Russia
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 ...
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 ...
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 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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Kyrgyztan's ousted leader Bakiyev 'must stand trial'
14.04.2010. Category:Kyrgyzstan
The interim leader of Kyrgyzstan has said ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiyev should stand trial over the recent deadly political unrest.
Roza Otunbayeva said Mr Bakiyev had "blood on his hands" and had missed his chance to leave the country.
Mr Bakiyev, currently in the south of the country, had said he was willing to resign if his safety was guaranteed.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has warned Kyrgyzstan is "on the brink of civil war".
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Roza Otunbayeva said Mr Bakiyev had "blood on his hands" and had missed his chance to leave the country.
Mr Bakiyev, currently in the south of the country, had said he was willing to resign if his safety was guaranteed.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has warned Kyrgyzstan is "on the brink of civil war".
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Moscow withholding promised aid to Bishkek
17.02.2010. Category:Kyrgyzstan
In February of 2009, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev traveled to Moscow and secured roughly $2.15 billion in economic assistance, apparently in a quid-pro-quo deal in which Kyrgyzstan took action to evict US and NATO forces from an air base outside Bishkek. Twelve months later, American troops are still in Kyrgyzstan, and Moscow is balking at disbursing the bulk of its pledged aid.More ...
Russia and Turkmenistan mend their relationship
19.01.2010. Category:Turkmenistan
At the end of December, leaders of Russia and Turkmenistan met to discuss the future of their relationship.
First, on December 22, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov met in Ashgabat and signed an agreement to expand bilateral “strategic” energy cooperation. Then the heads of Gazprom and Turkmengaz signed an agreement on the resumption of Turkmen gas supplies to Russia with the start of 2010, amounting to 30 billion cubic meters (bcm) annually.More ...
First, on December 22, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov met in Ashgabat and signed an agreement to expand bilateral “strategic” energy cooperation. Then the heads of Gazprom and Turkmengaz signed an agreement on the resumption of Turkmen gas supplies to Russia with the start of 2010, amounting to 30 billion cubic meters (bcm) annually.More ...
Former OSCE chair says time ripe for 'serious look' at reform
15.01.2010. Category:Kazakhstan
The 56-member Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe is facing hard times as observers increasingly question its relevance and effectiveness. At a Permanent Council session in Vienna on January 14, the new Kazakh chairmanship of the OSCE will lay out its plan for the coming year -- an agenda that former OSCE Chairman in Office and Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb describes as "an extensive and ambitious working program."
Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb speaks at an OSCE council in Helsinki.
Stubb, who chaired the organization in 2008, spoke to RFE/RL correspondent Robert Coalson about the challenges the OSCE will face in 2010.More ...
Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb speaks at an OSCE council in Helsinki.
Stubb, who chaired the organization in 2008, spoke to RFE/RL correspondent Robert Coalson about the challenges the OSCE will face in 2010.More ...
More empty gas talks with Russia?
12.10.2009. Category:Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan has proven a fickle energy-export partner for all foreign companies trying to do business there. Yet, a Kremlin spokesperson’s recent statement that Russia would resume natural gas imports as soon as the end of October, confirms that hope springs eternal when it comes to the question of Ashgabat and energy.More ...
Turkmen President's Interview: "We are Criminals" he said.
25.09.2009. Category:Turkmenistan
(AP) — ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan - Energy-rich Turkmenistan has signed a deal with independent Russian gas producer Itera to jointly develop an offshore field in the Caspian Sea, Turkmen state media reported Monday.
In a signing ceremony overseen by the presidents of Russia and Turkmenistan on Sunday, the sides agreed to begin work next year on developing the field, which is estimated to hold 160 million tons of recoverable oil and 60 billion cubic meters of natural gas.More ...
In a signing ceremony overseen by the presidents of Russia and Turkmenistan on Sunday, the sides agreed to begin work next year on developing the field, which is estimated to hold 160 million tons of recoverable oil and 60 billion cubic meters of natural gas.More ...
Uzbekistandoffish
27.08.2009. Category:Uzbekistan
In my opinion, Uzbekistan has been and remains the most able of the former Soviet Central Asian states to annoy, frustrate, and otherwise make life difficult for Russia. This is not to say that Russia’s government has no power in Tashkent. Allow me to digress -More ...
Turkmen, Uzbek eyes stray toward Brussels
04.06.2009. Category:Turkmenistan | Uzbekistan
Just a few years ago, it would have been difficult to imagine an official from Turkmenistan visiting Brussels to discuss exporting natural gas directly to the EU.More ...
Slighted by Russia, Ashgabat courts EU
04.06.2009. Category:Turkmenistan
Officials at the European Commission have attempted to downplay the significance of meetings this week between Turkmen Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov and EU officials. More ...
Central Asian gas: An opportunity Europe seems determined to miss
02.06.2009. Category:Central Asia
If ever there was a time for the European Union to cut the Gordian knot of energy dependence on Russia -- or, more precisely, cut out the Russian middleman currently controlling supply routes from the Caspian Sea region -- it is now.More ...
Nazarbayev signals Kazakhstan's OSCE priorities
26.05.2009. Category:Kazakhstan
On May 21 Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev characterized the country's forthcoming chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) as a vital part of its interest in pursuing integration with Europe. Having entered the OSCE troika this year (alongside Finland and Greece), preparations are now well advanced for chairing the organization.More ...
Russia to clinch deals to hasten Europe gas link
15.05.2009. Category:Central Asia | Turkmenistan
Russia aims to speed up the new South Stream gas link to Europe by signing deals with transit states, and has rebuked the United States and former Soviet satellite states for backing a rival project.More ...
Ashkhabad wonders whether Russia still has deep pockets
03.04.2009. Category:Turkmenistan
It is clear that nothing happened during Turkmen leader Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov’s just-concluded visit to Moscow that could shake up a stalling relationship. Experts are still wondering, however, about what exactly occurred during Berdymukhamedov’s talks with top Russian officials, including President Dmitry Medvedev.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 ...
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 ...
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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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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Russia and Its Neighbors
27.02.2009. Category:Central Asia
A glimpse at recent prominent headlines involving Russia - “Conflict with Georgia”, “Gas Dispute with Ukraine”, “Financial Aid to Kyrgyzstan” - clearly illustrates that Moscow’s evolving agenda in the post-Soviet space can no longer be ignored. The United States must recognize that former Soviet states are and will continue to be an increasingly crucial focus of Russia’s foreign policy.More ...
Moscow indicates it won't be ignored in the 'near abroad'
19.02.2009. Category:Kyrgyzstan
On a recent visit to Moscow, the president of Kyrgyzstan announced that he was canceling the U.S. right to use the Manas air base in Kyrgyzstan, which has served as a transit point for U.S. and NATO shipments to Afghanistan since December 2001. S. Frederick Starr, a long-time expert on the Caucasus and Central Asia, says Russia is using a "carrot and stick" approach to attempt to force the United States out of the air base. He says this shows Moscow's determination to reclaim its traditional influence in the so-called near abroad and its determination "to establish a sphere of influence, and they mean an exclusive sphere of influence, in the former Soviet territories, including the Caucasus and Central Asia."More ...
The US is changing its policy towards Central Asia
19.02.2009. Category:Central Asia
Today we can see the U.S.A. changing its policy towards Central Asia, which is connected with the renewal of the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan under new President Barack Obama.More ...
Central Asia's great water game
11.02.2009. Category:Central Asia
Apples are a valuable source of income for Khadija and her family in summer, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
With a severe shortage of energy supplies affecting all aspects of life this winter, she has decided the family orchard is best suited to provide firewood for the cooking stove that now serves as a main heating source.More ...
With a severe shortage of energy supplies affecting all aspects of life this winter, she has decided the family orchard is best suited to provide firewood for the cooking stove that now serves as a main heating source.More ...
Interview with Arkadiy Dubnov: «The countries, lacking the culture of discussion, are not able to cooperate»
11.02.2009. Category:Central Asia
The extraordinary summits of EurAsEC and CSTO, which took place in Moscow on February 4th, have resulted in, at first glance, important decisions that require substantial financial investment and strong political will from the member countries. The “Ferghana.ru” correspondent interviewed Arkadiy Dubnov, the expert on Central Asia and international observer of “Vremya Novostey” newspaper, on whether it is possible to view the establishment of 10 billion US dollars antirecessionary fund and operational response collective forces as “advancement”.More ...
EU-Central Asia-Russia: The inept Gas triangle continues
29.01.2009. Category:Central Asia
It was just last week that I put in a blog piece that the EU’s chances of diversifying their gas supplies were extremely poor.
More ...Karimov quells Russian gas fears, secures deal
23.01.2009. Category:Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan has pledged to support a new trans-Russian gas pipeline, easing Moscow's fears it would succumb to European pressure to bypass Russia with its energy supplies and reduce its influence in the region.More ...
Medvedev visits as Uzbekistan looks West...again
23.01.2009. Category:Uzbekistan
Dmitry Medvedev is expected to stress bilateral cooperation as he makes his first state visit to Uzbekistan since becoming Russia's president in May. More ...
Russia on Nabucco
23.01.2009. Category:Central Asia
Russia will not oppose the construction of the Nabucco pipeline and is keen to see it become a success, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced Tuesday.More ...
The EU’s got a gas problem
23.01.2009. Category:Central Asia
So it appears that Ukraine and Russia have finally come to terms on a Gas Transportation deal that will allow the former Soviet state to receive gas and send it on to Western Europe. This is just the latest in a long line of dramas involving the transport and ownership of energy reserves between the triangle of Russia, Central Asia, and the EU. For Russia must first acquire most of the gas it sells to Europe from its former Soviet states to its south, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
More ...Top US General courts Astana's participation in Afghan resupply initiative
15.01.2009. Category:Kazakhstan
The head of the US Central Command, Gen. David Petraeus, is touring Central Asian states amid frenzied speculation that Kyrgyz leaders are considering closing an American air base outside of Bishkek in return for $2 billion in assistance from Russia.More ...
If Obama and Khamenei want to get along, they should start watching TV
15.01.2009. Category:Tajikistan
At five minutes to five yesterday afternoon, Tehran time, Iranian television viewers finally got the channel they have been asking for. It delivered both national and international news in a snappy, professional style. The first item was about Gaza. The channel also reported the results of a specially commissioned opinion poll which suggests that 94% of Iranians believe their country is entitled to develop civil nuclear power but only 50% are comfortable with the idea of the Islamic Republic having nuclear weapons. Then there was an interactive programme called Your Turn, with people from inside and outside the country ringing and texting in to discuss Iranians' perceptions of themselves and the world's view of Iran.More ...
Former Soviet States weigh Israel ties vs. popular anger
09.01.2009. Category:Central Asia
In Azerbaijan, Islamic activists have rallied several times since the beginning of the year against Israel's military operations in Gaza. More ...
Central Asia's era of cheap gas comes to a close
07.01.2009. Category:Central Asia
Starting on January 1, Uzbekistan increased the gas price it charges neighboring Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan for natural gas to $240 per 1,000 cubic meters, saying last year's price of $145 was far below real market prices.More ...
Military Rivalry in Central Asia
23.12.2008. Category:Central Asia
The attacks of 9/11 and the ensuing war in Afghanistan did not start the new "Great Game" in Central Asia. Local governments had already grasped the Islamist threat, as well as Russia's neo-imperial longings to dominate the region. Central Asia's great energy stakes, meanwhile, had already determined American resistance to Moscow's policy. More ...