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PM pays tribute on Remembrance Day
The Prime Minister has paid tribute to fallen members of the Armed Forces on Remembrance Sunday 8 November. Gordon Brown laid a wreath at the Cenotaph to pay his respects to British and Commonwealth servicemen and women who have lost their lives in conflicts around the world. PM Brown joined...
Jordanian ties knotted closer in Amman
King Abdullah of Jordan met visiting Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in Amman to discuss means to foster bilateral ties developments in the region and regional and international issues of mutual concern Gazeta.kz reported.
Nazarbayev was accompanied by a business delegation representing different sectors. The sides stressed the need to draw...
ADB calls on donors to improve transportation infrastructure
An international seminar entitled On the Path to Efficient Transportation Roads was recently organized by the Ministry of Transport and Communications Asian Development Bank ADB and the Japan International Cooperation Agency JICA offices in Dushanbe. Participants at the seminar comprised of representatives of international donor organizations donor countries and relevant...
ADB calls on donors to improve transportation infrastructure
An international seminar entitled On the Path to Efficient Transportation Roads was recently organized by the Ministry of Transport and Communications Asian Development Bank ADB and the Japan International Cooperation Agency JICA offices in Dushanbe.
Participants at the seminar comprised of representatives of international donor organizations donor countries and relevant...
Japan called to participate in hydroelectricity projects
Tajikistans Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi recently met with visiting Ambassador of Japan to Tajikistan Tsutomu Hiraoka Asia-Plus learnt from the MFA information department. During the meeting both sides discussed issues related to bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and Japan the Afghan problems and a number of other regional issues being of...
Kazakhstan Finmeccanica sign memo to proceed
Kairat Kelimbetov the Chairman of the Sovereign Wealth Fund Samruk-Kazyna and Pier Francesco Guarguaglini Chairman and CEO of Finmeccanica inked a Memorandum of Understanding MoU in Rome Gazeta..kz reported. The MoU was signed in the presence of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev. Guarguaglini...
Korea Turkmenistan sign double-tax avoidance pact
South Korea and Turkmenistan recently reached a preliminary agreement on a double-taxation avoidance pact in a bid to promote bilateral investment and other exchanges. The pact will enable the South Korean companies to evade double taxation on business profits Turkmenistan.ru reported. The ministry believed that the pact once to be...
World Bank approves a number of loans
The World Bank has approved a number of loans to Kyrgyzstan with total at 34 million the bank said in Washington. World Banks Board of Executive Directors recently approved the project entitled: Kyrgyz Republic: National Road Rehabilitation.
It said it approved 25-million for the Osh-Batken-Isfana automobile road modernization project. Besides the...
Uzbek Korean businessmen meet in Tashkent
A Korean business delegation accompanied by leaders and representatives of nine companies employed in cable industry recently visited Uzbekistan a press release read. The main aim of the visit is development of commerce and economic relationship between Uzbek and Korean businesses establishment of direct mutually beneficial contacts with Uzbek businessmen...
Azerbaijan Mexico to boost cooperation
The Azerbaijani Deputy Minister of Security and Multilateral Affairs Araz Beyukaga Oglu Azimov recently visited Mexico to meet with Undersecretary Lourdes Aranda. The aim of the visit was to strengthen the ties between Azerbaijan and Mexico Trend news agency reported. During their meeting both officials reviewed various bilateral issues especially...
Washington supports Azerbaijan in joining WTO
The US still strongly support Azerbaijan in joining the World Trade Organization Trend news agency quoted the former US assistant secretary for economic energy and business affairs Daniel Sullivan as saying. Joining the WTO promises to be one of the fastest ways for the country to seize the benefits of...
Activists discuss socio-economic development
The meeting of Tashkent region activists chaired by the hokim of Tashkent region Ravshan Kholmatov discussed results of socio-economic development for the first nine months of this year and aims at further expansion of economic reforms a press release read. Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov made a speech...
Saakashvili visits Qatar to attract investments
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili paid an official visit to Qatar as part of the authorities attempts to attract investments Georgian officials said. The delegation which also includes economy agriculture and energy ministers met Qatars Prime Minister Hamed Bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani The Messenger reported. The aim of the...
IMF approves fresh loan tranche for Armenia
Expressing satisfaction with the economic policies of the Armenian authorities the International Monetary Fund IMF has disbursed a fresh 60 million installment of a large-scale loan designed to help the country cope with the ongoing economic crisis. While announcing the release of the fresh stand-by arrangement SBA tranche Takatoshi Kato...
Caucasus frozen conflicts not so frozen Sokor says
Many foreign experts are concerned today about how Kazakhstan is going to work in 2010 as the OSCE chair. Astana has hosted an international conference to discuss the mission Kazakhstan is going to take on in two months. The range of questions discussed at the conference was broad: regional security...
US delegation visits Ashgabat
A high-profile delegation of the US business elite led by executive director of TABC Eric Stewart recently paid a visit to Ashgabat to attend a meeting of the Turkmen-American Business Council TABC . The US delegation comprised of Vice-Presidents of major US companies such as Chevron Boeing Case New Holland...
Tajik-Polish business forum in Dushanbe
Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Kremer heading an official delegation which included representatives from 10 large companies of Poland paid a visit to Tajikistan on 4-5 November Asia-Plus learnt from the MFA information department. During his stay in Tajikistan the Polish deputy foreign minister had talks with senior representatives of...
Reconstruction of countrys main seaport study begins
Several foreign firms are willing to participate in the reconstruction and technical modernization of the international sea port of Turkmenbashi Turkmenistan.ru learnt from the State News Agency of Turkmenistan TDH . Various versions of reconstruction projects of the major sea gate of Turkmenistan developed by potential foreign partners were presented...
Azerbaijan Airlines orders 4 Boeing jets
Ex-Soviet Azerbaijans flagship carrier AZAL recently ordered four new Boeing airplanes for its growing fleet including two of the US Companys 787 Dreamliner long-haul jets Trend news agency reported. Azerbaijan Airlines spokesman Maharram Safarli said that Two Boeing 767s will be delivered to Azerbaijan in 2011-12 while the delivery of...
Uzbekistan Kuwait sign irrigation pact
The deputy general director of Kuwait Fund of Arab Economic Development Hesham al-Vakayan recently paid a visit to Uzbekistan. The Kuwait Fund and Uzbekistan signed a loan agreement which envisage that the former will allocate a loan worth 4.34 Kuwaiti dinars equivalent of $15.62 million for the financing of the...
Bishkek Tehran to expand regional Cooperation
Kyrgyzstans President Kurmanbek Bakiyev held talks with Iranian Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Manouchehr Morradi recently in Bishkek reiterating the importance of his countrys relations with Iran. He also underlined the need for the further bolstering of bilateral ties. He is pleased with the current trend of Iran-Kyrgyzstan relations. There exists friendly...
JICA launches surveys for 450-mln water project
The Japanese Financial Corporation comprising of the Japanese International Co-operation Agency JICA and the Japanese Bank for International Co-operation JBIC recently started realization of the Azerbaijan-Japan intergovernmental loan agreement on a water supply and sewage project in secondary cities Trend news agency reported. JICA has hired a consulting company for...
Kyrgyzstan hopes to get into Islamic market
Akylbek Japarov the first vice prime minister of Kyrgyzstan recently attended the round table discussion with the Arab Coordination Group ACG in Bishkek. It is the first visit of the ACG to Kyrgyzstan and the government will try to awake its interest news agencies reported. The round table discussion will...
MTS Uzbekistan gets license for LTE network construction
Mobile TeleSystems the largest cell operator in Russia and CIS countries recently announced that MTS Uzbekistan a 100% subsidiary of OJSC Mobile TeleSystems obtained the license of the Uzbek telecom and informatization agency to use the frequency range at the disposal of the company for the construction of the LTE...
USAID hosts 4 new businesses in Tserovani
The US Agency for International Development hosted the opening of four new businesses in the new IDP settlement of Tserovani The Messenger reported. The four new businesses are: Tserovani Bread Bakery poultry farm Kheoba Chicken Tserovani Service Centre and the Cement Tile Micro Enterprise which produces standard and decorative tiles....
Russia mulls construction of Armenian nuclear plant
Armenias Energy Minister Armen Movsisian recently announced that Russia expressed strong interest in the construction of a new nuclear plant facility in Armenia that will have a projected capacity nearly three times exceeding that of the existing one Armenia Liberty.org reported. We will openly announce that we are implementing such...
Tajikistan Russia cooperate in several spheres
The 10th session of the Tajik-Russian intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation co-chaired by Tajik Prime Minister Oqil Oqilov and Russias Minister of Energy Sergey Shmatko was recently held in Dushanbe Asia-Plus learnt from the source at the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade MEDT . Participation of Russian capital in...
Turkmenistan considers issues of reforming UN
Addressing the 64th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York Turkmenistans President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said that the current state of global realities the nature and trends of political economic and social processes require objectively a more closer coordinated cooperation between states and major international organizations around the...
Pakistani goods in great demand in Kyrgyzstan
Speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce Industry Kyrgyz Ambassador to Pakistan Bektur Asanov said that Pakistani garments sports goods furniture rice cutlery pharmaceutical products and surgical instruments are in great demand in Kyrgyz Republic so he called on the Pakistani entrepreneurs to tap the opportunities in these sectors Irinnews.org...
Dushanbe-Khujand-Chanak highway complete in Nov
Rustam Abdulloyev the deputy director of the project implementation unit PIU recently announced that first phase of the Dushanbe-Khujand-Chanak rehabilitation project is expected to be finished in early November Asia-Plus rpeorted. The total cost of the project is 295.9 million Euro including 281.1 million Euro provided by the Chinese government...
Bids to transform into Costa del Sol on the Caspian
Under late era of Saparmurat Niyazov the self-styled Turkmenbashi or Father of the Turkmen who ran the worlds most repressive regimes Turkmenistan was solely closed to foreigners. However his successor President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has passed decree which envisage that the country should become at tourist magnet Turkmenistan.ru reported. The former...
Economic model offered as example to world
Azerbaijani Vice Prime Minister Abid Sharifov recently stated that the government is strong enough to offer a new model of economic development to the world which will be built on the basis of global prognoses and programs experience of countries with free economics Trend news agency reported. The new model...
Azerbaijani FM to visit Qatar
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov is scheduled to pay a visit to Qatar on 23-24 November Qatars embassy to Azerbaijan told Trend News. He will meet Qatars Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani and Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani. Both sides will discuss cooperation between Azerbaijan...
Toshiba inks metal deal in Kazakhstan
Japanese firm Toshiba recently signed a letter of intent with Kazatomprom the national uranium company of Kazakhstan to create a joint venture in rare metals such as beryllium and tantalum and rare earth elements such as dysprosium and neodymium alongside uranium mining Gazeta.kz reported. A Japanese government official said that...
Uzbekistan India to expand ties
President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov recently received Indian Foreign Minister Somanahalli Krishna in Tashkent. During the talks the head of Uzbekistan said that the relations between the two states were developing successfully Uzbekreport.com reported. They are based on historical cultural and spiritual closeness of the people of the two countries....
Georgia may join NATO without MAP
Georgian State Minster on Reintegration Issues Temur Iakobashvili recently announced in Tbilisi that Georgia can become a member of NATO without obtaining a Membership Action Plan MAP The Messenger reported. We have a mirror mechanism for the process of NATO integration an annual programme of actions which leads us towards...
Saakashvili sees turning point for economy
Speaking at an outdoor ceremony of opening a new terminal in port of Poti Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said on October 24 that despite war the present global financial crisis and deepening unemployment problem in recent months now it is a turning point for Georgias economy Civil Georgia reported. He...
Government committed to reforms
The Armenian government is committed to implementing the kind of reforms which according to Western donors are crucial for Armenias sustainable economic development. This statement made by Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian through an aide Aram Ananian was in response to the warning issued by the World Banks managing director Ngozi...
Brown determined to provide security for Afghan poll
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown pledged on 21 October that British troops would continue to provide security for the second ballot run-off in Afghanistans disputed presidential election.
Speaking in parliament Brown said he was determined to ensure that security would be maintained in the interest of helping the infant Afghan...
Warrant issued for Turkish mogul in France
An Istanbul court has issued an arrest warrant for Cem Uzan an industrialist and former media magnate who is currently seeking asylum in France. It became the second arrest warrant issued for Uzan who is suspected of embezzlement and of violating banking laws.
Uzan is the former owner of the...
Germany warns of dangerous pesticides in Turkish pears
The agriculture ministry in the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg warned on 19 October against eating Turkish pears after tracing dangerously high levels of insecticide. The problem affected Turkish pears across Germany the Stuttgart- based ministry said adding that they had passed on the alert to a Europe-wide warning system. The...
Investment fund industry grows significantly
Delivering the opening speech at the Funds World Turkey 2009 conference Gulsevin Yilmaz CEO of Yapi Kredi Asset Management said the investment fund market in Turkey has grown significantly but is still well below the world average in terms of its ratio to the gross domestic product GDP . She...
Budget 2010 drafted without reference to IMF deal
Turkeys budget 2010 which focuses on overcoming the crisis was submitted to Parliament for approval and includes no specific reference to a potential stand-by deal with the International Monetary Fund IMF . Outlining the details of the new budget Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said that Turkey had prepared its...
Reforms planned for agriculture sector
The government of Tajikistan will soon adopt a long-term strategy to develop the agriculture sector which is considered as a central part of the countrys economy Asia-Plus reported.
The plan will tackle issue land reform and land registration as well as the problems besetting the deeply indebted cotton sector. While...
China Kyrgyzstan pledge to bolster relations
Only businessmen know how to boost trade and industrial interaction between the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Igor Chudinov said at the meeting of the SCO Council of heads of government in Beijing Irinnews.org reported. Chudinov was the first Kyrgyz Prime Minister to visit China in...
Tajikistan China expand cooperation
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao met with visiting Tajikistani Prime Minister Akil Akilov who came to China to attend the eighth prime ministers meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization SCO member states Asia-Plus reported. In the course of talks both sides pledged to expand bilateral ties. Wen said the economic and...
UNWTO secretary general to visit March 2010
Lochin Fayzulloyev the deputy head of the Committee for Youth Sports and Tourism Affairs recently announced that The World Tourism Organization UNWTO Secretary General Taleb Rifai is expected to pay visit to Tajikistan in March 2010. Rifai made the statement during the 18th session of the UNWTO General Assembly that...
Kazakhmys to sell 25% stake in Kazakh power plant
Kazakhmys the Kazakh mining giant announced that it is selling a 25% stake in its Ekibastuz power plant the biggest power plant in Kazakhstan to the countrys state welfare and sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna for 339 million in cash Gazeta.kz reported. Samruk-Kazynas acquisition of the stake in the plant further...
Cotton market stronghold maintained
The cotton industry in Uzbekistan underwent radical changes during the years of independence. The quality of cotton fiber has increased thanks to the successive reforms undertaken to develop new technologies of cultivation reads a press release. Wide introduction of the principles and mechanisms of market economy has been steadily increasing...
IMF mission concludes visit at Uzbekistan
A mission of Executive Directors of the International Monetary Fund IMF recently concluded its visit to Uzbekistan. The mission comprised of Meg Lundsager Messrs. Age Bakker Ambroise Fayolle HE Jianxiong Thomas Moser and Klaus D. Stein. The mission is grateful for the opportunity to visit the country and thank the...
Caspian News - New Europe News
Caspian News - New Europe News: The European News Source.
CrisisWatch N°75, 1 November 2009
Three actual or potential conflict situations around the world deteriorated and four improved in October 2009, according to CrisisWatch. In Pakistan a military operation against the Taliban in South Waziristan triggered a brutal escalation in militant attacks. Over 150 were killed in Iraq by several explosions that hit government buildings in Baghdad, while parliamentarians failed to reach agreement on a crucial electoral law. In Zimbabwe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai disengaged from the unity government. The situation improved in Nigeria’s Niger Delta, Honduras, Armenia/Turkey and Mali. CrisisWatch again identifies a conflict resolution opportunity between Armenia and Turkey for November, and a conflict risk alert for Afghanistan.
"Soccer diplomacy - lessons for Armenia and Azerbaijan", Sabine Freizer in Today's Zaman
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Nagorno-Karabakh: Getting to a Breakthrough
Armenia and Azerbaijan should endorse a document on basic principles to end stalemate on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by the end of the year, or they will face an eventual return to full-scale hostilities. The International Crisis Group’s latest policy briefing examines the two-decades-old conflict and concludes there is reason for optimism that the political stalemate can be broken in today’s more supportive regional environment. However, it also warns that both governments and the international community must step up their efforts, as the status quo is increasingly untenable.
CrisisWatch N°74, 1 October 2009
Read full report
Crisis Group - Caucasus
The International Crisis Group (Crisis Group) is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organisation committed to preventing and resolving deadly conflict.
Central Asia Remains a Corruption Problem Area, While the Caucasus Registers Mixed Gains (Eurasianet )
BY JOSHUA KUCERA Kazakhstan, Georgia and Azerbaijan all showed significant decreases in corruption over the past year, according to a recently published worldwide survey by a Berlin-based watchdog group. The survey also showed that Armenia's rating declined, and the rest of the Central Asian states remained near the bottom of the rankings. Source : Eurasianet (subscribe) Explore : Asia, Central Asia, World
EU-Russia summit tackles thorny gas issue (France24)
EU and Russian leaders met in Stockholm on Wednesday for a summit dominated by energy issues, as Europe hopes to avoid an interruption of Russian natural gas supplies via Ukraine this winter. Sweden, current holder of the rotating European Union presidency, is also expected to press Moscow on human rights issues in the north Caucasus -- a sensitive subject -- as well as... Explore : Asia, Business, Europe, Middle East, World
Azerbaijan: Outrage and Disappointment Follow Bloggers' Conviction (Eurasianet )
BY JESSICA POWLEY HAYDEN Many international and domestic observers worry that the recent convictions of two youth activist-bloggers in Azerbaijan are sounding the death knell for the democratization process in the South Caucasus country. Source : Eurasianet (subscribe) Explore : Asia, Azerbaijan, World
Featured Editor: Onnik Krikorian (Global Voices Online)
Onnik Krikorian is a British blogger, journalist, and photographer of Armenian decent who has been living in Yerevan, one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities, for the past 11 years. He is the Caucasus Editor for Global Voices where he amplifies the latest discussions taking place among bloggers in Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia. Source : Global Voices Online (subscribe)
To Georgia's Good Fortune, Russia is Winning (Pine River World News)
The following column is reprinted with permission from Stanislav Mishin. To Georgia's Good Fortune, Russia is Winning © Stanislav Mishin Source: Mat Rodina November 12, 2009 Since the mid 1990s and maybe even earlier, the leadership of Orthodox Christians Georgia has been in bed with the Saudi-backed, Western facilitated, Turkish trained Sunni Islamic Jihad in Chechnya and... Source : Pine River World News (subscribe)
Ankara uses ethno-political factor in Caucasus (Panarmenian)
"In case of opening border with Armenia, Turkey will naturally attempt to influence internal political processes in Armenia," Neo-conservative leader finds. Source : Panarmenian (subscribe)
IWPR Probes Sushi Prison Concerns (Institute for War & Peace Reporting)
Prison authorities allow reporter in to check conditions following claims inmates are mistreated. By Lusine Musaelyan in Shushi (CRS No. 519, 13-Nov-09) Source : Institute for War & Peace Reporting (subscribe)
Children Haunted by Georgia-Russia War (Institute for War & Peace Reporting)
Volunteers try to help bereaved youngsters still traumatised by the conflict. By Natia Kuprashvili in Tbilisi (CRS No. 519, 13-Nov-09) Source : Institute for War & Peace Reporting (subscribe)
Azerbaijan Wrestles With Nationality Poser (Institute for War & Peace Reporting)
Young Armenian, born in Azerbaijan, faces bureaucratic struggle to gain citizenship rights. By Aytan Farhadova in Baku and Mammad-Sadiq Fataliyev in Sheki (CRS No. 519, 13-Nov-09) Source : Institute for War & Peace Reporting (subscribe) Explore : Asia, Azerbaijan, Baku, World
Medvedev pledges to tackle corruption in Russia's North Caucasus (Ria Novosti)
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday described the level of corruption in the country's North Caucasus as "unprecedented" and promised to takes steps to tackle the problem. Source : Ria Novosti (subscribe)
Russia, S.Ossetia to report on possible Georgian attack in Geneva (Ria Novosti)
Russia and the South Ossetia are set to raise the issue of a possible Georgian attack on its former territories during the Geneva talks on situation in the Caucasus to begin on Wednesday. Source : Ria Novosti (subscribe)
Four rebels killed in Caucasus clash (France 24)
Four suspected rebels were killed in a clash with police in the Karachay-Cherkessia republic in Russia's North Caucasus, the Interfax news agency said Monday quoting a local Interior Ministry official. The rebels were suspected of having mounted several attacks on officers, the official said, adding that a police officer was also injured in the clash and guns and amunition were...
Want to Cut Emissions in the U.S.? Change the Discussion (Conservation Value Notes)
... the United States, and give assistance to Vladimir Putin as he threatens American interests in the Caucasus and Central Europe. Other beneficiaries of American oil imports include Hugo Chávez's Venezuela and Ahmad al-Bashir's Sudan – not to mention Al Qaeda, whose financial backers include many who would be penniless were it not for fossil fuels exports. At the very least, without... Source : Conservation Value Notes (subscribe) Explore : Asia, Europe, Middle East, South America, World
NATO supports normalization of Armenia-Turkey ties without preconditions (Panarmenian)
RA President Serzh Sargsyan met Special Representative of NATO Secretary General in the South Caucasus and Central Asia Robert Simmons. Source : Panarmenian (subscribe) Explore : Armenia, Asia, Government, Politics, World
Armenia ready to develop cooperation with NATO (Panarmenian)
NA Speaker Hovik Abrhamyan received Robert Simmonms, NATO Secretary General's Special Representative for the South Caucasus. Source : Panarmenian (subscribe)
Oil and gas company employee shot dead in Russia's Ingushetia (Ria Novosti)
An oil and gas company employee was shot dead in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia, local police said on Friday. Source : Ria Novosti (subscribe) Explore : Asia, Business, Energy and Water, Russia, World
Russian Patriarch Kirill to visit Azerbaijan on Friday (Ria Novosti)
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church will make a one-day visit to Azerbaijan on Friday, a spokesman for the chairman of the Caucasus Muslims Board said Friday. Source : Ria Novosti (subscribe) Explore : Asia, Azerbaijan, Russia, World
Spoof of Georgian Patriarch Sparks Row (Institute for War & Peace Reporting)
Orthodox leader at the centre of argument over whether the church is too involved in public life. By Ana Kandelaki in Tbilisi (CRS No. 518, 06-Nov-09) Source : Institute for War & Peace Reporting (subscribe)
Karabakh Children’s Home Reveals Strains of Life (Institute for War & Peace Reporting)
Once an orphanage, the institution has evolved to care for the child victims of a broken society. By Karine Ohanian in Stepanakert (CRS No. 518, 06-Nov-09) Source : Institute for War & Peace Reporting (subscribe)
Early Marriages Worry Azerbaijan Officials (Institute for War & Peace Reporting)
Unscrupulous mullahs accused of marrying young girls whose health and education then suffer. By Diana Isayeva in Baku (CRS No. 518, 06-Nov-09) Source : Institute for War & Peace Reporting (subscribe) Explore : Asia, Azerbaijan, Baku, World
Wikio - Caucasus
Wikio - World - Asia - Caucasus
WHOSE CONDITIONALITY? THE FAILURE OF EU SANCTIONS ON UZBEKISTAN
On October 27, the European Union at its General Affairs and External Relations Council Meeting in Luxembourg decided, as expected, not to renew the sanctions imposed on Uzbekistan in the aftermath of the Andijan uprising in 2005. Ultimately, the case has revealed a profound lack of strategic thinking on the side of the EU and recalls an important lesson for European diplomacy: that sanctions are an instrument for gaining compliance, and that the latter is a matter of leverage – for both sides involved.
MIGRANTS’ REMITTANCES FARE BETTER THAN EXPECTED IN CENTRAL ASIA
In the fourth quarter of 2008, Tajikistan reported a sharp decline in remittances sent by labor migrants living in Russia and Kazakhstan. Many experts rushed to predict a massive return of migrants to Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan – all three being major migrant sending countries. But as recently released World Bank data show, while there was indeed a decline in remittances among Tajik migrants, the level of remittances increased in Kyrgyzstan. Overall, remittances fell only 6.1 percent world-wide as opposed to the earlier expected 7.3 percent. This trend demonstrates that labor migration has proved to be a stabilizing economic force in some regions, including Central Asia.
THE ARMENIA-TURKEY PROTOCOLS: TACTICAL COOPERATION IN THE SHADOW OF EURASIAN STRATEGIC COMPETITION
It would have been difficult to imagine the signing of protocols on the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations on October 10 without coinciding interests on the part of major stakeholders. While a testament to cooperation between the regional parties, the protocols are also a reflection of global and regional strategic competition in Eurasia among small, medium and great powers. Placing the interests of the actors in proper context is therefore necessary when assessing the transformations in Eurasia in relation to power reconfigurations, unresolved conflicts, and energy security.
ARMENIA TO CUT ITS BUDGET NEXT YEAR DESPITE EXPECTED ECONOMIC RECOVERY
The Armenian government’s draft budget for next year is reduced by over five percent compared to that of 2009. It envisages cuts in most important public expenditures (including military ones), but leaves social payments and salaries intact. A twelve percent cut in the military budget is unlikely to disrupt the military balance in the region, although Azerbaijan, Armenia’s only military adversary, will keep its military expenditures high. In addition, the 2010 budget provides enough funds for stimulating the economy, which was badly damaged in 2009.
MANAGED VERSUS ELECTORAL POLITICAL CHANGE: LESSONS FROM ASIA
With the recent efforts to make President Nazarbayev president for life, it is useful to compare the Central Asian approach to governance to that in the single party states, China and Vietnam. Despite criticism about their deficiencies in democracy and human rights, these two countries have made great progress in developing their economies, opening up their societies, and finding a political system that both works now and can also evolve. Since democracy is slow to take root in Central Asia, analysis of other political systems that local elites accept may produce better outcomes than are now prevailing.
AFGHANISTAN: WAR BY METRICS?
For the past few months, Congress has been pressing the Obama administration to provide it with “metrics” to judge the success of U.S. policies for countering the insurgencies in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The administration has been struggling for months to comprise these measures of effectiveness since, among other considerations, the figures could affect its ability to sustain support in Congress for its Afghan-Pak strategy. In the interim, analysts must rely on the publicly available indexes compiled by the Brookings Institution and other organizations. Although not without problems, these figures do provide some interesting insights into the wars.
CENTRAL ASIAN WOMEN MIGRANTS DEAL WITH GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS
The global economic crisis of 2008 and 2009 has intensified the public discourse over the migration of a very important and vulnerable group of the population in Central Asia – women migrant workers – and over public policy choices. The debates often focus on the merits of competing policy approaches and policy actions: should the national governments, NGOs and international donors in Central Asia continue supporting migrant workers by negotiating regional free trade and a free migration zone, and by collaborating on developing the regional labor market in the CIS? Or should Central Asian governments accept a greater responsibility for the well-being of their citizens, especially women, and work to create a better business environment and more jobs locally?
MONGOLIA TO BECOME CENTRAL ASIA’S MINING EL DORADO?
On October 6 Mongolia’s government signed an agreement with Canada’s Ivanhoe Mines Ltd and London-based Rio Tinto mining companies to develop what will be the world’s largest copper mine. The agreement follows six years of torturous negotiations between Ulaanbaatar and the foreign consortiums, but the imminent establishment of the US$ 4 billion Oyuu Tolgoi ("Turquoise Hill") mining site is expected to yield a billion pounds of copper and 330,000 ounces of gold every year for at least the next four decades, with peak output of more than 725,000 tons of copper annually projected to occur within six years after start-up.
THE EU’S CONFLICT PREVENTION FAILURE IN GEORGIA
On September 30, the EU fact-finding mission published its report on the Russian-Georgian war in August 2008. The report argues that Russia is responsible for a number of illegal acts in Georgia’s conflict zones, but that the escalation to large-scale hostilities on 7 August came following Georgia’s decision to launch an attack on South Ossetia. Importantly, the report is also critical of the international community’s behavior in the run up to the war. Given the prominent role assumed by the EU during and after the war, as well as the broader ambitions of the EU to be a ‘global force for good’, emphasizing multilateralism and conflict-prevention, it is worth assessing the EU’s performance as a security actor in the run up to the conflict.
TAJIKISTAN REACTS TO INCREASING UNREST IN AFGHANISTAN
The situation in Afghanistan is becoming increasingly grave, at least from the perspective of the Western alliance. The Central Asian states bordering Afghanistan, Tajikistan being a prime example, seem increasingly alarmed, implying that they may put their hopes to Russia for security guarantees. Tajikistan nevertheless recently demonstrated that its elite does not trust anyone, Russia included, and is possibly looking for other ways of dealing with the Taliban threat.
Central Asia-Caucasus Institute Analyst - Analytical Articles
FIRST OFFICIAL VISIT OF TAJIK PRESIDENT TO RUSSIA YIELDS LITTLE PROGRESS
Tajikistan’s president Emomali Rakhmon has completed an official visit to Moscow, where he met with the Russian president Dmitry Medvedev. The meeting between the two heads of state was the first official rendezvous of this kind. Local media anticipated complicated negotiations since the Tajik government expressed a straightforward intention of charging Russia for the 201st military base in Tajikistan – local newspapers indicated the sum of US$ 300 million per year for the presence of Russian troops. At least two more hard topics were dealt with: Russian investment into Rogun hydropower project and the status of Russian language, which has been removed from any official use. The talks between the two presidents could be taken to imply that bilateral relations between Russia and Tajikistan have never been as cold as they are now, with few prospects of improvement.
KYRGYZ PRESIDENT ENTRUSTS THE COUNTRY’S ECONOMY TO HIS SON
On October 29, President Kurmanbek Bakiev signed a decree on the appointment of his youngest son, 32-year old Maxim Bakiev, as head of the Central Agency on Development, Investments and Innovations (CADII). The agency was established under the President’s Institute which has replaced the former Presidential Administration as a result of the recent wide-ranging reform of state institutions.
TAJIK AUTHORITIES PRESS AHEAD WITH CONTROVERSIAL DAM PROJECT
On October 28, Tajik president Emomali Rakhmon confirmed Tajikistan’s resolve to complete the massive Rogun hydroelectric power station (HEPS), suggesting that the construction of the power plant was “not only a matter of survival [for Tajikistan] but also one of ensuring the country’s energy independence.” Addressing a gathering at the power plant’s construction site, the Tajik leader said nearly US$ 150 million was earmarked for the Rogun project in the country’s 2010 state budget, which is a 22 percent increase from the US$ 120 million during this year. President Rakhmon also suggested that the partial blocking of the Vakhsh River to fill up the Rogun reservoir will begin early next year, and the first unit of the power station will be commissioned in three to four years.
THE RESULTS OF TAJIKISTAN-RUSSIA NEGOTIATIONS
During the state visit to Moscow in the end of October, Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rakhmon was planning to solve some tense issues in the relationship between Dushanbe and Moscow and turn these to Tajikistan’s advantage. The major issues Rahmon aimed to address include the agreements on the continued deployment of the Russian military base in Tajikistan and the fulfillment of a promise to invest US$2 billion in the construction of the Rogun hydroelectric power station, which the Russian Government made several years ago. None of the issues addressed by the Tajik President attained expected results, however experts claim that as a result of the visit, the relationship between Tajikistan and Russia will normalize temporarily. Still, President Rakhmon essentially returned back to Dushanbe empty-handed.
THE FALLOUT OF ETHNIC CONFLICT IN XINJIANG
On October 10, the Intermediate People’s Court of Shaoguan City of Guangdong Province in southern China sentenced one man to death and another with life imprisonment for their roles in leading the beating of Uyghur migrant workers at a local toy factory on June 26. The deaths of two Uyghur men that resulted from the beating was a direct cause for the riots in Xinjiang’s capital Urumqi on July 5 that took the lives of nearly 200 people and injured more than a thousand more. On October 12, it was reported that six people were sentenced to death by an intermediate court in Xinjiang for murder and other crimes committed during the Urumqi riot.
TURKISH-ARMENIAN PROTOCOLS SINGED, BUT NORMALIZATION PERSPECTIVES REMAIN UNCLEAR
On October 10, Turkey and Armenia signed Protocols on establishing diplomatic relations and opening their common land border in Zurich, Switzerland. To enter into force, the Protocols must be ratified by the parliaments of both countries; however, tension around the issue has already risen. The key problems which have so far prevented normal relations between the two neighbors, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict (which involves Armenia and Azerbaijan, while Turkey has supported Azerbaijan through closing its border with Armenia and embargoing Armenian imports), and the issue of international recognition of the massacres of Armenians in 1915 as genocide, surfaced even before the Protocols were signed. While the Protocols contain no direct reference to these problems, Armenia and Turkey have conflicting positions on the possible links between them and the normalization of their relations. The signature ceremony itself was on the brink of failure as the Armenian foreign minister, Edward Nalbandian, learned that his Turkish counterpart, Ahmet Davutoglu, intended to question the Genocide issue in his speech following the signature ceremony, and to link normalization between Armenia and Turkey to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The protocols were signed after a three and a half hour delay, as the top diplomats of the U.S., France, and Russia persuaded the two ministers to hold no speeches after the signature.
KRISHNA’S VISIT TO UZBEKISTAN: THE MAKINGS OF INDIA’S CENTRAL ASIA POLICY
The October 20-22 visit of Indian External Affairs Minister Somanahalli Krishna to Russia and the October 27 trilateral meeting of Russia, India, and China in Bangalore overshadowed the minister’s meeting with his Uzbek counterpart and President Islam Karimov in Tashkent on October 22-23. The meeting was largely unnoticed, drawing only short and vague statements from the respective foreign ministries and the press. So has India’s policy in Central Asia that seeks to combat terrorism and drug trafficking, secure export markets, promote energy transit and security, and become an active player in a region threatened by developments in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In this light, the intensified Indian-Central Asian relations, and particularly the Indian-Uzbek cooperation, is testimony to Delhi’s long-held but still poorly enforced view of the need to become a more influential actor in Eurasian affairs.
KYRGYZ NGOs WANT MANAS TO BECOME UNESCO HERITAGE
China recently suggested Kyrgyz oral epic Manas be included into UNESCO’s World Heritage list. However, China’s proposal has provoked a debate among Kyrgyz NGOs. According to Toktaiym Umetaliyeva, president of the NGO Association, it is the Kyrgyz parliament’s direct responsibility to take responsibility for nominating the epic. Umetaliyeva argues that Kyrgyz authorities have missed the opportunity to elevate the status of Kyrgyzstan’s cultural heritage.
TAJIK PRESIDENT APPOINTS DAUGHTER AS DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER
On September 29, Tajik president Emomali Rakhmon appointed his daughter, Ozoda Rakhmonova, as the country’s deputy minister of foreign affairs. Ms. Rakhmonova studied economics and politics at the Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. and the University of Maryland at Baltimore, and worked for two years in the Tajik embassy to the United States as culture and education attaché. After returning to Tajikistan in September 2007, the then 27-year-old Ozoda was named head of the Tajik foreign ministry’s consular department and worked there until the latest promotion. Ms. Rakhmonova is married to Djamoliddin Nuraliev, who in 2008 was appointed as Tajikistan’s deputy finance minister, at the age of 30 becoming the youngest senior government member in the country.
ALASANIA’S CANDIDATURE FOR TBILISI MAYOR’S OFFICE HINTS AT HIGHER AMBITIONS
This summer President Saakashvili offered the opposition the possibility of directly electing all mayors of Georgia, a promise made in 2004, shortly after the Rose Revolution. This is especially relevant for the capital Tbilisi, where until now the mayor has been elected indirectly by a city council, similar to the British model with the exception of London. Obviously, controlling the government of the capital is an important political asset in the Georgian context. Saakashvili himself was head of the Tbilisi Assembly (Tbilisi City Council) between 2002 and 2003, a post that gave him a powerful platform to mobilize resources and social relevance for organizing the so-called Rose Revolution in November 2003.
Central Asia-Caucasus Institute Analyst - Field Reports
28 October 2009 News Digest
UZBEKS TO STAY MEMBER OF CENTRAL ASIAN POWER GRID 14 October
14 October 2009 News Digest
Foes say Saakashvili distorted war report China buying Kazakh energy assets
1 October
Georgia's opposition rounded on President Mikheil Saakashvili after a damning report on last year's war with Russia, and one former ally accused him of distorting its findings to deceive the Georgian people. The Georgian government and the country's main television broadcasters said the independent report, commissioned by the European Union and released on September 30, pinned the blame for the five-day war on Russia. Opposition leader and former Saakashvili ally Nino Burjanadze said the government was concealing the report's key finding -- that Georgia began full-scale hostilities with an unjustifiable assault on the pro-Russian breakaway region of South Ossetia. The report said the assault was the culmination of a long period of increasing tensions, provocations and incidents, and added that Russia's military response went beyond reasonable limits and violated international law.
But it said the five-day conflict began with Saakashvili's order to unleash heavy artillery on South Ossetia on August 7, which was followed by a devastating Russian counter-strike. "Again, the Georgian authorities have tried through their controlled media to hide the truth from their people," Burjanadze told a news briefing in the capital, Tbilisi. "The hiding and mutilation of the facts in the report is also a crime." Saakashvili himself has so far been silent on the report. He survived months of opposition protests earlier this year against his record on democracy and last year's war. Analysts forecast renewed pressure after the report's publication, but say another leadership challenge from a weak opposition appears unlikely. Another defector from Saakashvili's camp, former UN ambassador Irakly Alasania, said in an interview with Reuters that the 41-year-old president had damaged Georgia's international standing with his "irresponsible" actions. "It was his decision that really triggered full escalation," he said, speaking in English. "But there were the whole set of preconditions and provocations that we can also blame the Russian Federation for." The opposition has been careful to balance criticism of Saakashvili's conduct with contempt for Russia's military action, for fear of being labeled traitors by the authorities. The Georgian government insists the war was the result of Russian aggression after years of intensifying Russian political and military support for separatists in South Ossetia and Georgia's other rebel region, Abkhazia. (Reuters)
China is continuing its purchases of Kazakh energy assets. Xinhua news agency reported Thursday that the China Investment Corp., the country's sovereign wealth fund, Wednesday announced it had paid $939 million for a stake in Kazakhstan's JSC KazMunaiGas Exploration Production oil and gas company. The CIC is China's sovereign wealth fund, with a capitalization estimated at $300 billion. According to a statement on the CIC Web site, the corporation purchased about 11 percent of KMG EP's Global Depository Receipts through its Fullbloom Investment Corp. subsidiary, which is wholly owned by CIC. KMG EP's stock is listed on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange and its GDRs are traded on the London Stock Exchange. Following the CIC announcement of its purchase KMG's GDRs rose 9.95 percent to $22.10 in London trading. In April China National Petroleum Corp. agreed with Kazakhstan's state oil firm KazMunaiGas to jointly buy oil producer MangistauMunaiGas for $3.3 billion. (UPI)
30 September 2009 News Digest
U.S. SEES TURKMENISTAN AS ENERGY LEADER 30 September 2009 News Digest
Saakashvili meets Clinton 2 September 2009 News Digest
tajik ambassador says youth should not study Islam in Pakistan 19 August 2009 News Digest
Constitutional Court of Kyrgyzstan recognized results of presidential elections legitimate Russia, Kyrgyzstan sign base deal at CSTO summit Iran must warm to U.S. before Nabucco
U.S. sees Turkmenistan as energy leader
22 September
The U.S. government expressed its desire to see Turkmenistan emerge as a leader in terms of energy security and energy supply, officials say. Robert Blake, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for the South and bureau, briefed reporters on a bilateral meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. "On the energy front, the secretary said that we want to see Turkmenistan really be a leader in terms of energy security and energy supply," said Blake. He added that Turkmenistan had an "important role to play" in the development of the $10.3 billion Nabucco pipeline for Europe. A January gas row between Kiev and Moscow exposed gaps in the regional energy transport sector. Europe aims to diversify its gas transport options through Nabucco. Nabucco is designed to have the capacity to move 1.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas each year to European customers from Caspian and Middle Eastern suppliers. The pipeline would run from the Caspian region through Turkey to Austria along a route through Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary. Despite political backing for the project, it lacks firm commitments from potential gas suppliers. Reinhard Mitschek, managing director of the Nabucco international consortium, however, said supply options were diverse. "We see Azerbaijan, Iraq and Turkmenistan as the first suppliers," he told an Azeri press service. "Other options will also be considered in the future." (UPI)
22 September
In remarks before the meeting with President Saakashvili in New York on September 21, U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, reiterated Washington’s support to Georgia’s territorial integrity and democratic reforms. “We are working to try to ensure that Russia abides by the 2008 ceasefire, and hopefully to eventually reintegrate your country as it should be,” Clinton said. “We also know that working toward democracy and the changes that you’re attempting to achieve are challenging, but we want to support and encourage the steps that need to be taken. And the United States supports Georgia, and we want to make that very clear and unequivocal statement here today. President Saakashvili thanked the Secretary of State “for all the support you’ve given us.” “I also saw your article [on missile defense] this morning in the Financial Times of London, and it was very impressive because the message was very clear-cut, very unambiguous… and we are very grateful to you for that moral clarity, as well as strategic vision of what U.S. role in our region should be,” Saakashvili told the Secretary of State before the meeting. Clinton responded: “We think this approach is much more effective, and it will certainly cover Georgia and the Caucasus and it will send a clear message that the United States is committed to the defense of all of Europe in the years going forward. Thank you very much.”After the meeting Philip H. Gordon, the assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, told journalists that during the talks, Clinton emphasized that the U.S. “does not and will not recognize South Ossetia and Abkhazia.” (Civil Georgia)
20 August
Tajik Ambassador to Pakistan Zubaidullo Zubaidov says Pakistan should remove Tajikistan from a list of countries that illegally send young people to study in Pakistani schools, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports.
Although Tajik officials say they have curbed the number of Tajiks going to Pakistan to study at madrassahs, or religious schools, they are still concerned that an estimated 300 Tajiks are studying there without permission. Zubaidov said that the curriculum and living conditions in such schools are not good and it is better for young Tajiks to study at religious schools in Tajikistan. Davlat Nazriev, chief of the Tajik Foreign Ministry's Information Department, told RFE/RL that most of the Tajik students studying illegally in Pakistan traveled there as tourists and were able to find the means to stay and study. One young Tajik man told RFE/RL he was sent to a Pakistani madrasah during the Tajik civil war when he was a refugee in Afghanistan and spent five years in very difficult conditions. Tajik Education Ministry official Vahhobjon Abdulazizov told RFE/RL that this year Tajikistan will officially send just 10 students to Pakistan, and that they will study technical subjects. (RFE/RL)Iran, Russia conduct naval exercise
30 July
Iran and Russian launched their first-ever joint maritime operations in the Caspian Sea touted as part of an effort to enhance security in the region.The joint operation was launched from the northern Iranian port city of Bandar Anzali under the slogan of "clean and secure Caspian Sea depends on regional interaction," reports the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting network. Ali Taher Abadi, the managing director of the Ports and Navigation Organization in Iran, said the operation included measures to stem environmental pollution in the Caspian Sea. Lawmakers with an environmental party in Azerbaijan complained recently that activity related to the energy sector in the Caspian Sea was creating financial difficulties as a result of environmental pollution. Saeed Izadian, who oversees the naval operation for Iran, said 30 advanced boats, 2 Iranian helicopters and around 500 military forces will take part in the exercise alongside their Russian counterparts. He said the strategic emphasis of the operation was meant to train forces on search and rescue operations, adding the exercise fell within the framework of international obligations. Claims to the Caspian Sea are contentious among the littoral states, which are at odds over a 1921 treaty that divided the region between Iran and the Soviet Union. Only Azerbaijan, Russia and Kazakhstan have settled their territorial claims in the Caspian Sea, leaving Iran and Turkmenistan with frustrating differences. (UPI)
30 July
The Constitutional Court of Kyrgyzstan has recognized the presidential elections legitimate and having been held in conformity with the Constitution of the country, the agency reports citing the press service of the Constitutional Court of Kyrgyzstan. Central Election Committee of Kyrgyzstan directed on July 27th the results of the presidential elections of Kyrgyzstan to the Constitutional Court. According to the Code on Elections, the court must confirm the results not later than seven days after the last election day. Today, the Constitutional Court recognized the presidential elections of the country legitimate. According to the legislation, the elected leader of the state will take the oath to the people of Kyrgyzstan in the presence of deputies of Parliament within 30 days. According to the President's Administration, inauguration is planned for August 2, 2009. The current head of the state, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, has received 76.12 % of votes. 1 million 772 thousand 849 people voted for K. Bakiyev. (Kazakhstan Today)
1 August
The Russian and Kyrgyz presidents have tentatively agreed to establish a second Russian military base in Kyrgyzstan. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Kyrgyz counterpart Kurmanbek Bakiev signed the deal on the second day of an informal summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, or CSTO, a regional security grouping dominated by Moscow. The three-day summit opened on July 31 at the Kyrgyz lakeside resort of Cholpon-Ata. Under the joint memorandum, Kyrgyzstan allows Russia to establish a military base on its territory for a period of up to 49 years. The document states that Russian forces will be charged with "protecting Kyrgyz sovereignty" and repelling attacks by international terrorist groups. Moscow has said the planned base would operate under the umbrella of the CSTO. A definitive agreement detailing the status of the proposed base is due to be signed by November. This would be Russia's second base in the mountainous ex-Soviet republic. It already operates an air base in Kant, about 20 kilometers east of Kyrgyzstan's capital, Bishkek. The memorandum said the size of the contingent could be up to a battalion but gave no specifics on the location of the new base. Media reports suggest it could be deployed to Batken Province, near the border with Uzbekistan on the edge of the Ferghana Valley, a region that spreads across Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and has become a hotbed of Islamic militancy. One potential obstacle to that location might come from Uzbek President Islam Karimov, who is thought to be opposed to the idea of having a Russian base close to his borders. While Moscow may seek to turn an existing military facility near the southern city of Osh into its base, impoverished Kyrgyzstan reportedly wants the military base to be built from scratch using Russian money. (RFE/RL)
3 August
Iran is in a position to play a role in the Nabucco gas pipeline to Europe, though it needs to establish ties with the United States first, analysts say. Turkey hosted regional and international supporters in July for the signing of a milestone intergovernmental agreement on the $10.3 billion Nabucco project. Nabucco is seen as the foundation to European efforts to diversify an energy sector dependent on Russian natural gas. Despite political support for Nabucco, the project lacks financial backing and firm commitments from supplier nations. Janine Mitchell, a research fellow at Columbia University, told an audience at the Center for Strategic Studies under the president of the Republic of Azerbaijan that Iran must first meet with Washington on the issue, the Trend news agency reports. "To ensure Iran's involvement in Nabucco project, it is necessary to restore friendly relations between Iran and the United States," she said.Iran was not specifically included in the provisions of the Ankara agreement in order to win the explicit backing of Washington. The language of the Ankara agreement, however, was crafted in such a way that Iran may still play a role. (UPI)
15 July 2009 News Digest
Kidnappers Free 16 Afghan demining workers
6 July
Sixteen Afghans working for a United Nations-sponsored demining agency who were kidnapped at the weekend have been freed unharmed, an agency official has said. The Mine Detection and Dog Center (MDC) personnel were seized by gunmen on a highway in eastern Paktia province on July 4. The MDC is part of the overall UN mine-clearing agency in Afghanistan known as UNMACA. Sherin Agha Ahmad Shah, head of the MDC in Paktia, said tribal chiefs in the province made contact with the kidnappers and were able to secure the release of the men late on July 5. "The kidnappers were thieves and the tribal chiefs negotiated the release of the workers without any ransom or any deal," he told reporters, without giving further details. The Interior Ministry said in a statement police were also involved in securing their release. Kidnapping of Afghans and foreigners has become a lucrative business both for Taliban insurgents and criminal gangs in recent years. Some captives have been killed while others have been released after ransoms were apparently paid. Separately, no further information has emerged about two Afghan employees working for Dutch aid agency HealthNet TPO (HNI) who the Afghan Health Ministry said were abducted in neighboring Khost Province on July 4. HNI is a Netherlands-based aid agency specializing in rehabilitating health-care systems in war zones and disaster areas. No one has claimed responsibility for their abductions.
(Reuters)
1 July 2009 News Digest
Kazakh Leader Sacks his defence minister
18 June
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev on June 17 fired the Central Asian nation's Defense Minister Danial Akhmetov, the presidential press service said. Nazarbaev's decree gave no reason for the sacking of Akhmetov, a long-term devoted loyalist of the veteran leader whose previous posts included that of prime minister. First Deputy Defense Minister Mukhtar Altynbayev became acting defense minister. In April, Kazakhstan's Defense Ministry was rocked by a scandal when the nation's security service accused it of buying defective military hardware from Israel. A Kazakh deputy defense minister was sacked after the security agency's investigators established the government had incurred losses of $82 million as a result of the deal. (Reuters)
Central Asia-Caucasus Institute Analyst - News Digest