TCA
TASHKENT (TCA) — Uzbekistan’s Senate has approved a law that criminalizes begging in public places across the country, RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service reports.
TCA
DUSHANBE (TCA) — Chargé d’Affaires of the United States Embassy Kevin Covert congratulated the Government of Tajikistan on conducting the second Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) at an event on December 14 in Dushanbe. Chargé Covert was joined at the presentation of the 2017 DHS results by Gulnora Hasanzoda, Director of the Agency of Statistics, and Saida Umarzoda, First Deputy Minister of Health and Social Protection of the Population of Tajikistan, the US Embassy in Dushanbe said.
TCA
BISHKEK (TCA) — The parliament in Kyrgyzstan has approved in first reading a bill that would eliminate immunity for ex-presidents, potentially opening the path for the prosecution of the country’s former President Almazbek Atambayev, RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service reports.
A total of 100 lawmakers in the 120-seat chamber voted for the bill on December 13. Two voted against it, and 18 lawmakers were not present.
The parliamentary committee for legislation, state structures, and judicial issues approved the bill in late November.
The bill needs to be approved in two more readings by the lawmakers before President Sooronbai Jeenbekov can sign it into the law.
The vote comes amid persistent tension between Jeenbekov and his predecessor Atambayev — two politicians who used to be known as close allies.
In October, Kyrgyzstan’s Supreme Court ruled that the immunity enjoyed by the country’s former presidents is unconstitutional.
In recent months, some politicians and lawmakers have called for the investigation of some of Atambayev’s decisions while in office.
Several of his close allies have been arrested on charges of corruption in recent months.
Atambayev helped steer Jeenbekov, who had been his prime minister, into the presidency in an October 2017 election.
Atambayev has criticized Jeenbekov since March for sacking or arresting a number of his close allies in what he called a “pseudo-anticorruption” campaign.
Two Atambayev allies who served as prime ministers when he was president, Sapar Isakov and Jantoro Satybaldiev, were arrested in June on corruption charges.
In October, Atambayev’s former adviser Ikramjan Ilmiyanov was detained in Russia and brought by Kyrgyz authorities to Bishkek where he was arrested on corruption charges.
EurasiaNet
TASHKENT (TCA) — The government in Uzbekistan is now considering the once-suppressed Muslim teaching of Sufism as a potential source of revenue from pilgrimage tourism to the country. We are republishing this article on the issue, originally published by Eurasianet:
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ASTANA (TCA) — Italy’s Eni and GE Renewable Energy have started a wind power plant construction in the area of Badamsha in Kazakhstan, Kazakh Invest national company for investment support and promotion said.
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KABUL (TCA) — Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at a ceremony in Herat on December 13 inaugurated the Lapis Lazuli Corridor, saying that the route enables Afghanistan to send its products to Europe and other parts of the world, Afghan broadcaster TOLOnews reported.
The president said Afghanistan is in favor of connectivity policy and that the inauguration of the Lapis Lazuli Corridor is a milestone in this regard.
He said that he appreciates the efforts by Afghanistan’s international partners including Turkmenistan, Turkey and Azerbaijan for the project.
The Lapis Lazuli Route agreement was signed in October 2017 between Afghanistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Georgia.
The route begins in Afghanistan’s northern Aqina port in Faryab province and Torghandi in western Herat province and will run through to Turkmenbashi in Turkmenistan. From there it will cross the Caspian Sea and will link the Azerbaijani capital Baku to Tbilisi and Georgia’s Black Sea ports of Batumi and Poti. It will then connect with Kars in eastern Turkey before linking to Istanbul and Europe.
The Lapis Lazuli Route agreement was finalized after three years of talks and was signed during the 7th Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA VII) in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.
The first shipment sent through the route yesterday includes more than 175 tons of cotton, dried fruit and sesame.
The Lapis Lazuli corridor connects Afghanistan through Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia to the Black Sea and ultimately through Turkey to the Mediterranean Sea and Europe. The Lapis Lazuli corridor is a historic corridor. Almost 2,000 years ago, lapis lazuli stone was exported from Badakhshan in northeastern Afghanistan through this route to Europe.
