Bruce Pannier is a Central Asia analyst and appears regularly on the Majlis podcast for RFE/RL.
'Turkmenbashi' Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov and Uzbek President Islam Karimov are widely considered to be the leaders of Central Asia's most repressive governments. They also have clearly shown that they are not friends. Turkmenistan accused Tashkent of involvement in an assassination attempt on Niyazov in 2002. But tomorrow, the two leaders are set to meet for the first time in four years. At their summit, the presidents are expected to discuss their only topics in common -- their border and rational use of their meager water supplies.
Vladimir Putin Russia emerged as a major investor in Central Asia in October. Images of Russia as an economically challenged former superpower faded as President Vladimir Putin and Russian companies visited the area making new deals in the region's energy sector. But Russian gains in Central Asia in October weren't confined solely to investment. In this second of a two-part report, RFE/RL takes a closer look at Russia's moves on Central Asia last month.
October was a significant month for Russia in terms of its interests in Central Asia. In the years following the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia was relegated to helping the region primarily on issues of security. Few considered Moscow to have the financial means to become a major investor in the region. But that has changed. Russian President Vladimir Putin's government now appears to be using the lure of money to bring its former Soviet republics back into its fold. In a two-part series, RFE/RL looks at Russia's recent moves in Central Asia.
Russian border guards in Tajikistan have started handing over duty on the Tajik-Afghan frontier to Tajik border guards. Though it is so far happening only along the mountainous eastern stretch of the border, the move marks the first time Tajik guards will be responsible for watching Tajikistan’s southern frontier since the country’s independence in 1991. But some question Tajikistan’s ability to take over from the Russian guards. That is because the frontier is one of the most difficult borders to guard in the CIS and past experience shows that a number of criminal groups operate along it.
Turkmenistan has been called the "hermit kingdom" and the North Korea of Central Asia. Foreigners are watched when they enter the country, and the Turkmen government goes to great lengths to keep foreign media from reaching its people. Many businessmen visit Turkmenistan, as the country is rich in oil and natural gas, but few people visit as tourists, and fewer yet have visited more than once. Gregory Gleason is an expert on Central Asian affairs. He is also one of the few people who spent a lot of time in Turkmenistan during the first years after the country became independent. Gleason just returned from Turkmenistan after more than 10 years away. He spoke with RFE/RL about the changes he witnessed.
President Rakhmonov recently supported a ban on women attending mosque (file photo) Tajik President Imomali Rakhmonov has backed an edict from the country's Muslim spiritual council that bans women from attending mosque. In an address to the nation on 6 November, Rakhmonov laid out his arguments for supporting the ban, but not everyone is certain of his motives.
Uzbek journalist Ruslan Sharipov was jailed on questionable charges in his homeland in 2003. International press-freedom groups condemned Sharipov's conviction, saying his sudden legal problems were connected to critical articles he had written about the authoritarian government of President Islam Karimov. Under pressure from international watchdog groups and individual governments, Sharipov was recently allowed to leave Uzbekistan after being held for more than a year. RFE/RL spoke to Sharipov today in the United States, where he has been granted asylum.
Kazakhstan's newly elected Mazhilis, the lower house of parliament, held its first session yesterday. President Nursultan Nazarbaev addressed the deputies, setting a policy agenda for the next few years. Nazarbaev made it clear what he expects from the Mazhilis in the coming years -- no opposition to his proposed reforms. And the man chosen to be speaker seems ideally suited to implement the president's will. Notably absent from the first session was the Mazhilis's only opposition deputy, who had resigned in protest the day before.
Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov raised the issue of his retirement earlier this week at a session of the Halk Maslahaty, or People's Council. Though Niyazov's ideas are usually greeted with unanimous enthusiasm, this particular request was rejected outright. The announcement was timed to coincide with the country's independence day, 27 October, and had a less-than-genuine feel to it. This was not the first time Turkmenistan's "president for life" has offered to step down -- nor the first time the Turkmen people have begged him to stay.
Prague, 17 September 2004 (RFE/RL) -- Kazakh voters go to the polls on 19 September to elect deputies to the lower chamber of parliament, the Mazhilis. Some 623 candidates are competing for 77 seats. Sixty-seven seats will be decided by contests in single-mandate districts, with 10 seats awarded according to party list. Deputies serve a five-year term.
Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) face a double challenge in Central Asia. Not only must they carry out their difficult mission, but they must also contend with often-hostile authorities. The Central Asian countries are in the processes of a radical transition and suspicions of the motives of foreign NGOs are easily aroused among officials. In the second of a two-part series, RFE/RL correspondent Bruce Pannier looks at the trials and tribulations of foreign NGOs in Central Asia. To see Part 1, click here --> /featuresarticle/2004/09/521ae994-dbf2-4ea3-a36a-c9d3215ea1f4.html .
Uzbekistan's president is urging neighboring Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to increase security measures along their borders, saying terrorists are taking advantage of poorly monitored frontiers in Central Asia to cross into Uzbekistan. Kazakhstan has acknowledged there is a problem and is discussing measures to correct the situation.
Turkmenistan is planning to build a lake and river in an effort to create a reliable storage area for water, expand farmland, and make the capital, Ashgabat, more attractive. Neighboring states are watching these projects with alarm, however. Previous water-diversion projects in Central Asia have left a devastating environmental legacy, the most visible being the dying Aral Sea. Rational use of water is a priority in the region, and many analysts cite disputes over water as being among the more likely causes of friction between the Central Asian states. In the second of two parts, RFE/RL looks at how the Turkmen water projects are being viewed outside Turkmenistan, particularly by its neighbors.
Turkmenistan, a country that is 80 percent desert, is taking dramatic action to meet its water needs. The government is building a massive lake in the desert, and now there are plans for a man-made river through the Turkmen capital, Ashgabat. With a burgeoning population and plans to increase agricultural output, there is a need for better, and more secure, supplies of water in Turkmenistan. The problem is that much of Central Asia shares the same need, and there is a limited amount of water. Earlier schemes to bring water to areas where it was deemed more necessary have, in some cases, resulted in massive environmental disasters. In the first of a two-part series, RFE/RL looks at Turkmenistan's grand water projects.
Japan's Foreign Minister Yokiro Kawaguchi arrived in Uzbekistan today, starting a tour that will take her to four Central Asian states and Mongolia. Kawaguchi is due to give a speech in Tashkent that will articulate Tokyo's new policy toward the Silk Route countries. Kawaguchi's trip was already something of a success even before she left Japan, considering the Japanese Foreign Ministry has arranged a rare event in Central Asia -- a meeting in Astana that will include the foreign ministers of all five Central Asian states. RFE/RL correspondent Bruce Pannier looks at Kawaguchi's tour and Japan's new strategy in the region.
After five years, the Uzbek government has finally agreed to help in demining its borders with Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The land mines were planted to prevent militants from entering Uzbekistan from the east, but so far appear only to have killed scores of civilians. Though reports this week claim that the process of removing the mines has already begun, residents in some of the affected areas say otherwise.
The balance of power is shifting in Tajikistan. The latest sign comes in the recent detention and impending arrest of Tajik counternarcotics chief Gaffor Mirzoev -- a powerful official from the country's Kulyab area, a source of strong government support during the 1992-97 civil war. There are many in Kulyab and elsewhere who are wondering what effect Mirzoev's sacking will have.
Kazakh opposition party Ak Zhol, or "Bright Path," has seen its fortunes rise and fall in the past month. One party co-chairman was named to the influential position of information minister while another was found guilty of slander and barred from participating in September's parliamentary elections.
The trial of 15 people accused of complicity in the violence in Uzbekistan in late March and early April started yesterday in Tashkent. The conduct of the trial is already following a pattern made familiar in previous court cases dealing with alleged Islamic radicals. Those cases were used to justify the government's continued crackdown on what it called religious extremism.
Prague, 26 July 2004 (RFE/RL) -- The final day for presidential candidates to register for Afghanistan's 9 October elections was marked by the unexpected emergence of a possible rival to incumbent Hamid Karzai, the longtime favorite.
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