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
‘They’ll Take Us Into Custody’: Turkish Teachers In Kazakhstan Fear Going Home
Suspected by Turkish authorities of being connected with last year’s failed coup in Turkey, Turkish teachers working in Kazakhstan are now refused by Kazakh authorities to extend their visas, as Astana does not want to spoil its relations with Ankara
Oct 8 — “Yakub Doganai came to Kazakhstan from his native Turkey 18 years ago to work as a teacher at a private school in the capital, Almaty. Like other foreigners, Doganai has had to renew his visa every year, normally nothing more than a bureaucratic nuisance. Until this year.” READ MORE: https://www.rferl.org/a/kazakhstan-turkey-teachers-gulen-repatriation/28780416.html
KAZAKHSTAN: More restrictions to Parliament in December?
Under the pretext of combating religious extremism and terrorism, authorities in Kazakhstan have cracked down on religious freedoms
Oct 10 — “More restrictions on exercising freedom of religion and belief may reach Parliament in December. The latest October draft includes restrictions on parents’ and childrens’ freedom, more sharing belief restrictions, and more censorship. The draft ignores previous UN Human Rights Committee and OSCE legal recommendations.” READ MORE: http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2324
Kazakhstan must do more to convince foreign investors
In an unfavorable economic environment caused by low oil prices, Kazakhstan has embarked on a large-scale privatization program to replenish state coffers
Oct 10 — “The latest drive by Kazakhstan to privatize many of its state-owned companies and reduce the government’s role in the economy is off to a better start than previous efforts.” READ MORE: https://asia.nikkei.com/Viewpoints/Kate-Mallinson/Kazakhstan-must-do-more-to-convince-foreign-investors
Kazakhstan a key hub along Eurasian transport corridor — deputy FM
The world’s largest landlocked country, Kazakhstan is using its location in the heart of Eurasia to serve as a transport and transit bridge between Europe and Asia
Oct 10 — “Thanks to projects like the New Silk Road and the Eurasian Economic Union, major transit routes between Europe and China now run through Kazakhstan, Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister Roman Vassilenko said at the EU-Eurasia-China Business Summit that opened in Athens, Greece on October 9.” READ MORE: https://timesca.com/index.php/news/18756-kazakhstan-a-key-hub-along-eurasian-transport-corridor-deputy-fm
Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan War of Words Gets Serious
Tensions increase between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan after Bishkek accused Astana of meddling in the October 15 Kyrgyz presidential elections
Oct 11 — “A battle of words between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan is now seemingly taking a more serious turn as a major border crossing between the two nations grinds to a near-standstill.” READ MORE: http://www.eurasianet.org/node/85511
Kazakhstan, Russia agree to develop joint projects at Baikonur launch pad
Kazakhstan is set to become a space nation with a project to build a separate launch unit for rockets with clean oxygen-hydrogen fuel
Oct 12 — “Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said on Thursday that he had agreed with Russian President Vladimir Putin to develop the Russian-Kazakh project at the Baikonur launch pad that Russia leases from Kazakhstan to make Kazakhstan a space nation.” READ MORE: http://tass.com/science/970320
KYRGYZSTAN
Business of politics, politics of business: fat cats in Kyrgyzstan’s presidential race
The most worrying aspect of Kyrgyzstan’s political elites’ wealth is that virtually none of it is connected with core assets needed for the country’s overall economic improvement
Oct 9 — “Has Kyrgyzstan managed to accomplish what failed to happen in Russia and Kazakhstan (though both of them came close) – namely the position of a plutocracy under the guise of democracy, with the country’s rich having become powerful as well? For a country where up to one-third of the population still lives just on or way under the poverty line, this is bound to raise eyebrows.” READ MORE: https://timesca.com/index.php/news/26-opinion-head/18751-business-of-politics-politics-of-business-fat-cats-in-kyrgyzstan-s-presidential-race
Q&A: Kyrgyzstan’s President on Democracy, Islam, and Being Friends with Putin
In an interview with TIME, outgoing Kyrgyz President Atambayev speaks about the challenges facing his country, his disappointment with U.S. leadership, his friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and how Kyrgyzstan has thrived as a Muslim majority democracy
Oct 9 — “You don’t read much about Kyrgyzstan in the international press, but it’s a fascinating part of a fascinating region. A predominantly Muslim former Soviet state of 6 million that borders China along its eastern border, it contends with competing currents created by Russia, China, the United States, and the Muslim world. And it’s a genuine democracy in a part of the world that doesn’t have many.” READ MORE: http://time.com/4972381/kyrgyzstan-almazbek-atambayev-muslim-russia/
Kyrgyzstan bucks the central Asian trend for rigged elections
A Western look at the main candidates in, and expectations from, the upcoming presidential election in Kyrgyzstan
Oct 12 — “There’s something very odd about Kyrgyzstan’s upcoming presidential election. The vote is less than a week away, and nobody knows who is going to win. In a region known for ageing autocrats and rigged elections, Kyrgyzstan is a strange anomaly.” READ MORE: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/12/kyrgyzstan-set-for-freest-and-fairest-election-in-central-asian-history
Losing Candidate In Kyrgyz Presidential Election Who Wins In Long Run
Kyrgyz presidential candidate Umetalieva — the only female candidate in the poll — is an example that there are many well-educated women politicians and activists in Kyrgyzstan, probably more than in any of the other Central Asian countries
Oct 12 — “Out of the 11 candidates still running in Kyrgyzstan’s presidential race, one stands out. Toktaiym Umetalieva, 55, is not only the only female candidate competing in the election, she is also the only current candidate who has run for president twice before (2005 and 2009).” READ MORE: https://www.rferl.org/a/qishloq-ovozi-umetalieva-profile/28790160.html
TAJIKISTAN
How EU Should Tackle Tajikistan Crackdown
Human Rights Watch says the EU should make clear there can be no business as usual on human rights with Tajikistan, and warn that Dushanbe’s failure to reform will have serious negative implications for the EU-Tajikistan relationship
Oct 10 — “Last time the European Union and Tajikistan held high-level talks on human rights in summer 2016, Tajik authorities were in the midst of the worst crackdown in the country’s recent history. Six days before talks took place, the country’s supreme court had sentenced the leaders of Tajikistan’s leading opposition party, the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan to cruelly long prison sentences.” READ MORE: https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/10/10/how-eu-should-tackle-tajikistan-crackdown
Tajik actors get ‘beard permits’
Shaving beards is part of the Tajik government’s campaign targeting cultural practices deemed “alien and inconsistent with Tajik culture,” which has resulted in the forcible shaving of thousands of Tajik men
Oct 11 — “The wearing of beards is unofficially banned in Tajikistan as part of a crackdown against religious extremism in the largely Muslim country, and the bearded actors were detained by police in the northern town of Konibodom earlier this week.” READ MORE: http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-41580962
Uzbekistan, Tajikistan may enter new markets under single brand
The two countries will develop economic cooperation using the privileges and preferences of the existing free economic zones in both countries
Oct 13 — “Tajikistan offers Uzbekistan to enter new markets under a single joint brand. This would allow the two countries to achieve success in trade and economic cooperation, according to the chairman of the Tajik Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sharif Said, podrobno.uz reported.” READ MORE: https://www.azernews.az/region/120379.html
TURKMENISTAN
Turkmenistan president presents country’s development program for 2018–2024
Turkmenistan has drafted a new development program as the country is experiencing an economic crisis caused by the negative external environment and low energy-resources prices
Oct 10 — “Speaking at a meeting of the Council of Elders on October 9, Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov outlined the main directions of the country’s investment and industrial policy for 2018–2024, state Turkmen media reported.” READ MORE: https://timesca.com/index.php/news/18754-turkmenistan-president-presents-country-s-development-program-for-2018-2024
Turkmenistan Downgrades Parliament in Favor of People’s Council
The new People’s Council would not exercise any independent power and its decisions would again be used by the President to create the impression of support for proposals that later end up becoming law
Oct 10 — “The president of Turkmenistan has approved changes to the constitution downgrading the role of parliament in favor of a revived People’s Council, canceling a minor token gesture toward democratization adopted a decade ago.” READ MORE: http://www.eurasianet.org/node/85486
The 1st Turkmen-Chinese Research and Innovation Forum started
Turkmen and Chinese scientists exchange their experience and search for new cooperation in the spheres of alternative energy, energy efficiency technologies, innovations in agriculture, chemistry, seismology, and medicine
Oct 11 — “The Turkmen capital hosted an opening of the Turkmen-Chinese Research and Innovation Forum “Innovations, new technologies and issues of their manufacturing application”, organized by the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan and the P.R.C. Ministry of Science and Technology. Opening of the conference took place in the Center of STA technologies.” READ MORE: http://www.turkmenistan.gov.tm/_eng/?id=9228
Prosperous Turkmen Should Pay for Energy, President Declares
The president says the move would encourage a more rational use of the country’s resources as the Turkmen economy is going through a difficult period
Oct 12 — “Turkmenistanis will soon start paying for electricity, gas, water, and salt, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov said on 9 October. The populace has enjoyed free utilities for years, a benefit of the country’s high earnings from energy exports.” READ MORE: http://www.tol.org/client/article/27260-turkmenistan-economy-fees-energy-utilities.html
UZBEKISTAN
Uzbek Opposition Activist, Rights Defender Turgunov Released After Nine Years In Prison
Several political prisoners have been freed in Uzbekistan since the new President Mirziyoev has come to power in the tightly-controlled country
Oct 9 — “A prominent Uzbek opposition activist and human rights advocate, Agzam Turgunov, has been released several months early after nine years in prison. Turgonov, who was released on October 7, is one of several people whom activists consider political prisoners to have been freed since President Shavkat Mirziyoev took office after longtime autocrat Islam Karimov’s death in 2016.” READ MORE: https://www.rferl.org/a/uzbekistan-turgunov-released/28781922.html
Closer Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan ties not enough to resolve broader regional woes
Although Uzbekistan has taken steps to improve bilateral relations with its Central Asia neighbors, some unresolved issues still remain in the region — from the use of water resources to cooperation within regional economic integration and security blocs, such as the Eurasian Economic Union and Collective Security Treaty Organization
Oct 11 — “The president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, paid an official visit to Uzbekistan in mid-September, highlighting improving relations between Central Asia’s two largest states. There, he met with his Uzbekistani counterpart, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, for the sixth time since the latter took office last December, following the death two months earlier of the incumbent (since 1990) Islam Karimov.” READ MORE: https://timesca.com/index.php/news/18762-closer-uzbekistan-kazakhstan-ties-not-enough-to-resolve-broader-regional-woes
Cash Cow For Karimova: Court Documents Assert Shakedown By Daughter Of Late Uzbek President
Court documents obtained by RFE/RL detail a relentless campaign of intimidation in a multibillion-dollar case that led to an international corruption investigation and Karimova’s stunning fall from grace
Oct 12 — “The story of the rise and fall of Gulnara Karimova, the elder daughter of Uzbekistan’s late president, has been gradually unearthed and corroborated by reporters and police in multiple countries in the three years since she disappeared from the public eye under reported house arrest in Uzbekistan.” READ MORE: https://www.rferl.org/a/uzbekistan-karimova-akhmedov-testimony-shakedown/28790227.html
Who are the secret ‘Scottish investors’ in tyrannical Uzbekistan?
A Scottish investment in the Uzbek cotton industry has come under scrutiny as the sector has been widely criticized for human rights abuses and the use of forced labor on Uzbek cotton fields
Oct 13 — “Last year one of the world’s most corrupt and least democratic countries announced substantial “foreign investment”. From Scotland. Authorities in Uzbekistan, in a series of stock exchange bulletins, said two businesses based in Edinburgh had taken important equity stakes in a series of cottonseed oil mills.” READ MORE: http://www.heraldscotland.com/News/15593321.Who_are_the_secret____Scottish_investors____in_tyrannical_Uzbekistan_/
AFGHANISTAN
‘One Last Time’: The United States and Afghanistan-Pakistan Cooperation
The new US strategy for Afghanistan sees Pakistan’s role in the country as part of the problem rather than part of the solution, as Washington blames Islamabad for harboring terrorists and militants
Oct 12 — “A few days ago, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said that his country would try “one last time” to cooperate with Pakistan in Afghanistan. “We need to try one more time to make this strategy work with them, by, with and through the Pakistanis, and if our best efforts fail, the president is prepared to take whatever steps are necessary,” Mattis said at a House Armed Services Committee hearing.” READ MORE: https://thediplomat.com/2017/10/one-last-time-the-united-states-and-afghanistan-pakistan-cooperation/
Karzai warns Afghans and neighbors to resist ‘US agenda’
Former Afghan president Karzai believes that not only Afghans but also regional stakeholders support his crusade against the “American agenda” in Afghanistan, which he describes as an attempt to create disharmony among the regional nations, such as India, Pakistan, Iran and China
Oct 12 — “Three years since he left office, the presence of former president Hamid Karzai still lingers in the corridors of Afghan politics. The fact that he continues to live on the same street as the presidential palace also ensures that he remains keenly involved in matters of a nation at war.” READ MORE: http://www.atimes.com/article/karzai-warns-afghans-neighbors-resist-us-agenda/
IS presence in Afghanistan
Locals of various areas of Afghanistan say Islamic State militants are being logistically supported by US military bases through the use of helicopters colored in non-military colors
Oct 13 — “UNITED States invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 to hunt Al-Qaeda concentration and to kill or capture Osama Bin Laden. As per Pentagon official reports, the task of elimination of Al-Qaeda was completed by 2010 and OBL was killed in Abbotabad raid on May 2, 2011. That should have been an end of US mission in Afghanistan and thereafter it could have packed up.” READ MORE: https://pakobserver.net/is-presence-in-afghanistan/
Afghanistan’s bloodshed: virtually everyone is profiting
Only a minor part of the benefits derived from armed conflicts around the world circulates within conflict zones, while the bulk of the gains end up in the pockets of brokers, bosses and bankers on all sides of the globe
Oct 13 — “How far stretches the might of war profiteers in the global economy? Further than many people think, and Central Asia’s ex-Soviet republics bordering the world’s staunchest zone of large-scale bloodshed are particularly exposed to it.” READ MORE: https://timesca.com/index.php/news/26-opinion-head/18773-afghanistan-s-bloodshed-virtually-everyone-is-profiting
WORLD
The Human Costs of Controlling Xinjiang
Analyst says China’s Uyghurs need to be tightly controlled in order for Beijing to realize its economic goals, which rely heavily on Xinjiang, as any disruption in security or stability in Xinjiang has the potential to derail billions of dollars worth of investment
Oct 10 — “The Uyghurs, one of the largest ethnic minority groups in China, have an unfortunate lot. As a group, they possess two key factors which encourage the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to repress them. First, they have a strong ethnic identity which is separate from the principal Han ethnic group which dominates the CCP.” READ MORE: https://thediplomat.com/2017/10/the-human-costs-of-controlling-xinjiang/
The Transforming China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
As part of the Belt and Road Initiative, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is a strategic corridor of China’s grand infrastructure project to construct a network originating from Kashgar in China’s Xinjiang Province that borders Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Pakistan
Oct 11 — “In May, 2017 the Prime Minister of India refused to participate in the founding meeting in Beijing of the ambitious Belt-Road Initiative (BRI), the network of high-speed rail and deep water port linkages across the Eurasia land mass. The official reason given was that China had gone ahead with her neighbor state and long-term ally, Pakistan, to begin construction of a China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) without first consulting India.” READ MORE: https://www.globalresearch.ca/the-transforming-china-pakistan-economic-corridor/5612831
Growing Pakistan–Russia Military Ties Reflect Central Asia’s Changing Geopolitics
Pakistani researcher says that Pakistan’s military is intensifying security cooperation with Russia, the country that for many decades was considered by Islamabad as a rival
Oct 12 — “Since independence in 1947, Pakistan has been a frontline state for US dominance of the region. It became clear to the US then that they would need Pakistan’s military and its airspace to monitor Soviet activity.” READ MORE: https://rusi.org/commentary/growing-pakistan–russia-military-ties-reflect-central-asia’s-changing-geopolitics
