KGZ/CA News

From KyrgyzInfo:

• There's an interesting Open Letter to ex-President A. Akaev published on the site today from Oleg Pankratov, in Karakol. It is surprisingly positive in tone about Akaev, and worth a read just to see a different point of view (sorry, no full English version as yet):

Many will not be able to understand me now, but first of all I want to say a word or two of thanks. Today a loud PR campaign has been unfolded against you. But it is my deep-held conviction that this is a temporary phenomenon. Whether or not much time will pass first or not, there will undoubtedly come a time when your services are recognised. The fact that our country received its first drops of democracy directly thanks to you cannot be denied by anyone. Now there is a different problem: were the people of Kyrgyzstan ready for the quantity of rights and freedom that they received within an extremely short space of time?

Многие меня сейчас не смогут понять, но первое, что я хочу сказать, это слова благодарности. Сегодня развернута громкая PR компания, направленная против Вас. Но мое глубокое убеждение, что это временное явление. Много ли пройдет времени или нет, но час, когда все Ваши заслуги будут осознаны, обязательно наступит. Тот факт, что первые глотки демократии наша страна получила именно благодаря Вам, отрицать не сможет никто. Проблема в другом, был ли готов народ Кыргызстана к такому объему прав и свобод, которые он получил за очень короткий промежуток времени?

Interpol has refused a request from the Kyrgyzstani authorities for an international warrant to be issued for the arrest of ex-Prime Minister Nikolai Tanaev. The request was made by the new General Procurator, Azimbek Beknazarov, who was one of the opposition leaders in events surrounding the overthrow of the Akaev regime in March, and who, since then, has made a name for himself for his investigations of the Akaev family's wealth and property and its sources.

• It is reported that Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT) has started TV broadcasts from Osh. What this actually means, considering HuT is banned in Kyrgyzstan, is that a local businessman (or maybe 'biznesmen'), Dil'er Jumabaev, has started up a broadcasting studio called "Ong", and he is known to be responsible for the local HuT cell's contact with the media. Originally the programmes, which were on a religious theme, were to be shown on the TV channel owned by Keremet, but three days after signing an agreement to this effect, they cancelled the contact, citing registration irregularities.

From other sources:

• The fallout from the Andijan massacre in May rumbles on, with the Boston Globe reporting that the US finds itself in a bit of a quandary over how to proceed - one the one hand it has started to interview survivors with a view to resettling them in the US, on the other it knows that the Uzbek government is not likely to be in favour of such a move, further straining relations that are important to the US in light of the war on terror and its airbase in the republic. The US is also said to be considering cutting aid to Uzbekistan in relation to the killings, according to Baku Today. Meanwhile, the Uzbek government has said that the death toll from the disorders has risen from 176 to 187, including 97 persons identified as "terrorists", reports Alert Net. The UN is continuing to press for an international investigation, stating that witness accounts suggest that there was mass killing by the security forces.
• Realists (of a political science bent, rather than those people simply looking for a way to avoid being called pessimistic or cynical) will be happy to know that Great Game thinking is alive, though not entirely well: The Japan Times has an article calling for stability in the region, citing SCO calls for the US to withdraw and its role in limiting Sino-Russian rivalry over Central Asia by providing a forum for cooperation - a positive step away from Great Game mentalities. The Washington Post on the other hand, is following the line that Cold War rivalries in Central Asia are reviving - the US is apparently preparing to give Uzbekistan a final warning to come into line and allow an international enquiry into events in Andijan or face the consequences, i.e. "face the danger of unravelling politically like Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan", which admittedly sounds less pro-democracy and more chaotic than is probably the case. The US Ambassador to Russia has also been quoted as saying that any possible withdrawal of the US from Central Asian republics should be negotiated bilaterally, reports RIA Novosti.
• Feliks Kulov continues to evoke memories of the other Iron Feliks from Soviet history with hard-line talk: he has been quoted as saying that the Kyrgyzstani authorities should "employ Stalinist methods of working" to eliminate corruption amongst government officials and employees. It appears that this will mean that ministers have a year to prove themselves and are likely to have to resign should they fail, rather than more typically Stalinesque methods.
• Forbes reports that Moscow is going to double the number of troops at its airbase in Kant, Kyrgyzstan.
• RIA Novosti has a comment piece on the implications of the change of power in Kyrgyzstan. Whilst the elections looked positive, the author, Aleksey Makarkin, cautions about seeing things too positively, pointing out that the revolution was as much a change of clan power bases as a popular uprising, and that there's still a long way to go.
• Kazakhstan has won praise from Human Rights Watch (HRW) for resisting pressure to hand over a dissident to the Uzbek authorities. HRW is urging other republics to follow suit, reports Alert Net. HRW article here.
• Kurmanbek Bakiev held his first press conference on July 11, announcing that the "time of powerlessness has passed", as reported in Slovo Kyrgyzstana (Russian version). An English version was sent out via the KelKel e-list and is available here.
• ISN meanwhile has an article entitled "Kyrgyzstan's anticlimactic election" looking at the challenges now facing Bakiev and his government, while RFE/RL provocatively poses the question "Will Bakiev-Kulov Alliance Last?", citing differences between the two as a possible indication that there's not much mileage in the combination.
• Finally, reflecting yesterday's entry on Uzbek agents in southern Kyrgyzstan, the Moscow Times reports that they are apparently offering cash for turning in Uzbek refugees who fled over the border to Kyrgyzstan at the time of the Andijan killings, as well as attempting to heighten inter-ethnic tension, which is undoubtedly playing with fire in a region linked with the ethnic spaghetti junction of the Ferghana Valley.

Over and out for the day.