Tag Archives: Tajikistan

Putin’s Eurasian Union shapes up

OCT. 4 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – So it’s finally official. The Kremlin sees the Russia-Belarus-Kazakhstan Customs Union as a tool for further integration.

In an article for the newspaper Izvestiya on Oct. 4, Russian PM Vladimir Putin wrote of his vision for a Eurasian Union based around Moscow’s leadership emerging from the customs union. The timing of this article underlined its importance. This was Mr Putin’s first major policy statement since Sept. 24, 2011 when he said he would return as Russian president.

For Central Asia, but not yet for the South Caucasus, the customs union is already important. Kazakhstan is an enthusiastic member, Kyrgyzstan has officially applied to join and Tajikistan is thinking about it.

Russia uses the customs union as a bulwark against the growing influence of China and the West in Central Asia, a region it considers to be its natural sphere of influence.

Although Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan may be able to afford to resist, for Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan it has become politically and economically important to join the customs union.

Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev can also claim to have been the first to float the idea of a Eurasian Union. He mentioned the concept during a speech at a Moscow university in 1994.

Now, 17 years later, this Eurasian Union is gaining momentum.

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(News report from Issue No. 59, published on Oct. 4 2011)

US engagement in Central Asia marks the return of the Silk Road

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SEPT. 27 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Silk Road is back in vogue, at least at the UN’s General Assembly last week.

On the sidelines of the meeting, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and foreign ministers from Europe, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia were busy plotting a revival of the ancient trading route.

Media reports said the US sees the Silk Road as a way of boosting economic activity in Afghanistan from 2014 when NATO forces pull out of the country.

But if the Silk Road, which has always been a concept rather than a single physical route, is going to return to its glory days it requires a stable, prosperous and open Central Asia through which trade can flow.

Kazakhstan, with its anticipated economic growth of around 7% a year and increasingly open markets, is perhaps the only Central Asian state which fits that description. Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are relatively closed and instability plagues Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

Of course, a modern day trading system already straddles Central Asia. Lorries carry goods from China to Russia and on to Europe and pipelines pump oil from the Caspian to Western markets. It may not be the Silk Road with Afghanistan at its core that the US envisages, but it is a start.

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(News report from Issue No. 058, published on Sept. 27 2011)

Islamists release video threat to Tajikistan

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SEPT. 16 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – A group of militant Islamists released a video threatening to attack government forces and non-believers in Tajikistan, local media reported. Central Asia’s leaders are worried about Islamic fighters moving northwards from Afghanistan. Tajikistan is considered a vital buffer against the spread of violence.

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(News report from Issue No. 57, published on Sept. 19 2011)

Central Asia prepares war games with Arab Spring in mind

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SEPT. 19 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – A Russia-lead security organisation involving most Central Asia states and Armenia started a week of military manoeuvres. Russia’s most senior general, Nikolai Makarov, told the Vedemosti newspaper that stopping any potential Arab Spring-style uprising was one of the main aims of the manoeuvres by the Collective Security Treaty Organisation.

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(News report from Issue No. 57, published on Sept. 19 2011)

Russia wins tug-of-war over military base in Tajikistan

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SEPT. 6 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – After months of negotiations, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon announced on Sept. 2 that Russia would indeed extend the lease on its military bases in Tajikistan by 49 years.

Reuters also reported, without giving details, that Russian forces would once again patrol the Tajik-Afghan border — a deal Russia has been pushing for all year. The details still need to be thrashed out, including just how much Russia will pay for the bases, but the announcement was a significant milestone.

The deals secure Russia’s military might on the fringe of Central Asia where control has become increasingly important. NATO plans to withdraw from Afghanistan over the next couple of years and the Central Asian states have been worried about Taliban forces moving northwards.

Russia quit patrolling the Tajik-Afghan border in 2005 but has said throughout the year it wants to regain control to stem the drugs flowing from Afghanistan.

The Kremlin has also been thinking strategically about its military bases and has extended leases on large bases in Armenia and Ukraine. Its deployment in Tajikistan is one of its biggest with roughly 7,000 soldiers and hundreds of tanks and planes stationed there.

Both China and India have bolstered their economic, diplomatic and military reach in Central Asia over the last few years, so for Russia to secure its long-term hold on its military bases in Tajikistan represents a significant achievement.

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(News report from Issue No. 55, published on Sept. 6 2011)

Iranian president unveils hydropower station in Tajikistan

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SEPT. 5 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon officially unveiled the new Sangtuda-2 hydropower station near Dushanbe, underlining the close ties between the countries. Tajikistan views new dams as vital for power but they have created tension with Uzbekistan, which is worried about water supply.

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(News report from Issue No. 55, published on Sept. 6 2011)

Tajikistan hosts a fractious 20th CIS summit

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SEPT. 3 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Against the backdrop of celebrations marking the 20th anniversary of independence in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, Dushanbe also hosted the 20th summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Media reports said it was a rather fractious affair that ended with a vague declaration to improve regional trade.

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(News report from Issue No. 55, published on Sept. 6 2011)

Russia worries of radical Islam in Central Asia after NATO withdrawal

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AUG. 15 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan could allow militant Islam to spread into Central Asia, Russian media quoted Nikolai Bordyuzha, secretary-general of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) as saying at a meeting in Astana. The CSTO is a loose security group of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan

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(News report from Issue No. 53, published on Aug. 17 2011)

Tajik children banned from mosques

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AUG. 4 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – In a move aimed at stopping the spread of radical Islam, Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon banned youths from mosques, news agencies reported. A batch of new laws entitled “parental responsibility” also banned people under the age of 20 from going to nightclubs or getting a tattoo.

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(News report from Issue No. 52, published on Aug. 10 2011)

Tajik president announces amnesty for 15,000 prisoners

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JULY 28 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon announced an amnesty for 15,000 prisoners to mark the 20th anniversary of independence from the Soviet Union on Sept. 9. Mr Rakhmon has previously granted amnesties but this is the largest and for the first time includes former Islamic fighters captured during Tajikistan’s civil war in the mid-1990s.

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(News report from Issue No. 51, published on Aug. 2 2011)