingualism in Kyrgyzstan but observers say that various media in different languages will tend to skew the results of such polls, making them untrustworthy. Uzbeks have also complained of a lack of representation in local governing bodies. Local politicians don't believe lack of minority representation is a problem, but they may not be acknowleding the growth of the Uzbek population, say observers.
Vakhidjan Ergashev, a businessman and public figure in Jalal-Abad, says:
The authorities simply try not to publicize the real figures of the growth of the Uzbek language. Why, for example, are figures missing on the ethnic breakdown of the population by region? In fact, such an analysis would immediately highlight places densely populated with Uzbeks, whose numbers in reality are growing faster than they officially appear on paper.
Asylbek Keshikbayev, an expert on state and regional development says as the native Kyrgyz-language population migrates from the region, ethnic Uzbeks or refugees have moved in. Independent journalist Aleksandr Kulinsky says Kyrgyzstan has not done anything since the 1990s to integrate the Uzbeks into the ruling structures of the country, and now faces the reality that the Uzbek population is significantly larger than the Kyrgyz in the south, ferghana.ru reported. Some observers have called the situation in the south of Kyrgyzstan "a second Kosovo," as the minority population grows, and feels its language issues are unresolved.
Human rights activists from the Foundation for International Tolerance have conducted meetings recently in the region and called for removing the line indicating "nationality," or ethnicity from the Kyrgyz passport in order to reduce discrimination.
In a separate development, Uzbek border guards have cut off Arnasai, a village near Kazakhstan's southern border with Uzbekistan which became an exclave surrounded by Uzbek territory after delimitation of the Kazakh-Uzbek border some years ago, Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe reported. Some families are reportedly running out of drinking water due to the blockade, imposed June 7, Arnasai village governor Basymbek Kalzhigitov told journalists. Kazakh officials are currently in talks on the situation with Uzbek counterparts, who have not explained their actions.
Eurasianet
A key factor in the clashes between "the political elite of Kyrgyzstan" and leaders of the ethnic Uzbek population in the south is the status of the Uzbek language, the independent online Uzbek news service ferghana.ru reported. On June 1, two weeks after clashes broke out in Jalalal-Abad, members of the Uzbek national center in Osh distributed an appeal protesting what they termed "the violation of the rights of Uzbeks on the use of their native language."
The authors of the appeal say there are about one million ethnic Uzbeks in Kyrgyzstan, which they consider their "historic homeland." The Uzbeks complained that there was a lack of television broadcasting on the state channels KTR and ElTR in their native language. The draft constitution, the subject of a referendum to be held June 27, does not mention that Uzbek language, says ferghana.ru.
Efforts have been made to poll citizens on their attitude toward multilingualism in Kyrgyzstan but observers say that various media in different languages will tend to skew the results of such polls, making them untrustworthy. Uzbeks have also complained of a lack of representation in local governing bodies. Local politicians don't believe lack of minority representation is a problem, but they may not be acknowleding the growth of the Uzbek population, say observers.
Vakhidjan Ergashev, a businessman and public figure in Jalal-Abad, says:
The authorities simply try not to publicize the real figures of the growth of the Uzbek language. Why, for example, are figures missing on the ethnic breakdown of the population by region? In fact, such an analysis would immediately highlight places densely populated with Uzbeks, whose numbers in reality are growing faster than they officially appear on paper.
Asylbek Keshikbayev, an expert on state and regional development says as the native Kyrgyz-language population migrates from the region, ethnic Uzbeks or refugees have moved in. Independent journalist Aleksandr Kulinsky says Kyrgyzstan has not done anything since the 1990s to integrate the Uzbeks into the ruling structures of the country, and now faces the reality that the Uzbek population is significantly larger than the Kyrgyz in the south, ferghana.ru reported. Some observers have called the situation in the south of Kyrgyzstan "a second Kosovo," as the minority population grows, and feels its language issues are unresolved.
Human rights activists from the Foundation for International Tolerance have conducted meetings recently in the region and called for removing the line indicating "nationality," or ethnicity from the Kyrgyz passport in order to reduce discrimination.
In a separate development, Uzbek border guards have cut off Arnasai, a village near Kazakhstan's southern border with Uzbekistan which became an exclave surrounded by Uzbek territory after delimitation of the Kazakh-Uzbek border some years ago, Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe reported. Some families are reportedly running out of drinking water due to the blockade, imposed June 7, Arnasai village governor Basymbek Kalzhigitov told journalists. Kazakh officials are currently in talks on the situation with Uzbek counterparts, who have not explained their actions.
Eurasianet
Bishkek asks for Russian troops to contain Osh violence
13.06.2010. Category:Kyrgyzstan
In a move that may have lasting political implications for Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan's provisional government has appealed to Russia to deploy troops to help restore order in the southern city of Osh.More ...
Violence may spread beyond Osh
12.06.2010. Category:Kyrgyzstan
The flaring of ethnic conflict in Kyrgyzstan, the worst violence since the April revolution, is currently confined to the southern city of Osh but ACT Alliance members fear it may spread to other parts of the country and beyond, in a region ACT describes as an often forgotten corner of the world.
Tatiana Kotova, of the ACT Central Asia Forum, speaking from the capital Bishkek, said that fighting between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks could easily escalate.More ...
Tatiana Kotova, of the ACT Central Asia Forum, speaking from the capital Bishkek, said that fighting between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks could easily escalate.More ...
Kyrgyzstan appeals for outside help as death toll rises
12.06.2010. Category:Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan has appealed for outside help to quell rioting and interethnic violence that has claimed at least 51 lives in the south of the country.
Interim leader Roza Otunbaeva told reporters today she has sent a letter to the Russian government asking Moscow to help resolve the ongoing conflict in Osh, and that she welcomed help from other countries. More ...
Interim leader Roza Otunbaeva told reporters today she has sent a letter to the Russian government asking Moscow to help resolve the ongoing conflict in Osh, and that she welcomed help from other countries. More ...
Bill to boost Nazarbayev’s powers in Kazakhstan remains theoretically alive
11.06.2010. Category:Kazakhstan
It has been widely reported that Kazakhstan’s president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, has rejected parliament-approved amendments to enhance his executive powers. But Nazarbayev’s refusal to sign the legislation may not be the end of the story.More ...
Pentagon looks to plant new facilities in Central Asia
11.06.2010. Category:Central Asia
The Pentagon is preparing to embark on a mini-building boom in Central Asia. A recently posted sources-sought survey indicates the US military wants to be involved in strategic construction projects in all five Central Asian states, including Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.More ...
Struggle for Central Asian energy riches
02.06.2010. Category:Central Asia
A year ago, the Kremlin issued a stark warning: that growing competition for control of global energy resources could spark wars on Russia's borders, including those in Central Asia.More ...
US stops refueling tanker planes at key base
01.06.2010. Category:Kyrgyzstan
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman says the military has stopped refueling tanker planes at the Manas air base in Kyrgyzstan as the U.S. renegotiates with the local government on how much it will pay for fuel.
The base is considered a crucial transit center for sending troops and supplies in and out of Afghanistan. U.S. access was threatened this spring when street protests brought down the government and forced the president to flee.
Whitman and other U.S. military officials said Tuesday that transit flights continue at the base. But the spokesman also said that in an effort to conserve fuel, tanker planes are no longer stopping at Manas and are going elsewhere to refuel.
Washington Post
The base is considered a crucial transit center for sending troops and supplies in and out of Afghanistan. U.S. access was threatened this spring when street protests brought down the government and forced the president to flee.
Whitman and other U.S. military officials said Tuesday that transit flights continue at the base. But the spokesman also said that in an effort to conserve fuel, tanker planes are no longer stopping at Manas and are going elsewhere to refuel.
Washington Post
Democratic Change It's Not
01.06.2010. Category:Kyrgyzstan
There are basically two schools of thought when it comes to explaining what happened in Kyrgyzstan in April. Proponents of the democracy school will argue that what we witnessed was a legitimate uprising against an unjust and oppressive regime set up by President Kurmanbek Bakiyev. The other school, the realists, will explain the April events as a coup against the government organized by a power-hungry opposition supported and financed from the outside.More ...
Faked letter published
01.06.2010. Category:Kazakhstan
Yesterday, a faked letter by Michael Laubsch, ETG expert, was published at geokz.tv in Kazakhstan.
Please find Michael’s reply here.
Update: Thanks to the fast reaction of Geokz’s editors, the article has been deleted.
Please find Michael’s reply here.
Update: Thanks to the fast reaction of Geokz’s editors, the article has been deleted.