Tag Archives: Tajikistan

Russia gives Tajikistan military aid

APRIL 3 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan is poised to receive $1.2b in military equipment and weapons from Russia to fight against the radical Islamic group IS.

An unnamed source in the Russian Defence Ministry told Russian newspaper Kommersant the aid will be spread across the next few years. What is clear is that the aid pulls Tajikistan further into the Kremlin’s orbit and strengthen its security driven regional focus.

It also intensifies the rhetoric. Previously Russia and Tajikistan had discussed the threat posed by the Taliban in Afghanistan. That has now morphed into the threat from IS. IS had previously only been associated with recruiting in Central Asia.

Some analysts are sceptical and have said that Russia and various Central Asia countries are using IS and the Taliban as a scare-mongering tactic.

Earlier this month, President Emomali Rakhmon criticised women for wearing “foreign, non traditional clothes,” while the state television channel insinuated that demand for prostitutes wearing black hijabs was increasing. This resonated as a subtle comparison between women wearing traditional Islamic head scarves and prostitutes wearing black hijabs (April 1).

Tajikistan has taken a strong stance against radical Islam. This means more control over society, less freedom of expression, and more options for arbitrary rule of law.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)

Tajikistan raises taxes on mobile phones

APRIL 2 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan has raised tax on mobile phone connections to 5% from 3%, an industry website reported. Reports said that the increase in tax will force mobile phone companies to pass on the extra cost to their consumers, pushing up inflation across the country.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)

US State Dept criticises its embassy in Dushanbe

APRIL 7 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The US State Department has criticised its embassy in Tajikistan for filing sanitised reports on civil violence in the south of the country in 2012 which ended with Tajik US-trained Special Forces shooting dead 20 civilians, the eurasianet.org website reported. The US State Department said its confidence in the embassy had been undermined.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)

Tajikistan in corruption bust

MARCH 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The authorities in Tajikistan have detained two senior officials at the State Agency for Drugs Control on suspicion of bribe-taking, media reported. The detentions, underline just how entrenched corruption is in Tajikistan.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)

Bribes halve in Tajikistan

MARCH 28 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Worsening economic conditions in Tajikistan have even knocked the value of bribes in the notoriously corrupt country, the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported. It said that the value of bribes had halved over the past few months.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)

Tajikistan wants medics evacuted from Yemen

MARCH 27 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – With a conflict in Yemen between a pro-government alliance that includes various Arab states and Iran-backed rebels worsening, Tajikistan has asked Russia for help repatriating 44 Tajik doctors.

Abdulfaizov Atoyev, a Tajik foreign ministry spokeman, said: “The country is taking all relevant measures to evacuate our citizens.”

Media has reported that Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE are preparing for a ground invasion of Yemen.

Doctors and nurses from Tajikistan often travel abroad to work in hospitals and clinics. Remittances from these migrant workers keep the Tajik economy afloat. Russian companies like Zdraveksport and Tekhnoeksport specialise in sending Tajik doctors to Gulf countries. In Yemen, they mostly work for the Red Cross/Red Crescent.

Last October a Tajik nurse was kidnapped in Yemen.

Medical studies represent a climbable social ladder in Tajikistan, as well as providing a route to work abroad. Moving to another country has been a lucrative option for Tajik medics who also want to support their family at home.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)

Tajikistn increases Afghan electricty exports

MARCH 20 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan increased its export of electricity to Afghanistan by 58% in January and February, Tajik media reported quoting the national statistics agency. Electricity is seen as an important commodity produced by Tajikistan.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)

Tajikistan starts to build new city

MARCH 24 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan’s president launched construction of a new city to be built in a desert in the north of the country, media reported. The US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty said the project is designed to generated jobs in the region and that the city would be home to 250,000 people.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)

ADB warns Tajikistan of poor economic outlook

MARCH 24 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) sent a warning to all Central Asian economies, and in particular to Tajikistan, in its Asian Development Outlook report.

Landlocked and dependent on remittances from migrant workers, Tajikistan is particularly vulnerable to the present economic crisis, the ADB said.

The ADB said Tajikistan is expected to experience a deceleration in its GDP growth. This had averaged 9% between 2010-14 but will fall to 5%.

“The decline in remittances and the traditional exports of aluminum and cotton slowed growth in 2014 and inflation worsened to 6.1%,” it said.

The ADB is also expecting rampant inflation and a further devaluation of the somoni currency by 6.5%.

Remittances, mostly from Tajik workers in Russia, represent roughly half of its GDP. The rouble crisis has affected both the value of those transfers and the capacity of these workers to retain their jobs. The ADB also said that new legislation for migrant workers in Russia will hit Tajikistan’s earnings.

“Remittances will likely contract further in 2015 as new regulations require that migrants to the Russian Federation have Russian language proficiency, as well as medical tests and health insurance that are estimated to cost about $500 per Tajik migrant,” it said.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)

Tajik court tries 23 men for links to radical Islam

MARCH 12 2015 (The Bulletin) – A court in the northern Tajik town of Khujand is trying 23 men for allegedly belonging to an offshoot of the banned Islamic extremist group the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), media reported. Tajikistan says is has become increasingly concerned about Islamic extremism.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 223, published on March 18 2015)