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KABUL (TCA) — Afghanistan has 7.5 million hectares of arable land but only a small portion of that land is cultivated due to a lack of water and insecurity in the war-torn country, TOLOnews reports citing the Afghan Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock.
TCA
ALMATY (TCA) — Deutsche Post DHL Group and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will support Kazakhstan authorities in their efforts to build resilience against future natural disasters by conducting a five-day disaster preparedness training and assessment program at Almaty International Airport. The two partners will team up with airport and government officials and other humanitarian response experts in the Central Asian country to host their internationally recognized Getting Airports Ready for Disaster (GARD) program from 18 to 22 September.
TCA
BISHKEK (TCA) — In partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Adal Azyk, one of the largest meat processing companies in Kyrgyzstan, has opened a new slaughterhouse in Kochkor district of the country’s Naryn province. The facility is one of only two in Kyrgyzstan that are compliant with international food safety standards, and which hold the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) certification that international buyers require, the US Embassy in Bishkek said.
TCA
ASHGABAT (TCA) — The opening ceremony of the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG) took place in Turkmenistan’s capital, Ashgabat, on September 17 with the participation of a number of heads of state and government, including the presidents of Afghanistan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
According to organizers, some 5,500 athletes from 62 countries will be contesting in 21 disciplines — including tennis, ju-jitsu, cycling track, weightlifting, and taekwondo — to September 27, making it Asia’s second-largest sporting event, RFE/RL reported.
Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov appears to want to use the AIMAG to cast Turkmenistan as a regional success story and sports hub.
But human rights groups have raised concern over rights abuses in the run-up of the competition, including “massive housing violations” in Ashgabat by Turkmen authorities and their continued clampdown on independent voices.
Turkmenistan expects tens of thousands of foreigners to visit the Games.
The Turkmen government has spent billions of dollars preparing for the Games — the most prominent international event ever held in independent Turkmenistan — including some $2.5 billion on a mammoth new airport built in the shape of a falcon in flight.
It also built an Olympic Complex located on 150 hectares on the outskirts of the capital and numerous state-of-the-art sporting facilities — including the Olympic Stadium capable of holding 45,000 fans, a 6,000-seat indoor cycling track, a water-sports complex, an indoor tennis court — complete with a circular 5-kilometer monorail system to carry athletes, officials, and fans around the complex. Turkmen officials have said they were planning to bid for hosting other major sports events, including the Olympic Games.
Meanwhile, human rights groups have said homeowners and residents in Ashgabat have had to endure “massive housing violations” ahead of the competition.
The Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights (TIHR) in Vienna and the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on September 4 that the Turkmen government had “forcibly evicted” homeowners in Ashgabat and demolished their homes “without adequate compensation” in preparation for the games.
The two human rights watchdogs have called on the Olympic Council of Asia, as the organizer of the AIMAG, to remind Turkmenistan of its rights obligations.
In an effort to improve the country’s image when foreigners start arriving to compete in, or attend, AIMAG, Turkmen authorities have banned the sale of alcohol in Ashgabat, restricted the movement of residents of the provinces to the capital, ordered former inmates to stay away from the games’ venues, and tried to clear the city of stray dogs and cats as well as child beggars.
TCA
TASHKENT (TCA) — Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev paid a working visit to neighboring Uzbekistan on September 16. The visit came amid what his Uzbekistan counterpart, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, hailed as a “historic” year of improving relations between the two major players in Central Asia, RFE/RL reported.
Maria Levina
BISHKEK (TCA) — The parliament of Kyrgyzstan this week approved Kubanychbek Kulmatov for the post of the country’s National Bank head, after the previous chief banker, Tolkunbek Abdygulov, was appointed Deputy Prime Minister late in August.
