We must reach out to Kazakhstan | Glenys Kinnock | Comment is fr. I have discovered that not everything in the life of a government minister goes to plan. Last week I made my first visit to Kazakhstan. A fascinating country, the size of western Europe. I met students and civil society activists, politicians and journalists, representatives of the oil industry and nuclear physicists but two men I had hoped to meet were not available. The first was Marat Tazhin. Shortly before I boarded my flight to Kazakhstan, Tazhin was replaced as foreign minister. Reshuffles, it seems, are a fact of political life. Tazhin was given another ministerial role.
In fact, not meeting Tazhin or Zhovtis gave me an insight into what is happening inside Kazakhstan. During my visit, I heard a mixed account of Kazakhstan's progress. What difference can Britain make? Closing our eyes to democratic shortcomings in Kazakhstan would not only be inconsistent with our obligations as a fellow OSCE member, it would also be bad for business.
Why does this matter to Britain? Kazakhstan's President-for-Life Prepares to Chair. This summer has provided further evidence that Kazakhstan's chairing of the OSCE next year will rank high on what I can only call the WTFometer. Forget the fact that Kazakhstan is not, by any generous interpretation (I'm looking at you UEFA) a European state; neither is Canada or the USA (or the UK, according to some people…) What about the fact that one of the least free and most corrupt states in the world will be chairing an organisation meant to promote human rights and democracy? Well, we all survived Libya chairing the Human Rights Commission . But what practically guarantees a year of rueful eye-rolling is the fact that despite international concern over the Kazakh chairmanship, the Nazarbayev regime continues to pursue repressive domestic policies and practices, even those which violate its commitments to the very organisation it is meant to lead. One of the latest examples is the new Kazakh internet law enacted in July.
Joanna Lillis reports : Photo courtesy of European Dialogue. BBC SPORT | Football | Scolari moves to Uzbek champions. Former Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari has been named coach of Uzbekistan champions Bunyodkor. The 60-year-old, who won the World Cup with Brazil in 2002, has agreed an 18-month deal to return to football after being sacked by the Blues in February. He succeeds Zico, who led the club to a league and cup double and the Asian Champions League semi-finals last year before taking over at CSKA Moscow. Rivaldo, who was part of the 2002 World Cup winning team, plays for Bunyodkor.
Since the club's formation in 2005, it has progressed rapidly, winning the Uzbekistan League Two championship in 2006 and League One in 2007, before doing the double last season. The team are sponsored by Zeromax, one of the region's leading gas and oil companies, and they are currently building a new 35,000-seater stadium as part of the Sport Park Tashkent sport complex. "I know that I am in the right place at the right time and in the right team," Scolari told the club website. Neweurasia.net » Turkmenistan in 2009 = Turkmenistan in 2000, 20. Home » Turkmenistan, Videoblog Earlier this year, the Norske Helsingforskomite (NHC) released a video about life in Turkmenistan under the Berdymukhammedov regime, detailing the ways in which, despite his vows of sweeping changes, the country remains as totalitarian as under the previous government of Turkmenbashi.
On assignment for the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, freelance journalist Simon Ostrovsky travelled to Turkmenistan to make this rare documentary on one of the world’s most inaccessible countries. Since the death of its eccentric first president 2 years ago, the resource-rich Central Asian republic has caught the attention of Western companies in the hydrocarbon sector. Yet its human rights record remains one of the worst in the world. Perhaps most shocking of all is the discovery that the Ruhnama continues to be taught in schools, and that in many ways, the old personality cult of Turkmenbashi persists. World | Asia-Pacific | Scores killed in China protest.
Riots leave many dead in China Violence in China's restive western region of Xinjiang has left at least 156 people dead and more than 800 people injured, state media say. Several hundred people were arrested after a protest, in the city of Urumqi on Sunday, turned violent. Beijing says Uighurs went on the rampage but one exiled Uighur leader says police fired on students. The protest was reportedly prompted by a deadly fight between Uighurs and Han Chinese in southern China last month.
The BBC's Chris Hogg says the violence is some of the worst reported in the country since Tiananmen Square in 1989. 'Dark day' Eyewitnesses said the violence started on Sunday in Urumqi after a protest of a few hundred people grew to more than 1,000. Xinhua says the protesters carried knives, bricks and batons, smashed cars and stores, and fought with security forces. Wu Nong, news director for the Xinjiang government, said more than 260 vehicles were attacked and more than 200 shops and houses damaged.
Kyrgyzstan - At the Crossroad of Empires, a Mouse Struts - NYTim. Coming Up: The Presidential Election in Kyrgyzsta. Since coming to power in 2005, the Bakiev regime has presided over what appears to be a growing convergence between politicians and criminal actors. Five MPs and a number of other political figures, many with alleged ties to organised crime, have been assassinated in the past four years. Official corruption is endemic. At the same time, religious and social movements such as Hizb-ut-Tahrir have been flourishing despite official bans, and there is deep concern over political, economic, ethnic and religious tensions between the northern and southern parts of the country.
Recent developments have also given credence to the fear that militants fleeing Pakistan and Afghanistan will relocate to southern Kyrgyzstan. I thought I’d point to some online sources for anyone wanting to read up on Kyrgyzstan in the run-up to the election. 1. 2. 3. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Video: Urumqi's week of rage and fear | World news | guardian.co. Update: After Urumqi. The violence in Urumqi earlier this month continues to reverberate in the region. As shown in this compelling Guardian video report more details about the riots have become clear, but the effects of the violence on inter-ethnic relations in Xinjiang and other parts of Central Asia going forward are not yet known.
Already this week, however, we have seen a remarkable development in Kazakhstan : thousands of Uighurs were allowed to march in Almaty and protest Chinese policies in Xinjiang. Kazakhstan is home to several hundred thousand Uighurs, who have complained in the past of discrimination and ill treatment (such as the forcible return of refugees); this week's protest marked the first time they were allowed to hold a mass demonstration. This was probably a smart move on the part of the Kazakh regime. (UNHCR and Minority Rights Group offer a brief note on Kazakh Uighurs here .) Meanwhile, leading Uighur groups have denounced the AQIM statement. Final vote count confirms Kyrgyz leader's landslide reelection |
BISHKEK, July 27 (RIA Novosti) - Kyrgyzstan's president has won reelection with 76.4% of the vote, the Central Asian country's electoral authority said on Monday, citing final results from Thursday's disputed election. "More than 1.7 million voters, or 76.4%, cast their ballots for Kurmanbek Bakiyev," Central Election Commission member Toktogul Sultakayev told reporters. Officials results gave opposition challenger Almazbek Atambayev 8% of the vote. The opposition said the vote was illegitimate and threatened to start nationwide protests this week. Atambayev left for Moscow on Monday to discuss alleged violations in the Kyrgyz election, his campaign chief told reporters. Bakiyev, 59, came to power in 2005 after leading street protests that forced his longtime predecessor into exile, but has come under pressure and opposition-led protests over failure to tackle economic problems and his increasingly authoritarian stance.
The ex-Soviet state hosts a U.S. airbase that is central to U.S. New Barriers for Turkmen Students: The Kyrgyz Con. Last week, as expected, Kurmanbek Bakiyev was reelected as president of Kyrgyzstan. We have previously described the authoritarian and corrupt tendencies within his regime, and the OSCE found the conduct of the election a ‘disappointment’ (full critique here). Before the election was even concluded last Thursday, two opposition candidates declared the process fraudulent and called for new elections. There was no significant violence associated with the election, but opposition parties have called for demonstrations beginning late this week and continuing indefinitely.
Meanwhile, students in Turkmenistan who had hoped to study at the American University of Central Asia (AUCA) in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital, are being prevented from doing so.EurasiaNet reports that Turkmen students preparing to travel abroad have been told they must obtain new stamps and permits, which in classic Soviet style are proving nearly impossible to obtain in reality. Ten Years On: The IMU Question. Ten years ago this month, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan burst onto the international scene with its armed incursions into Kyrgyzstan. Initial IMU aims – bringing down the Karimov regime and establishing an Islamic state in Central Asia – diversified with the group’s removal to Afghanistan and alliance with the Taliban; their subsequent near-extermination and regrouping in Pakistan following the Taliban’s collapse; and their reputed involvement in Central Asian narco-trafficking in the years since.
There is increasing evidence of renewed militancy across Central Asia in recent months. We havealready noted here the attacks on Uzbek border posts and Kyrgyz security operations against militants. In Tajikistan, significant military operations have been waged around Tavildara against armed forces who have been variously described as former Islamist opposition fighters, drug traffickers, and militants trickling in from Afghanistan and Pakistan. So we wonder: what’s in a name? Tajikistan Criticized Over Restrictive Religion Law - Radio Free. DUSHANBE (Reuters) -- Tajikistan has introduced a new religion law which the United States has criticized as highly restrictive. The law empowers the government to impose stricter control of religious groups in the former Soviet republic, which tolerates only the state-approved version of Islam. The law was signed by President Emomali Rahmon and will come into force after its official publication.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said the law would only "legalize harsh policies already adopted by the Tajik government against its majority Muslim population. " "The picture for religious freedom in Tajikistan is growing dim," the commission, which advises the U.S. government on religious freedom in the world, said ahead of the signing. "The passage of this problematic new law could severely limit religious freedoms in Tajikistan," it said in a report. The new law imposes censorship on religious literature and restricts performing rituals to state-approved venues.
Targeting Christians in Central Asia. The group is ADRA International (the Adventist Development and Relief Agency), a Seventh-Day Adventist aid group operating in developing countries around the world, and in Tajikistan since 2002 (their website details their work building greenhouses in the Rasht valley). Now, however, the group has been banned within the country by a Dushanbe court after the Ministry of Justice submitted an application accusing the group of ‘actively propagating Christianity to Tajiks during various English courses’. This illustrates the extent to which Central Asian regimes, while focused on the threat from Islamist movements, are also concerned about the growing appeal of Christian sects. Jehovah’s Witnesses, for example, are banned or kept from open worship throughout the region.
Last summer in Kyrgyzstan, I caught an early-morning TV show featuring an American televangelist type who had decided to focus his talents on Russian and Central Asian audiences.