Tag Archives: Uzbekistan

Photos show Uzbek President’s daughter

SEPT. 16 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – More news stories have emerged to suggest that Gulnara Karimova, eldest daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov, has been charged with various economic crimes.

The most pressing of these are three photos allegedly showing Ms Karimova under house arrest in Tashkent. These were released by her PR agent in London.

In the photos, which are undated, three men in military style fatigues appear to be pushing and pulling a gaunt- looking Ms Karimova. Gone are her designer dresses, and expensive make-up. Instead Ms Karimova wears a tracksuit top and has her hair tied back in a simple bunch.

A statement alongside the photos said they showed that Ms Karimova was staving and that she wouldn’t face a fair trial in Uzbekistan.

“She [Gulnara] is willing to travel to any court where the rule of law is upheld so she can clear her name,” the statement said. “The fact that an Uzbek military court — which sits in secret — has already found her associates to be guilty makes it almost impossible for Gulnara tried fairly in the normal Uzbek judicial process.”

There is, no doubt, a kernel of truth in all this. It’s more difficult to see, though, who is going to come to the aid of Ms Karimova. She is reviled in Uzbekistan, where she was once touted as a successor to her father, and is liked hardly any more outside Uzbekistan.

Ms Karimova has been under house arrest for most of this year. Her close associates have already been jailed for a mix of crimes. Although it’s unclear exactly what Ms Krimova will be charged with, she is probably facing a prison sentence.

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(News report from Issue No. 200, published on Sept.17 2014)

Uzbek car sales to Russia fall

SEPT. 11 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – GM Uzbekistan sold 20% fewer cars in Russia between January and August this year than it did during the same period in 2013, media reported. Russia is GM Uzbekistan’s main market. The data is important as a macro indicator of how the slowdown in the Russian economy, because of sanctions, is impacting Central Asia.

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(News report from Issue No. 200, published on Sept.17 2014)

Uzbek cotton harvest begins

SEPT. 17 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Opposition Uzbek websites reported that the annual cotton harvest had begun. This is important as human rights groups have accused Uzbekistan of using forced human labour to pick the cotton. One news outlet, uznews.net, said 40% of medical staff in one region had been sent out to pick cotton.

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(News report from Issue No. 200, published on Sept.17 2014)

Uzbek election campaign starts

SEPT. 15 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Campaigning officially began in Uzbekistan for an election to its 150-seat parliament set for Dec. 21, media reported.The election is largely a formality as all the parties are pro- presidential. Uzbekistan has been described as one of the most repressive and least democratic countries in the world.

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(News report from Issue No. 200, published on Sept.17 2014)

The World Nomadic Games strike a Kyrgyz chord

CHOLPON-ATA/Kyrgyzstan, SEPT. 17 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — In front of a packed hippodrome in this provincial town of shores of the mountain-ringed Lake Issyk Kul, Kyrgyzstan A beat Kyrgyzstan B to win gold in the main event of Kok-Boru at this inaugural Nomadic Games.

Amid the enthusiastic roars of local Kyrgyz, foreign diplomats cheered on half-heartedly between snipes about graft and the hippodrome’s overloaded portaloos.

While the World Nomadic Games was designed to unite all countries of the Turkic-speaking world, it retained a very local flavour throughout, with the hosts cruising to victory in the medal table — the majority of the competitors were Kyrgyz — and poor planning abounding. None of the presidents of the competing states — Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan — showed up as hoped before the games began.

The Kok-Boru on July 14 was spectacular, however. Exhibition games of Kok-Boru, a polo-like game played with a dried goat carcass, are common at tourist-focussed festivals throughout the country. This one was far more competitive, with the captain of Kyrgyzstan’s A team sporting a battle-inflicted gash across his forehead as he lead his team to victory over the B team.

Russia’s federal Altai Republic and Turkey claimed silver and bronze in the event respectively. Following a reported disagreement over the rules of Kok-Boru — or Kokpar to the Kazakhs — neighbouring Kazakhstan refused to send a team.

Also on Sept. 14, to the chuckles of local spectators, horses belonging to former Prime Minister Omurbek Babanov claimed the bronze and silver medals for the 2.5 km flat race. Babanov’s weakness for stallions is legendary.

He was jettisoned from the government amid rumours he had accepted a racehorse a bribe for securing a foreign investment for a Turkish businessmen in 2013.

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(News report from Issue No. 200, published on Sept.17 2014)

Uzbekistan invests in cotton

SEPT. 5 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan’s state-run cotton company will spend $1b building its own cotton processing plant, media quoted a senior official as saying. Uzbekistan wants to double its cotton processing capacity. Human rights workers have accused Uzbekistan of suing slave labour to pick its cotton harvest.

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(News report from Issue No. 199, published on Sept. 10 2014)

Uzbekistan passed new media laws

SEPT. 5 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The authorities in Uzbekistan have passed a law restricting articles that bloggers can publish online. The US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported bloggers cannot publish stories that defame the honour of individuals. Uzbekistan has one of the world’s tightest media laws.

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(News report from Issue No. 199, published on Sept. 10 2014)

Uzbek prosecutors look to charge Gulnara

SEPT. 8 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The authorities in Uzbekistan appear to be on the brink of charging the once all-powerful Gulnara Karimova, eldest daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimova, with various financial crimes.

A press release from the Uzbek Prosecutor-General named a Karimova G. as part of a group that has been investigated for economic crimes.

“The investigation has undertaken to fully recover the economic damage inflicted on the State. 457 billion soms have been recovered to date from the members of the organized criminal group, who are present in Uzbekistan,” the statement said.

These various economic crimes hinge around taking state assets cheaply, embezzlement, forgery and blackmail.

Russian news agency RIA-Novosti quoted a source in the Uzbek government later confirming that the reference to Karimova G. was to Gulnara Karimova.

Ms Karimova’s closest aide Gayane Avakyan has already been imprisoned for economic crimes.

Ms Karimova has been under house arrest but, even so, the charges will shock Uzbeks who had, until 12 months ago, viewed her as untouchable. Ms Karimova had controlled all the biggest components of Uzbekistan’s industry and business, been Uzbekistan’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva and had been tipped to succeed her father as president.

A power grab by rival clan members in the Uzbek elite, though, appears to have undermined her ambitions.

Although Ms Karimova’s fall from grace sounds like a purely internal dispute, the implications are region wide. If Uzbekistan hosts a complicated dispute over power and destabilises, it will affect the entire Central Asia region. With a population of 30m, Uzbekistan is the most populous country in Central Asia and some of the best transport links. It also lies geographically at the heart of the region and shares a border with all four other Central Asian states.

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(News report from Issue No. 199, published on Sept. 10 2014)

Uzbek President visists Dushanbe

SEPT. 10 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbek president Islam Karimov is due in Dushanbe for the first time since 2008 for the annual meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). The two-day SCO meeting is due to begin on Sept. 11. This meeting is particularly important because of strained relations between the neighbours.

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(News report from Issue No. 199, published on Sept. 10 2014)

Tajikistan prepares to host SCO

SEPT. 10 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The 13th summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will be held in Dushanbe on Sept. 11 – 12.

Russia and China lead the SCO, a group that has regional security and economic development at its core. The other members are Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The summit is expected to focus on deepening security ties and the possibility of expanding the organisation to include Afghanistan, India, Mongolia and Pakistan by next year. On Aug. 24, the SCO held its largest ever joint military drills to date in China’s Inner Mongolia province.

With Russia accused of arming rebels in Ukraine and the US-led NATO planning to enlarge by including Australia as a member, enlargement of the SCO would come at a sensitive time. As the only regional organisation to include both Russia and China, the SCO’s profile has grown over the years. Moscow and Beijing appear, though, to have different views on the future of the group.

In Bishkek this summer, China promoted its Silk Road Economic belt concept. This concept, focused on infrastructure investment and trade protection, seems to run counter to Russia’s own Eurasian integration efforts via the protectionist, China-exclusive Eurasian Economic Union.

The Kremlin has also reportedly persistently blocked the development of an SCO bank, preferring the organisation to focus on security matters, where it is closer to parity with China.

Both are said to be cautious towards any expansion that might dilute their respective influences, but acknowledge the need for the SCO to grow in order to relevant.

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(News report from Issue No. 199, published on Sept. 10 2014)