Tag Archives: Tajikistan

Comment: Internal issues trigger violence in Tajikistan

SEPT. 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Last week Tajikistan experienced some of its bloodiest fighting in recent years. Although the regime has been quick to label the rebels as “terrorists” sponsored by outside forces, the conflict is in fact the product of internal factors.

Tajikistan remains a mafia state. Different factions compete over the resources it has to offer. Government posts are not merely daytime jobs; they offer elites access to power and wealth.

With such a contested political economy, conflicts boil to the surface intermittently.

After the country’s civil war ended in 1997, some opposition warlords were incorporated into the regime.

Since signing the power-sharing deal, Emomali Rakhmon’s government has reneged on its promises, imprisoning, killing and exiling many of its former foes.

Not all of them have laid down their arms without a fight. Last Friday’s armed uprising is just the last in a series of conflicts involving former opposition strongmen.

Until recently, Major-General Abdukhalim Nazarzoda was one of the last remaining opposition commanders in government.

A skilful player of the political game, he rose to the rank of deputy defence minister in 2014. At the same time, he amassed a fortune through control of a bread factory, a poultry farm and other assets.

But last week his position came under threat.

According to a statement released by his supporters on September 6, the regime plotted to remove Nazarzoda for refusing to agree with the recent ban on the government’s main opponents, the Islamic Renaissance Party.

Instead of going quietly, he decided to go out fighting. And fight he did, leaving over forty people dead.

Dushanbe seems to have the situation under control for now. Despite sustaining heavy casualties, the security services have now neutralised most of Nazarzoda’s supporters, killing the general himself on September 11.

With the move against Nazarzoda, the regime has sent a clear warning signal to other commanders of dubious loyalty.

Not all of them will step aside without a fight.

Over the next few years Tajikistan’s fractious post-conflict state will sporadically erupt into violence.

By Edward Lemon, PhD candidate at Exeter University focusing on Tajikistan

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 247, published on Sept. 11 2015)

Tajik soft drink produces opens new factory

SEPT. 7 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Obi Zulol, a Tajik soft drink producer, opened a new, 3.7m somoni ($600,000) factory in Dushanbe. The company holds the licence to produce and sell brands from Canadian distributor Cott Corporation, such as RC Cola. This is Obi Zulol’s second soft drinks plant in Dushanbe.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 247, published on Sept. 11 2015)

Tajik hunt for fugitive minister

SEPT. 11 2015, DUSHANBE (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajikistan’s security forces have been scouring rough countryside in a valley 150km from the capital Dushanbe for the country’s most wanted man, General Abduhalim Nazarzoda, a former deputy defence minister.

The authorities accuse Gen. Nazarzoda of masterminding a series of early morning attacks in Dushanbe and a police station at Vahdat, a town 10km away, on Sept. 4 that killed at least nine policemen and 13 gunmen.

In Dushanbe, the authorities blocked access to social media sites and ordered more soldiers to patrol along the streets.

Hoji Said, a local Dushanbe resident, summed up the tense atmosphere in the capital.

“I have not seen so many policemen in Dushanbe,” he said.

Still, despite the extra security, a World Cup football qualifier match between Tajikistan and Australia went ahead. Australia won 3-0.

Gen. Nazarzoda was one of the leaders of the Tajik United Opposition, a coalition that fought against the government in a civil war in the mid-1990s. He fled the country but returned after a UN- brokered peace deal ensured handed him a role in the government.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 247, published on Sept. 11 2015)

Attackers target Tajik capital

SEPT. 3/4 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Unidentified men launched a series of attacks on government buildings in Dushanbe, killing at least nine policemen, media reported. Media said the men were linked to Islamic extremism, although this has not been confirmed.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 246, published on Sept. 4 2015)

China to increase investment into Tajikistan’s gold mines

SEPT. 2 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Chinese Zijin Mining Group Company pledged more investment into Tajikistan’s gold mines, local media reported. Zijin owns a 75% stake in a joint venture with the Tajik government in the development of the Zarafshan gold mine, the largest gold mine in Tajikistan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 246, published on Sept. 4 2015)

Tajik leader talks of crisis

AUG. 28 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajik president Emomali Rakhmon ordered his government to take urgent action to mitigate the impact of the worsening economic crisis hitting Central Asia. In one of his most frank omissions that Tajikistan’s economy is rapidly worsening, Mr Rakhmon told his ministers to adopt import substitution policies. Tajikistan has been hit by the drop in remittances from Russia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 246, published on Sept. 4 2015)

Tajik government pressures IRPT

AUG. 28 2015, DUSHANBE (The Conway Bulletin) — The Tajik government warned the Islamic Renaissance Party, the last remaining opposition parties, that it is now operating illegally because it was no longer active in enough cities to merit being called a political party.

Analysts said that this was another attempt by the government to disband one of its biggest critics.

In a statement published by the state news agency Khovar, the justice ministry said: “The Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan is no longer a republican party.”

Officials said that according to the law, a republican party must have representative cells in most cities and district.

The statement says that the IRPT has cut its activities in 58 cities and districts, and cannot be considered an all-republican party able to hold a national congress.

The Tajik justice ministry gave IRPT 10 days to respond to the statement.

IRPT plans to hold a congress on Sept. 15 to choose new leaders to replace its self-exiled leader.

Mahmadali Hait, the deputy head of IRPT, told local media that the party is going to answer the government’s statement soon.

“Our answer to the justice ministry is almost ready, but we can disclose it only after the ministry receives our answer,” he said.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 246, published on Sept. 4 2015)

Central Asian leaders head to Beijing

SEPT. 1/3 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Highlighting just how important China has become to Central Asia, four out of five of the region’s leaders travelled to Beijing to watch a military parade designed to mark the 70th anniversary of China’s victory over Japan in World War II.

Trips to Beijing have become a regular part of the diplomatic land- scape for the presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. China now regards the region almost as its personal backyard, seemingly striking bilateral deals and agreements through the Shanghai Cooperation OrganisatPion (SCO) at will.

And this week appears to have been no different. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev flew to Beijing a few days early to sign off on a handful of deals. On his website, akorda.kz, Mr Nazarbayev said that the deals, spanning a range of sectors, had been worth $23b.

“We have actively cooperated with China for more than 20 years, mainly in the energy sector and in extracting other raw materials,” he said.

“Yesterday during our constructive talks with President Xi Jinping we agreed to create 45 joint facilities, and agreements were signed on 25 of them worth a total of $23b.”

The details of these deals were vague but they covered a range of sectors from tourism to hydropower.

Mr Nazarbayev also congratulated Chinese President Xi on winning the 2022 Winter Olympic Games for Beijing in July ahead of Almaty.

Following on a few days behind him were the presidents of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Only Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, Turkmenistan’s president, was missing. Also present were other leaders from neighbouring countries including Russia’s Vladimir Putin and South Korea’s Park Geun-hye.

With an economic downturn linked to Russia and a collapse in the price of oil, China has become an even more important driver of economic development in Central Asia and the SouthCaucasus.

At the end of last month, Kyrgyzstan officially opened a new power line funded by China that will improve electricity transit from the south of the country, where its hydro- power stations are sited, to the north and when Uzbekistan’s president Islam Karimov flew into Beijing its official media said bilateral trade had tripled in six years to around $5b.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 246, published on Sept. 4 2015)

Tajikistan restricts social media access

AUG. 25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan has once again restricted access to Facebook and YouTube, two of the country’s most popular social networking sites, users said. The Tajik government has been cracking down on opposition figures over the past few weeks, a strategy that may be linked to the social media restrictions.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 245, published on Aug. 28 2015)

Tajikistan asks for opposition extraditions

AUG. 17/19 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Officials in Tajikistan appeared to ramp up their crackdown on opposition members by filing extradition requests to Russia and Moldova for people linked to the banned Group 24. Earlier this year the exiled head of Group 24, Umarali Kuvvatov, was shot dead in Istanbul.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 244, published on Aug. 21 2015)