BISHKEK (TCA) — Five Kyrgyz students with disabilities and one coach traveled to the United States from June 21 to July 5 to experience American culture and polish their basketball skills. The Wheelchair Basketball program is part of the Sports Visitor Program, a U.S. Department of State initiative to empower emerging youth leaders, support disability rights and inclusion, and promote people-to-people exchange. This program is part of the U.S. Embassy’s efforts to increase opportunities for people with disabilities in the Kyrgyz Republic, including such events as the February visit of U.S. Speaker Sara Minkara, President of Empowerment Through Integration, on inclusion and entrepreneurship and the 2017 visit of U.S. Paralympian snowboarder Dustin Fleming, the US Embassy in Kyrgyzstan reported.

Continue reading

BISHKEK (TCA) — City council members of the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, decided unanimously to remove Mayor Albek Ibraimov in a no-confidence vote on July 13 while he was on vacation.

The move came a week after Ibraimov’s deputy, Renat Makenov, was arrested on charges of abusing his power.

In a video message on July 13, Ibraimov called the vote of no-confidence expressed by the City Council a political order, 24.kg information agency reported.

The mayor said that he learned about the meeting of the capital’s council members too late, as he was on a three-day trip in the mountains.

“The decision of the City Council is a political order,” he said.

According to the Law on the Status of the Capital, in case of vote of no-confidence in the mayor of the capital city, Kyrgyzstan’s Prime Minister has the right to decide whether to dismiss the mayor or disagree with the decision of the city council, 24.kg reports.

Ibraimov, who was Bishkek mayor since 2016, is a close ally of Kyrgyzstan’s former President Almazbek Atambayev, RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service reports.

Former prime ministers Jantoro Satybaldiev and Sapar Isakov, who served during Atambayev’s tenure, were arrested last month in a corruption case.

In April, President Sooronbai Jeenbekov fired several of Atambayev’s allies, including Prosecutor-General Indira Joldubaeva and the head of the State Committee for National Security, Abdil Segizbaev.

The pressure put by authorities on Atambayev’s allies is seen as evidence of a rift between Atambayev and Jeenbekov, an ex-prime minister who was tapped by Atambayev as his favored successor in Kyrgyzstan’s October 2017 presidential election but has clashed with his former boss in recent months.

Atambayev, who was limited to a single six-year term by the constitution, initially kept a low profile after leaving office in November.

Following his election as head of the ruling Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan on March 31, however, he has publicly criticized Jeenbekov.

BISHKEK (TCA) — Kyrgyzstan’s First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Suiun Omurzakov and the Director of the Office of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement at the U.S. Embassy in Bishkek Sandeep Paul on July 10 inaugurated the Local Crime Prevention Center (LCPC) in Amir-Temur, a neighborhood in Osh City with a population of 52,000 facing issues of unemployment, domestic violence, drug addiction, forced early marriage, and youth involvement in radical and violent groups. The Amir-Temur LCPC represents a true partnership with 64 percent (approximately $15,000) of the funding provided by the U.S. Embassy’s Office of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), 18 percent (approximately $4,500) by the Osh City Mayor’s Office; 11 percent (approximately $2,600) by the Osh City Directorate on Employment, Migration and Youth; and the remaining 7 percent (almost $2,000) by the local community, the US Embassy reported.

Continue reading

TASHKENT (TCA) — Chinese companies are planning to implement a project to extract tungsten, molybdenum and copper in the Samarkand region of Uzbekistan, the official information agency Jahon reports.

The project will be carried out on the Ingichka plateau near the town of Kattakurgan. Recently, representatives of a number of companies from China traveled there to conduct an initial study of the opportunities and conditions for the implementation of the project.

The Chinese intend to use two operating mines in the area, and also plan to build several new ones. In addition, they will be engaged in supplementary geological exploration, during which, in addition to tungsten, molybdenum and copper, other mineral resources can be found. Also in this territory there is an opportunity to produce building materials from wastes of ore sand, and, in particular, facing bricks.

To date, a preliminary agreement has been reached on the implementation of a project in the mining and metallurgical industry on the territory of the Ingichka plateau and the attraction of direct Chinese investments in the amount of $50 million-$55 million for the improvement of communication networks and construction of infrastructure facilities. The phased realization of the project will ensure the creation of 500 to 700 new jobs.

Along with Russia, China is the largest foreign investor in the economy of Uzbekistan.

TASHKENT (TCA) — UNICEF and Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan with support of the European Union have launched a project to protect children affected by migration. The project is being rolled out in eight countries of Southeast, South and Central Asia, including Uzbekistan, the Delegation of the European Union to Uzbekistan reported.

Continue reading

ASTANA (TCA) — Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev has become the head of the Central Asian country’s Security Council for life. State-run media published a presidential decree on July 12 that brought the new law into force, RFE/RL reported.

Continue reading