Tag Archives: Kyrgyzstan

INCOMPLETE STORY: Kyrgyz-Kazakh trade rows

>> So what is going on here? Why are Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan rowing about trade?

>> In an interview with Euronews, Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev blamed Kazakhstan for imposing a trade barrier in 2010 which then forced it to join the Kremlin-lead Eurasian Economic Union. The Kazakh side responded by denying that this had ever happened and issuing a formal complaint.

>> So is this serious? What is the back-story to this?

>> This an extension of a long-running feud between the two neighbours over trade. Each has accused the other of underhand tactics which have damaged their trade. Kazakhstan is a far bigger economy than Kyrgyzstan. This puts Kazakhstan is a far stronger position than Kyrgyzstan and Kyrgyz MPs and officials often accuse it of essentially bullying it. The issue here, though, maybe that Atambayev is looking to deflect from his unpopular move in 2015 to pull Kyrgyzstan into the Kremlin’s Eurasian Economic Union. Kyrgyzstan became the fifth member of the group after Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Armenia.

>> Why has the Eurasian Economic Union become so unpopular in Kyrgyzstan?

>> It’s mainly the timing of joining that was the problem. Russia had just tipped into a recession linked to a collapse in oil prices. Jobs for migrant workers dried up and various projects that Russia had promised to fund were scrapped. At the same time, Kyrgyzstan’s economy started faltering and the currency started to fall. Officials looking to shift blame found an easy target in the Eurasian Economic Union. There have also been some genuine problems with paperwork and with what was described in 2015 as a flood of cheap imports from Kazakhstan and Russia into Kyrgyzstan, which damaged local producers.

>> Are there any numbers to back this up?

>> The data that Kyrgyz officials use to back up their arguments is from the Kyrgyz Statistic Committee which said that trade with other Eurasian Economic Union members was down by over 18% last year. This was held up as proof that the Eurasian Economic Union was not working. The reality is a bit more complex. Kazakhstan also published trade figures that showed its trade with other Eurasian Economic Union figures had fallen by a similar amount. This may be more to do with the general regional economic downturn than the Eurasian Economic Union.

Kyrgyzstan vs Myanmar football match cancelled

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SEPT. 4 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan cancelled a football match with Myanmar because of what it described as terror threats. The inference from the Kyrgyz authorities was that Myanmar’s treatment of its Muslim Rohingya minority meant the team was vulnerable to an attack. Myanmar is a predominantly Buddhist country. Last year a suspected Uighur extremist drove a car bomb into the Chinese embassy in Bishkek.

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(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)

Iran drops tax on foodstuffs to Central Asia

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SEPT. 4 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Iran has lifted an export tax on foodstuffs being sent to Central Asia and the South Caucasus, media quoted Abdollah Mohajer, the head of Mazandaran Province Chamber of Commerce, as saying. The export tax had covered a range of products including pistachio nuts, cabbages, dates and raisins. Ditching the export tax is likely to drop the price of sending foodstuffs to Central Asia by up to 20%. Iran is increasingly trying to tap into Central Asia and the South Caucasus as natural export markets for is various products.

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(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)

Gazprom opens new gas pipeline in Kyrgyzstan

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BISHKEK, AUG. 30 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller officially unveiled a renovated section of the gas pipeline that pumps gas from Bukhara in Uzbekistan to Kyrgyzstan and on to Kazakhstan.

The pipeline renovation is seen as a major piece of regional infrastructure that should improve access to heat and electricity for residents of Bishkek and other Kyrgyz cities. It also highlights the power of Gazprom in the region. It bought the Kyrgyz gas distribution business in Kyrgyzstan in 2013 for a symbolic $1, promising to improve its performance.

The opening of the new pipeline will go along way to making good on this promise and also towards strengthening Russia’s soft power impact in the region.

“The reconstruction of the Kyrgyz section of the Bukhara Gas-Bearing Province – Tashkent – Bishkek – Almaty gas pipeline has taken us to the next level in terms of reliability of gas supplies not only to the north of the Kyrgyz Republic, but also to the south of Kazakhstan,” media quoted Mr Miller as saying.

Gazprom officials said that the capacity of the pipeline had been doubled and that nearly 2,000 extra homes in Kyrgyzstan had been added to the mains gas network.
Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambayev was also at the opening ceremony of the pipeline. His presence underscored the pipeline’s significance and also how it connects neighbours with often fractious relations. Previously, under Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan had withheld gas deliveries to Kyrgyzstan as a weapon.

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(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)

Bishkek court closes opposition TV station

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BISHKEK, AUG. 22 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Less than two months before what is shaping up to be an increasingly feisty and acrimonious presidential election, a court in Bishkek ordered the closure of the Sentyabr private TV channel that was broadly sympathetic with the opposition. The court banned Sentyabr for broadcasting film that it said was extremist. Specifically, it broadcast an interview with an ex-police chief in Osh in which he accused Pres. Almazbek Atambayev’s preferred successor, ex-PM Sooronbai Jeenbekov, of fuelling ethnic tension in the region in 2010.

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(News report from Issue No. 341, published on Aug. 27 2017)

Kyrgyzstan appoints new PM

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AUG. 25 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s parliament confirmed Sapar Isakov, previously President Almazbek Atambayev’s chief of staff, as the new PM (Aug. 25). His predecessor, Sooronbai Jeenbekov, resigned to run for president in an election set for Oct. 15. Mr Atambayev is barred by the Kyrgyz constitution from running for a second term in office. He has backed Mr Jeenbekov.

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(News report from Issue No. 341, published on Aug. 27 2017)

Kyrgyzstan rows with Turkey over Gulen school network

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AUG. 16 2017, BISHKEK (The Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan accused Turkey of trying to pressure it into declaring a network of schools linked to the exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen as a terrorist organisation, knocking back attempts by Turkish officials to persuade governments in Central Asia and the South Caucasus to extradite so-called Gulenists.

Risking important Kyrgyz-Turkish relations, Kyrgyzstan’s education ministry released a statement that praised the Sebat school network, which it said has educated 10,000 Kyrgyz since 1992.

“Equating Sebat schools to terrorist organisations and imposing certain sanctions on students and members of their families only on the grounds that they are studying in Sebat schools is unacceptable and the statements of Turkish officials are irresponsible,” it said in a statement.

Five days before the Kyrgyz statement, Turkey’ deputy education minister, Ophan Erdem, told a group of Kyrgyz academics visiting Turkey that graduates from Sebat schools would be denied Turkish visas.

“Please ask your acquaintances, friends and brothers not to go to these terrorists’ schools because it is highly likely that we will deny visas to those who study at such schools. We do not even want to see their families in Turkey,” he was quoted as saying.

Turkish President Recep Erdogan has blamed Mr Gulen and his followers for a failed coup in July 2016. Since then, his forces have arrested thousands of Gulenists.

Turkey has persuaded Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan to detain and start extradition proceedings against several people linked to Gulenist businesses and education institutions but has been less successful in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Turks linked to the Gulenists’ movement set up schools in Central Asia and the South Caucasus in the 1990s, shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union, which are now highly regarded.

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(News report from Issue No. 340, published on Aug. 20 2017)

Kyrgyzstan jails opposition leader

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AUG. 16 2017 (The Bulletin) — A court in Kyrgyzstan convicted Omurbek Tekebayev, an opposition leader, of various financial crimes. Tekebayev was sentenced to eight years in prison and will miss a presidential election set for mid- October. His supporters have said that the charges are fake and were dreamt up to scotch Tekebayev’s own investigation into the business dealings of President Almazbek Atambayev. Earlier this month, a court jailed Sadyr Japarov, another opposition leader.

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(News report from Issue No. 340, published on Aug. 20 2017)

Turkey says it is interested in joining Eurasian Economic Union

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AUG. 19 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkey’s economy minister, Nihat Zeybekci, said that the country was interested in joining the Eurasian Customs Union, the customs-free zone that includes the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). The comments underline Turkey’s drift away from Europe towards Russia and Central Asia. The Eurasian Economic Union is led by Russia and also includes Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. Importantly, Turkey did not say it wanted to join the EEU.

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(News report from Issue No. 341, published on Aug. 27 2017)

Kyrgyzstan imprisons opposition leader

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AUG. 2 2017 (The Bulletin) — A court in Bishkek gave opposition leader Sadyr Japarov, known for his outspoken fiery speeches, an 11-1/2 year prison sentence for taking a former regional governor hostage during a rally in October 2013. Zaparov is influential on the streets of Bishkek, as shown earlier this year when his arrest triggered a series of tense protests. Kyrgyzstan is voting in a presidential election in October. Japarov had said that he wanted to take part in the election. A second high-profile potential presidential candidate, Omurbek Tekebayev, is in detention waiting to be tried for various financial crimes.

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(News report from Issue No. 336, published on Aug. 5 2017)