Mär 2009
Open letter to the Chairman of the German Social Democrats
26.03.2009. Category:Central Asia
Probably only for insiders in Germany and Switzerland: The Chairman of the SPD, Franz Muentefering, said recently that the German Army could invade in Switzerland, in order to get an agreement on opening the Swiss bank secret for the German fiscal authorities. Although he of course did not intend to do so (strange kind of humour), a huge discussion began in the German and Swiss press.
A specialist on Central Asia wrote an open letter to Chairman Muentefering, which we would like to publish here (sorry, only in German). If you need a rough translation, let us know.More ...
A specialist on Central Asia wrote an open letter to Chairman Muentefering, which we would like to publish here (sorry, only in German). If you need a rough translation, let us know.More ...
Turkmenistan and Russia will make new gas agreements
26.03.2009. Category:Turkmenistan
Negotiations between presidents of Russia and Turkmenistan Dmitry Medvedev and Gurbankuly Berdymuhammedov took place in Moscow on March 25.More ...
Uzbek Government acts to avert unrest
26.03.2009. Category:Uzbekistan
On March 27, the Senate or upper house of Uzbekistan’s parliament will meet to discuss the role of local government in implementing a national strategy designed to mitigate the effects of global financial crisis, the official website Gov.uz reports.More ...
Fears of social unrest in Tajikistan
26.03.2009. Category:Tajikistan
A piece in Slate last week took a snapshot of village life in Tajikistan and what could happen if "upward of 1 million young, restless, broke, and mostly male Tajiks" returned home from Russia "to a nation without electricity and bereft of jobs, impoverished and misgoverned, where half the population is under the age of 18."More ...
Rights group calls on Turkmenistan to back up promises
26.03.2009. Category:Turkmenistan
The Turkmen government should fully implement the recommendations issued by the UN’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR), the rights watchdog Amnesty International has said.More ...
Ex-Soviet states pledge NATO help on Afghanistan
26.03.2009. Category:Central Asia
Reuters - A grouping of former Soviet states that controls a key land route from Europe to Afghanistan has agreed to offer "every kind" of help to NATO forces there, its head said.More ...
The French military remains a welcome presence in Dushanbe
19.03.2009. Category:Tajikistan
For seven years, passengers arriving at the Dushanbe Airport may have noticed several western military planes and temporary hangers at the far end of the tarmac. On occasion, they could see twin-prop C-160 transport aircraft; at other times sleek Mirage fighter jets.More ...
Pentagon looks to become engine for economic stabilization
19.03.2009. Category:Tajikistan
A Pentagon-funded aid program to Tajikistan will aim to promote economic development in some of the most neglected parts of the country over the next three years, in an attempt to "prevent the rise of another Afghanistan."
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Is Aliyev looking for a new home?
16.03.2009. Category:Kazakhstan
He is a condemned man in his native country, and is increasingly unwelcome in his adoptive home. And now Rakhat Aliyev, the disgraced former son-in-law of Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev, is looking for a new country where he can gain asylum, allege two relatives of a missing former bank executive.
Aliyev has been living in exile in Vienna, Austria, since Nazarbayev ousted him in 2007 as Kazakhstan’s ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. That move came amid a burgeoning scandal, in which Aliyev was implicated in the disappearances of two executives at Nurbank - Zholdas Timraliyev and Aybar Khasenov. Aliyev possessed a large stake in Nurbank at the time.
According to Timraliyev’s wife, Armangul Kapasheva, Austrian authorities are growing uncomfortable with Aliyev’s asylum status. Austrian authorities remain reluctant to send Aliyev back to Kazakhstan, where in January of 2008 he was convicted in absentia to a 20-year prison term on kidnapping racketeering and other financial crimes. [For background see the Eurasia Insight]. But there is the possibility that Aliyev could face a trial in Austria. "The ground is shifting for Aliyev in Vienna," Kapasheva said in an interview with EurasiaNet.
Kapasheva added that she has been passed information that Aliyev, sensing danger in Austria, has put out feelers to other states to accept him as an asylum seeker. Two countries that Kapasheva named were Great Britain and the United States. Upon hearing the rumors, she said she contacted US diplomats, who flatly denied receiving any such request from Aliyev.
To make sure, Kapasheva and her sister-in-law, Gulnara Timralieva, traveled to the United States recently to meet with officials in New York and Washington to raise awareness about Aliyev’s alleged involvement in the Nurbank executives’ disappearance.
Kapasheva retains the belief that her husband is still alive and expressed frustration that Aliyev refuses to meet with relatives of the missing men. "We’re not bloodthirsty," she said. "We just want to know what happened."
Source: Eurasianet
Aliyev has been living in exile in Vienna, Austria, since Nazarbayev ousted him in 2007 as Kazakhstan’s ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. That move came amid a burgeoning scandal, in which Aliyev was implicated in the disappearances of two executives at Nurbank - Zholdas Timraliyev and Aybar Khasenov. Aliyev possessed a large stake in Nurbank at the time.
According to Timraliyev’s wife, Armangul Kapasheva, Austrian authorities are growing uncomfortable with Aliyev’s asylum status. Austrian authorities remain reluctant to send Aliyev back to Kazakhstan, where in January of 2008 he was convicted in absentia to a 20-year prison term on kidnapping racketeering and other financial crimes. [For background see the Eurasia Insight]. But there is the possibility that Aliyev could face a trial in Austria. "The ground is shifting for Aliyev in Vienna," Kapasheva said in an interview with EurasiaNet.
Kapasheva added that she has been passed information that Aliyev, sensing danger in Austria, has put out feelers to other states to accept him as an asylum seeker. Two countries that Kapasheva named were Great Britain and the United States. Upon hearing the rumors, she said she contacted US diplomats, who flatly denied receiving any such request from Aliyev.
To make sure, Kapasheva and her sister-in-law, Gulnara Timralieva, traveled to the United States recently to meet with officials in New York and Washington to raise awareness about Aliyev’s alleged involvement in the Nurbank executives’ disappearance.
Kapasheva retains the belief that her husband is still alive and expressed frustration that Aliyev refuses to meet with relatives of the missing men. "We’re not bloodthirsty," she said. "We just want to know what happened."
Source: Eurasianet
Social problems brew as labour migrants return home
13.03.2009. Category:Uzbekistan
A serious social problem is brewing in Uzbekistan, where hundreds of thousands of labor migrants are estimated to be returning home due to the lack of employment prospects in Russia and Kazakhstan.
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“Internet monitored and controlled, even in democracies”
12.03.2009. Category:Uzbekistan | Turkmenistan
After joint appeal with Amnesty International for an end to online censorship, Reporters Without Borders issues report on “Enemies of the Internet” More ...
Deutsche Bank complicit in Niyazov's terror regime
12.03.2009. Category:Turkmenistan
A new report slams a leading German bank for allowing Turkmenistan’s former president, Saparmurat Niyazov, to stash billions of dollars in state earnings in a personally controlled account.More ...
Uzbek and Turkmen Unite on Energy, Water
12.03.2009. Category:Uzbekistan | Turkmenistan
NBCentral Asia observers are concerned at a proposal by Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan to demand a rigorous study of the impact of planned hydroelectric schemes in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. More ...
Hillary Clinton and Michel Obama to present the award of courage to Mutabar Tajiba
12.03.2009. Category:Uzbekistan
On March 11, at the solemn ceremony in Washington DC the US State Secretary Hillary Clinton and first lady Michel Obama will present «International Women Courage» award to the representatives of eight countries: Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Russia, Guatemala, Iraq, Malaysia, Nigeria and Yemen.More ...
Regional ties are key to stability in south, Central Asia
12.03.2009. Category:Central Asia
It is a pet peeve of many a "Eurasianist" geopolitical analyst that the U.S. State Department groups Central and South Asia together in its organizational structure. There may be historical links across Afghanistan, they argue, but these pale in comparison to the Caspian-Central Asia region's links to Russia, the West, and even China. Indeed, the geopolitics of energy, security, and development across Eurasia are usually put in terms of east-west (Western-oriented) and north-south (Russia-oriented) links.More ...
Another mosque is named after the president Berdymukhamedov
12.03.2009. Category:Turkmenistan
The main mosque of Mary, Turkmenistan, will now bear the name of Hajji Gurbanguly.More ...
Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan confirm new supply outes
06.03.2009. Category:Uzbekistan | Turkmenistan
On February 24 and 25 Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimukhamedov paid a state visit to Uzbekistan for talks with President Islom Karimov. The discussions, which covered a wide range of issues, signaled a further strengthening of bilateral ties; but this was overshadowed by the confirmation by both leaders that their countries would participate in the northern supply route, assisting in the delivery of non-lethal materials to Afghanistan (Uzbek National News Agency, February 25). This is a further indication that the security dynamics in the region are rapidly changing following Russia's recent moves to undermine the U.S. military presence at Manas and activate the CSTO Rapid Reaction Forces. U.S. and NATO planning staffs are evidently engaged in a search for viable options to ensure continued supplies for the forces in Afghanistan.More ...
Prospects for renewable energy in Uzbekistan
05.03.2009. Category:Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan’s long history of renewable energy research began in the 1920s, when its first lab dedicated to water heating collectors was created. Since then Uzbekistan has continued to pioneer research in the field. Dr. Sultan H. Suleimanov, Head of Laboratory of the “Physics-Sun” Scientific Association, Materials Science Institute at the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan, spoke at Carnegie to elaborate on the type of renewable energy work underway in Uzbekistan. Carnegie's Martha Brill Olcott moderated the discussion.More ...
Prominent human rights activist Maxim Kushelov is placed to psychiatric facility
05.03.2009. Category:Kyrgyzstan
On March 4, 2009 the prominent Kyrgyz human rights activist Maxim Kushelov was arrested together with the colleague Mihail Kosolapov by the police on the way to White House of Kyrgyzstan, where they were planning to organize another demonstration under “Street Democracy lessons”.More ...
No easy routes into Afghanistan
05.03.2009. Category:Kyrgyzstan
“WELCOME to Freedom’s Frontier,” reads a wooden sign at the pine-clad headquarters of America’s Manas airbase in Kyrgyzstan. With its picnic tables, mountain views and community-outreach programmes, this site provides a tranquil vantage-point for the war in Afghanistan, just 90 minutes’ flight away. But Kyrgyzstan said in February that it was closing Manas, which the American-led coalition uses to ferry thousands of troops into Afghanistan each year and as a base for refuelling planes for combat aircraft.More ...
Clinton to present award to Uzbek Human Rights defender
05.03.2009. Category:Uzbekistan
Uzbek human rights defender and former political prisoner Mutabar Tajibaeva will receive the International Women of Courage award in Washington next week. More ...
Kyrgyzstan says U.S. base closure is final
05.03.2009. Category:Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan will not reverse its decision to shut a U.S. military air base that was used by Washington for the war in Afghanistan, a spokesman for President Kurmanbek Bakiyev said on Thursday.
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Kyrgyzstan open to air base talks with U.S.
05.03.2009. Category:Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan is ready for talks with the United States on the future of its Manas military air base, which is due to be shut down in six months, President Kurmanbek Bakiyev said on Wednesday, Reuters reports.More ...
Human rights and military bases
05.03.2009. Category:Kyrgyzstan | Uzbekistan
In his Washington Post op ed last week, Kyrgyzstan’s long-time ambassador to the U.S. gave us a fascinating insight into the process of base negotiations. Once the U.S. had its base, he wrote, all concerns about human rights and democracy went out the window. The base became the alpha and omega of the U.S.-Kyrgyz relationship, a development he wisely termed detrimental to both sides. With U.S. expulsion from its prime supply base in Kyrgyzstan now looming on the horizon just as the Obama Administration prepares to implement its ramp-up in neighboring Afghanistan, the U.S. quest for a base to replace Manas (Ganci) Air Force Base is getting feverish. And how does this affect human rights policy?More ...
Russia does not protect its citizens in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan
05.03.2009. Category:Turkmenistan | Uzbekistan
On March 2, the independent press-center hosted the press-conference “On the protection of compatriots’ rights in Turkmenistan. The problem in the freedom of move for citizens of Uzbekistan” in Moscow. The press-conference was attended by deputy manager of Human Rights Commissioner in Russia Georgyi Kunadze, Civil Assistance Committee chairman, Memorial human rights center Council member Svetlana Gannushkina, Memorial human rights center Central Asian program head Vitalyi Ponomarev and Vremya novostei international observer Arkadyi Dubnov.More ...
Turkmen, Uzbeks to Help NATO’s Afghan Effort
05.03.2009. Category:Uzbekistan | Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are to allow NATO freight to cross their territory on its way to Afghanistan. NBCentralAsia see this as a clear sign that both states want to cooperate with the West, and also to demonstrate a new commitment to work in tandem with one another. More ...
Two more independent journalists behind bars
05.03.2009. Category:Uzbekistan
Two independent Uzbek journalists arrested on trumped-up charges should be released immediately, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.More ...