CA news roundup
The BBC has an article on the aftermath of the disturbances in Andijan, Uzbekistan, ten days ago, and reports on America's favourite dictator, Islam Karimov, going on an official visit to China, who has backed the Uzbek regimes brutal handling of the protests, which it has been claimed are the result of Islamic extremists and terrorists.
There's continued speculation about a second Russian base beign established in the south of Kyrgyzstan, ostensibly to help reduce the threat of terrorism, reports the Guardian. However, RIA Novosti reports that Bishkek has said the matter was not discussed at a recent meeting with Russian officials, although the Eurasia Daily monitor suggests that the initiative was on the part of the Russians.
Ted Rall (known for his slightly irreverent but topical cartoons on Eurasianet.org) has written a piece on the Karimov regime entitled "America's Terrorist Ally", criticising the US for its soft stance towards the republic's poor (putting it mildly) human rights record.
The latest issue of the Central Asia Caucasus Analyst is available here. It includes a report on the Kyrgyz 'revolution' and the possibility that the major threat to the country's stability is the criminalisation of the political system (full text here).
Tashket sent an official note to the Kyrgyz ambassador a few days ago expressing dissatisfaction with Kyrgyzstani local authorities response to events last week, saying that "in recent days in border regions with Uzbekistan there have been places with outbreaks of serious disorder and incursions by unorganised groups of a religious nature", warning that if suitable measures are not taken there is a risk of the situation becoming out of control, reports Vechernii Bishkek (full report in Russian here). Kyrgyzstan has refuted the claims, stating that there are no Taliban members in the republic and that they are taking all necessary measures, according to Ferghana.ru (full text in Russian here).
As usual, Registan.net has some good articles and intelligent commentary on events in Central Asia and the Caucasus.
Vechernii Bishkek also has an interview with Marcus Stromayer (excuse the spelling but transliterated back from the Russian version) from the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) on the revolutions in the FSU entitled "The revolution has a start, but no finish" (no English version I'm afraid). His basic line is that he's concerned that democratic development in the region is going along American lines, with little regard for the ideas of social justice and equality that are more rooted in Europe. He has a point.
Kyrgyz-Info has a short piece on end of year student conferences at the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavonic University.
The Independent has a piece on the opening of the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, touted as a possible saviour from the curse of Western dependency on oil from the Middle East. For a lot more on oil in the Central Asia-Caucasus/Caspian region, take a look at Lutz Kleveman's website - he wrote a very engaging account of oil in the region in his book The New Great Game - Blood and Oil in Central Asia (of which at least extracts are available on Google Print)
Finally, there's been further protests against Bermet Akaeva, daughter of the former president who was stripped for her parliamentary mandate recently, with demands that she leave Kyrgyzstan, reports Kyrgyz-Info. Akaeva held a press conference yesterday, announcing that participants in the demonstration attempted to attack her, and only intervention by her bodyguards prevented things getting physical. Perversely, she also said she saw no ill-will in the eyes of protestors, and had concluded that they'd been forced to attend the protest. Kyrgyz-Info has the full account of events in Russian.
There's continued speculation about a second Russian base beign established in the south of Kyrgyzstan, ostensibly to help reduce the threat of terrorism, reports the Guardian. However, RIA Novosti reports that Bishkek has said the matter was not discussed at a recent meeting with Russian officials, although the Eurasia Daily monitor suggests that the initiative was on the part of the Russians.
Ted Rall (known for his slightly irreverent but topical cartoons on Eurasianet.org) has written a piece on the Karimov regime entitled "America's Terrorist Ally", criticising the US for its soft stance towards the republic's poor (putting it mildly) human rights record.
The latest issue of the Central Asia Caucasus Analyst is available here. It includes a report on the Kyrgyz 'revolution' and the possibility that the major threat to the country's stability is the criminalisation of the political system (full text here).
Tashket sent an official note to the Kyrgyz ambassador a few days ago expressing dissatisfaction with Kyrgyzstani local authorities response to events last week, saying that "in recent days in border regions with Uzbekistan there have been places with outbreaks of serious disorder and incursions by unorganised groups of a religious nature", warning that if suitable measures are not taken there is a risk of the situation becoming out of control, reports Vechernii Bishkek (full report in Russian here). Kyrgyzstan has refuted the claims, stating that there are no Taliban members in the republic and that they are taking all necessary measures, according to Ferghana.ru (full text in Russian here).
As usual, Registan.net has some good articles and intelligent commentary on events in Central Asia and the Caucasus.
Vechernii Bishkek also has an interview with Marcus Stromayer (excuse the spelling but transliterated back from the Russian version) from the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) on the revolutions in the FSU entitled "The revolution has a start, but no finish" (no English version I'm afraid). His basic line is that he's concerned that democratic development in the region is going along American lines, with little regard for the ideas of social justice and equality that are more rooted in Europe. He has a point.
Kyrgyz-Info has a short piece on end of year student conferences at the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavonic University.
The Independent has a piece on the opening of the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, touted as a possible saviour from the curse of Western dependency on oil from the Middle East. For a lot more on oil in the Central Asia-Caucasus/Caspian region, take a look at Lutz Kleveman's website - he wrote a very engaging account of oil in the region in his book The New Great Game - Blood and Oil in Central Asia (of which at least extracts are available on Google Print)
Finally, there's been further protests against Bermet Akaeva, daughter of the former president who was stripped for her parliamentary mandate recently, with demands that she leave Kyrgyzstan, reports Kyrgyz-Info. Akaeva held a press conference yesterday, announcing that participants in the demonstration attempted to attack her, and only intervention by her bodyguards prevented things getting physical. Perversely, she also said she saw no ill-will in the eyes of protestors, and had concluded that they'd been forced to attend the protest. Kyrgyz-Info has the full account of events in Russian.
posted by CXW @ 10:58 am
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