BISHKEK (TCA) — The Publisher’s note: Central Asia is an important geopolitical area between Europe, Russia and China. It is in Central Asia that world powers have confronted each other for centuries; it is here that China needs to succeed with its new Silk Road Belt for direct access to the Western markets; and it is here that a large wealth of raw materials has its origin. Every week thousands of news appears all over the world in printed and online media and it is quite understandable that many of them may escape the attention of busy readers. At The Times of Central Asia, we strongly believe that more information can better contribute to peaceful development and better knowledge of the region, and for this reason we are presenting this Weekly Digest of Central Asia which compiles what other media have reported during the past week.
KAZAKHSTAN
Prospects of green economy in Kazakhstan
With a large renewable energy potential (as of solar and wind energy), Kazakhstan remains heavily dependent on fossil fuel and hydrocarbon energy resources, and the situation will hardly change anytime soon
Oct 2 — “The completion of EXPO 2017 highlighted the prospects for the implementation in Kazakhstan of the principles of sustainable and harmonious development within the framework of green economy, green technologies and green energy.” READ MORE: http://astanatimes.com/2017/10/prospects-of-green-economy-in-kazakhstan/
Government drafts measures to improve business environment in Kazakhstan
The government will reform state control of businesses and the permits system, develop self-regulation of business, exclude norms that hinder competition, and develop business support measures
Oct 4 — “A meeting of Kazakhstan’s Government on October 3 considered a draft law to improve the regulation of entrepreneurial activity in the country, the official website of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan reported.” READ MORE: https://timesca.com/index.php/news/18727-government-drafts-measures-to-improve-business-environment-in-kazakhstan
Kazakhstan’s halal labeled products enter UAE and Middle East market
Kazakhstan stakes on halal-labeled products in its efforts to increase agricultural and food exports
Oct 5 — “KAZAKH INVEST presented Kazakh-produced items at the Halal Expo 2017 international food exhibit in Dubai, reported the company’s press service. Abai, Disada, Eurasia Invest, Golden Food Company, Leninsk Onimi and Rakhat products were displayed in the national pavilion.” READ MORE: http://astanatimes.com/2017/10/kazakhstans-halal-labeled-products-enter-uae-and-middle-east-market/
Kazakhstan Revokes Hundreds of ‘Green Cards’ Issued to Ethnic Kazakhs From China
Some 1.5 million ethnic Kazakhs live in China, mostly in and around the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture in Xinjiang. Many of them want to return to their historical homeland, but they are sometimes treated like unwelcome guests while their return to China would mean persecution by Chinese authorities
Oct 5 — “Authorities in Kazakhstan have declared the ‘green card’ residence permits of some 250 Chinese nationals of Kazakh descent invalid following an investigation of the officials who issued them, prompting fears of repatriation and detention, sources in the emigre community told RFA on Thursday.” READ MORE: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/kazakh-greencard-10052017141356.html
Lavrov praises Russia-Kazakhstan trade growth
Russian FM says the high level of Russian-Kazakh cooperation and strategic partnership is due, above all, to excellent personal relationship between Presidents Putin and Nazarbayev
Oct 6 — “Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has linked the positive dynamics in Russia’s trade turnover with Kazakhstan to integration within the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).” READ MORE: http://tass.com/economy/969339
KYRGYZSTAN
Russia to deploy another military base in Kyrgyzstan
As the security situation in Afghanistan is worsening, Bishkek has again spoken for the possibility of opening a second Russian military base — now in the south of the country
Oct 2 — “Russia may deploy another army base on the territory of Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic. The governments of the two countries already conduct the talks on the subject, Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Sapar Isakov told RIA Novosti.” READ MORE: http://www.pravdareport.com/news/russia/politics/02-10-2017/138802-russia_kyrgyzstan-0/
Kyrgyzstan: smears soil election campaign
With less than two weeks left before the presidential poll in Kyrgyzstan, the election campaign is becoming even more tougher, employing black PR and so-called “administrative resources”
Oct 3 — “Kyrgyzstan’s competitive presidential election campaign is taking a dirty turn, as strategists are relying heavily on smear tactics to sway undecided voters. One of the two front-runners, the multimillionaire former prime minister Omurbek Babanov, has been on the receiving end of much of the negative campaigning.” READ MORE: https://timesca.com/index.php/news/18721-kyrgyzstan-smears-soil-election-campaign
What Kyrgyzstan lacks in infrastructure, it makes up for in hospitality
Still being something of a mystery to people in the West, Kyrgyzstan is opening up to the world through the efforts of the country’s developing tourism industry
Oct 4 — “The sun is retreating behind the snow-capped Tian Shan mountains, which surround our yurt camp in the Naryn province of Kyrgyzstan. It’s here that I have a chance encounter with two Kyrgyz brothers whose lives are now very different to the ones they led when the Central Asian country was under Soviet rule.” READ MORE: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/asia-pacific/what-kyrgyzstan-lacks-in-infrastructure-it-makes-up-for-in-hospitality-1.3242956
Kyrgyz government allocates 2.6 billion soms to support export
The government will subsidize interest rates on bank loans in order to support domestic producers focused on export and import substitution
Oct 5 — “The government of Kyrgyzstan will allocate 2.6 billion soms to support exports and import substitution. This was stated by Kyrgyz Deputy Prime Minister Tolkunbek Abdygulov during a working meeting with the Prime Minister Sapar Isakov on October 4, KyrTag reported.” READ MORE: https://www.azernews.az/region/119986.html
TAJIKISTAN
Tajikistan Demands Wikipedia ‘Correct Spelling Mistakes’
In recent time, authorities in Tajikistan have taken a number of steps to impose control of private lives of Tajik citizens (as bans on the wearing of Islamic clothes and crying loudly at funerals). Now the government is ridiculously trying to ‘regulate’ the Wikipedia
Oct 3 — “Tajikistan’s state language committee is demanding that Wikipedia correct what it described as “spelling mistakes” in the online encyclopedia’s Tajik-language content. The committee claims that numerous Tajik words have been misspelled and warns the errors violate the country’s state-language law and therefore make Wikipedia legally liable for the mistakes.” READ MORE: https://www.rferl.org/a/tajikistan-wikipedia-corect-spelling-rustamov/28771886.html
Tajikistan: Saudis Give Loans to Build Schools, But Why?
Saudi Arabia is outplaying its arch-rival Iran in the efforts aimed at strengthening the economic and political influence on Tajikistan
Oct 3 — “Saudi Arabia has pledged to fund to build 66 schools in Tajikistan in a formidable gesture of soft power projection. Asia-Plus news website reported on October 2 that the lower house of parliament has ratified a loan agreement with Saudi Arabia to provide $35 million toward the building of the general education schools.” READ MORE: http://www.eurasianet.org/node/85396
Tajikistan urges to launch CASA-1000 project
As Tajikistan has invested huge amounts in the construction of its giant Rogun hydropower plant, Dushanbe is interested in sooner implementation of the CASA-1000 project to export its surplus electricity
Oct 4 — “Tajikistan called upon the participants of CASA-1000 to speed up the project’s practical implementation. The United Arab Emirates hosted a meeting of the Intergovernmental Council of the CASA-1000 project with the participation of the energy ministers of Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan and Tajikistan.” READ MORE: https://www.azernews.az/region/120002.html
TURKMENISTAN
Turkmenistan’s first high-speed highway to open in 2020
The new Ashgabat–Turkmenbashi highway will help Turkmenistan to increase the export and transit of goods via the Turkmenbashi International Seaport on the Caspian coast
Oct 2 — “The first high-speed highway in Turkmenistan, connecting the capital Ashgabat and the Caspian port city Turkmenbashi, will be opened in September 2020, Newspaper Golden Age reports citing the Ministry of Automobile Transport of Turkmenistan.” READ MORE: https://timesca.com/index.php/news/18715-turkmenistan-s-first-high-speed-highway-to-open-in-2020
TURKMENISTAN: Pressure in schools, sackings, haj restrictions
Turkmenistan has an appalling human rights record and no change for the better is in sight
Oct 4 — “School children continue to face pressure from education officials and police if they are known to be members of religious communities the authorities do not like. Police and education officials have brought in state-appointed Muslim clerics to intimidate children from non-Muslim faiths. A woman was expelled from a university in the capital Ashgabad [Ashgabat] for meeting with Jehovah’s Witnesses.” READ MORE: http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2321
A night out in Turkmenistan: The North Korea of central Asia
A Western visitor shares impressions of his short stay in Turkmenistan’s marble capital, Ashgabat, and meetings with local people
Oct 5 — “It’s 3am and it suddenly dawns on me that I’m on the dance floor of a brothel in Turkmenistan. To be clear, this wasn’t where I had envisaged ending up on a night out in Ashgabat – the capital of the former Soviet Bloc state.” READ MORE: http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2017/10/a-night-out-in-turkmenistan-the-north-korea-of-central-asia.html
Russia Makes Turkmenistan Proposals in Oil & Gas
Russia and Turkmenistan are considering joint projects for the extraction and sale of Turkmen natural gas, after Russian imports of Turkmen gas were stopped a few years ago, leaving China the only buyer of Turkmen gas
Oct 5 — “Russia has asked Turkmenistan to join the OPEC + deal to reduce oil production in order to stabilize the world’s oil market, and to resume joint projects in the gas sector, stated Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak.” READ MORE: http://georgiatoday.ge/news/7768/Russia-Makes-Turkmenistan-Proposals-in-Oil-%26-Gas-
UZBEKISTAN
The risk of reform in Uzbekistan
On his path to political and economic reforms, the new Uzbek president Mirziyoyev is facing many risks and challenges, and many of them are beyond his control which makes his task even more difficult
Oct 1 — “The countries of Central Asia are not known for rapid change or substantial reform, but Uzbekistan is experiencing both. Until his sudden death from a brain aneurism in 2016, Uzbekistan had been ruled through a centralized government headed by Islam Karimov, president since the country declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.” READ MORE: https://timesca.com/index.php/news/26-opinion-head/18711-the-risk-of-reform-in-uzbekistan
Are decades of political repression making way for an ‘Uzbek spring’?
People in Tashkent say the true results of President Mirziyoyev’s reforms are likely to be seen in some 10 or even more years
Oct 3 — “There is one word on everyone’s lips in Uzbekistan these days: change. “Things are changing, life is getting better!” enthused Akrom Abdurahimov, a 20-something resident of Tashkent, the capital of this central Asian state. “Every day you wake up and something is different,” said Nodira Ilhamova, a young professional sipping tea on the terrace of a trendy cafe in the September sunshine.” READ MORE: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/03/are-decades-of-political-repression-making-way-for-an-uzbek-spring
Uzbekistan: Some Workers Excused from Cotton Fields
Rights groups say that although Uzbekistan is taking steps to end the decades-long practice of mobilizing massive forced labor to harvest cotton, the move has not covered all forced laborers as yet
Oct 5 — “The Uzbek government has recalled university students and some health and education workers from forced labor in the cotton fields, the Cotton Campaign said today. Other workers remained involuntarily in the fields or faced extortion to pay for workers to replace them if they left.” READ MORE: https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/10/05/uzbekistan-some-workers-excused-cotton-fields
End Revolving Door for Political Arrests, HRW Urges Uzbekistan
In less than two weeks, authorities in Uzbekistan have released two dissidents imprisoned under the previous president Islam Karimov, while detaining two others
Oct 5 — “Human Rights Watch urged Uzbekistan on Thursday to stop new politically motivated arrests at a time when it has been freeing some prominent political prisoners, saying such a “revolving door” cast doubt on its announced reform drive.” READ MORE: https://www.voanews.com/a/end-revolving-door-for-political-arrests-hrw-urges-uzbekistan/4058296.html
AFGHANISTAN
Pakistan Draws a New Battle Line in the Afghan War
Pakistan is likely to continue supporting the Taliban to prevent an alliance between Afghanistan and India
Oct 4 — “In the war in Afghanistan, Pakistan plays both sides. On the one hand, the country aids the United States in its fight against the Taliban. Pakistan offers NATO forces access to the port of Karachi to transit supplies to their bases in landlocked Afghanistan and tacitly allows the CIA to conduct drone strikes against militant hideouts in the semi-autonomous Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Yet on the other hand, Pakistan has nurtured the Taliban for more than 20 years.” READ MORE: https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/pakistan-draws-new-battle-line-afghan-war
Europe is Betraying Afghanistan By Sending Its Refugees Home
Facing the migrants crisis, the EU countries return Afghan asylum seekers back to Afghanistan — a move that sparked criticism and even condemnation from liberal circles in Europe, to say nothing about Afghan migrants themselves
Oct 5 — ““If Norway had believed us, my husband would be alive today,” Sadeqa tells me. She had fled to Norway with her family in 2015 after Hadi, her husband, had been kidnapped and beaten, but Norwegian authorities rejected their claim for asylum and returned them and their children to Afghanistan. A few months after their arrival, Hadi was killed.” READ MORE: http://time.com/4968868/eu-betraying-afghanistan-dangerous-aid-policy/
US pressures Britain to send more troops back to Afghanistan to bolster efforts against Taliban
As Washington seeks to increase US and NATO troops level in Afghanistan, many analysts say it would not help to curb insurgency in the country
Oct 5 — “Washington is lobbying Britain to send more troops back to Afghanistan, with the Pentagon concerned the UK’s current plans to back Donald Trump’s mini surge in the country are “not enough”. READ MORE: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/10/05/us-pressures-britain-send-troops-back-afghanistan-bolster-efforts/
Afghanistan as South Asia
An opinion writer suggests that Afghanistan’s future is South Asian, as it is this neighbourhood and its international allegiances that most impacts the country and its survival
Oct 6 — “It is becoming clear that Afghanistan is increasingly an integral part of South Asia. It may not feature in the “official” categorisation of South Asian states (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka), but it impacts the two most important states of the region, Pakistan and India.” READ MORE: http://nation.com.pk/columns/06-Oct-2017/afghanistan-as-south-asia
WORLD
India and China new players in Central Asia’s ‘Great Game’
While China is making inroads across Central Asia, India views itself as a stabiliser and security provider in the region
Oct 2 — “A great game is unfolding in resources-rich, but landlocked, Central Asia, where China through its one-belt-one-road (OBOR) initiative is attempting to harness maximum mineral and hydrocarbon wealth as well as grow the market for its goods.” READ MORE: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/india-china-new-players-in-central-asias-great-game/articleshow/60905273.cms
Destination CIS: India looks to trade with Central Asia
The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is keen to revive centuries-old links to the resource rich Central Asian region through India’s Connect Central Asia policy
Oct 3 — “How important the Central Asian Republics (CARs) are becoming to India was evident when a two-day long conference was held in the Indian capital New Delhi late in September to encourage trade and tourism with these countries. While titled ‘Destination CIS’, the emphasis was clearly on Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, which were also the partner countries of the conference.” READ MORE: https://timesca.com/index.php/news/18722-destination-cis-india-looks-to-trade-with-central-asia
Japan Wants A Piece of China’s Belt and Road
Japan has long been competing with China for the rights to various Asian ports and for influence in Asia, but Japan’s business community can now benefit from taking part in Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative
Oct 5 — “Is Japan warming up to Xi Jinping’s grandiose infrastructure ambitions? That is the impression conveyed by Nippon Express, the major Japanese firm that is taping into China’s Belt and Road Initiative via a joint rail project with Kazakhstan.” READ MORE: https://www.the-american-interest.com/2017/10/05/japan-wants-piece-chinas-belt-road/
