Weekly News Summery

Summery

     Azerbaijan

Political Front

Geo strategic Front

• Ex-Karabakh Military Leader Warns Of Another War

YEREVAN -- A former military leader of the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh has warned of the growing threat of another Armenian-Azerbaijani war, which he said could break out "at any moment," RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports.

• Nagorno-Karabakh conflict discussed in Brussels

 Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Alexander Grushko, Director of the Policy Unit of the General Council Secretariat of EU Helga Schmid and director-general at the European Commission's external relations department Joao Almeida discussed the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in Brussels March 25, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported.

• Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian FMs discusses Nagorno Karabakh conflict

 Sergey Lavrov highlighted Russian leadership's determination to actively contribute to a peaceful political solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

• US State Department Disarmament Program Manager visits Azerbaijan

 Katherine Baker, Disarmament Program Manager of the US State Department, has arrived in Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Actions (ANAMA) said.

Baker held meetings at ANAMA on Monday.

Economic/Energy Front

• Nabucco announces its readiness to start pipeline construction in 2011

 Nabucco Managing Director Reinhard Mitschek today again confirmed the current Nabucco Timeline. "We are aiming to start with the construction at the end of 2011 and we'll expect first gas to flow at the end of 2014. The Nabucco Consortium has no indication to shift the current timeline."

Social Front

• Azerbaijan Constructing Film Complex In Baku

BAKU -- Azerbaijani officials announced that foreign companies have invested some $5 million in the construction of a major film complex in Baku, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reports.

• Jailed Azerbaijani Blogger Selected For British Fellowship

BAKU -- Jailed Azerbaijani blogger Emin Milli has been offered a place in a prestigious British fellowship program designed for future leaders, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reports. Professor Brian Brivati, the director of the London-based John Smith Memorial Trust, told RFE/RL that Milli has been offered a fellowship in their 2010 program.

• Azerbaijani Editor Appeals Police Libel Suit

An Azerbaijani appeals court has begun hearing libel charges involving Interior Minister Ramil Usubov and an independent newspaper, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reports.

    Kazakhstan

Political Front

• Kazakhs Demand Release Of Jailed Activist

ALMATY -- Leaders of Kazakhstan's Communist Party and the United Social Democratic Azat (Free) Party have issued a joint statement demanding the release of a jailed activist, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.

• Opposition Activists Detained In Almaty

ALMATY -- Several Kazakh activists have been detained in Almaty while campaigning for the release of jailed former uranium company head Mukhtar Dzhakishev, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.

Geo strategic Front

Economic/Energy Front

• Russian, Turkmen Officials Allegedly Pampered By Daimler

The German automaker Daimler AG has agreed to pay a $185 million fine to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over allegations that bribes were paid to secure business in a number of countries, including Russia, Turkmenistan, Romania, Bulgaria, and Latvia.

• Kazakh President signed 2010 budget amendments

Astana. March 30. Interfax-Kazakhstan – Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has signed a law “On introducing amendments and addenda to some legislative acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the state budget 2010-2012.”

Social Front

• Kazakh Journalists Call For Clarity On Internet Law

Kazakh journalists are urging authorities to explain their criteria for defining "destructive" websites, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.

• Bad Weather Continues To Plague Eastern Kazakhstan

ASTANA -- Several highways and minor roads in parts of the Qaraghandy and Eastern Kazakhstan oblasts are closed today due to blizzard conditions, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.

Kyrgyzstan

Political Front

• Kyrgyz leader says Western democracy unsuitable

 (AP) - Kyrgyzstan’s president said Tuesday that Western-style democracy has run its course in the ex-Soviet Central Asian country, prompting fears of a further decline in political freedoms. Kyrgyz leader says Western democracy unsuitable

• Opposition meetings to take place in Kyrgyzstan

The opposition is going to held several kurultai meetings on 7 April, 2010 in Kyrgyzstan, Roza Otunbaeva, the head of the social-democratic party of Kyrgyzstan said Wednesday at the press conference.

Geo strategic Front

• Fatal Shooting Reported On Kyrgyz-Uzbek Border

JALALABAD, Kyrgyzstan -- One person has been killed and a second injured in a shooting incident in Kyrgyzstan's Jalalabad Oblast on the border with Uzbekistan, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports. The incident took place on March 28 when Kyrgyz border guards apparently refused to allow a woman with an Uzbek passport to enter Kyrgyzstan from Uzbekistan, accusing her of trying to cross the border illegally.

• Kyrgyz and British Parliaments sign Memorandum of Mutual Understanding

Kyrgyzstan: a Memorandum of Mutual Understanding has been signed with the Parliament of Great Britain. This was reported by the Zhogorku Kenesh press service.

According to them, on 26 March, 2010, there has been a meeting of the Speaker of Zhogorku Kenesh of the KR Zainidin Kurmanov with the Chairman of the British Kyrgyzstan All-Party Parliamentary Group of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Lord John Desmond Waverley.

Economic/Energy Front

• Kyrgyzstan to create favorable conditions for businessmen

Marat Attokurov, a lawyer of the USAID on improving of business-environment in Kyrgyzstan, chairman of experts group stated that Kyrgyzstan will create more favorable conditions for businessmen. The statement was voiced at a round table dedicated to application of method regulative influence analysis on 30 March, 2010.

Social Front

• Kyrgyz Opposition Activist's Daughter Briefly Abducted

OSH, Kyrgyzstan -- Police in southern Kyrgyzstan say the daughter of an opposition leader was abducted on March 31 for several hours, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.

Cholponai Abdymamet Kyzy, the daughter of oppositionist Abdymamet Zakirov, told RFE/RL that three men forced her into a car near her university in Osh after classes at 2 p.m. She said she managed to shout to her classmate that she was being kidnapped.

• Kyrgyz Activist Meets With Kazakhs About Journalist's Death

The leader of Kyrgyzstan's opposition Fatherland (Ata-Meken) party and a former speaker of parliament, Omurbek Tekebaev, has met with investigators in neighboring Kazakhstan in connection with the December killing of a prominent Kyrgyz journalist, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.

Tajikistan

Political Front

• Prominent Tajik Military Commander Dies

DUSHANBE -- Salmon Langariev, a legendary former commander of the People's Front militia that brought Tajik President Emomali Rahmon to power in 1992, has died in the southern city of Kulob at the age of 84, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports.

• President appoints eight members of parliament’s upper house

By president’s decree of March 29 Three-fourths of the total number of members of the Majlisi Milli are elected at joint meetings of people’s deputies of the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region and its towns and districts, regions and their towns and districts, Dushanbe city and its districts, towns and districts subordinate to the centre, on the basis of indirect elections by means of secret ballot. 

• New Tajikistan’s criminal procedure code comes into affect today

DUSHANBE, April 1, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- A new criminal procedure code of Tajikistan has come into effect today. 

The new criminal procedure code adopted by the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber of parliament) on October 14 2009 gives the courts broader powers. 

Geo strategic Front

• President visits Singapore and Brunei Darussalam

DUSHANBE, March 30, 2010, Asia-Plus  - President Emomali Rahmon is paying state visits to Singapore and Brunei Darussalam.

According to presidential press service, President Rahmon today morning departed for Singapore.

Economic/Energy Front

• Tajikistan Considers Railroad Link To Bypass Uzbekistan

DUSHANBE -- The Tajik government has suggested building a railroad link through Afghanistan to avoid the delays in rail cargo bound for Tajikistan via Uzbekistan, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports.

• Uzbeks 'Ease' Freight Holdup At Center Of Row With Tajikistan

DUSHANBE -- Some of an estimated 1,000 freight cars held up for several weeks on Uzbek territory have now arrived in Tajikistan, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports.

Social Front

• Global Pulse 2010 comes to Tajikistan

DUSHANBE, March 29, 2010, Asia-Plus - The U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe announces that from March 29 through March 31, all interested residents of Tajikistan may participate in an innovative, online brainstorming discussion.

Turkmenistan

Political Front

Geo strategic Front

• UN Chief In Turkmenistan On First Stop Of Central Asian Tour

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has arrived in Turkmenistan's capital, Ashgabat, on the first stop of a tour of five Central Asian countries.

Economic/Energy Front

• Turkmen President to visit EXPO 2010 in Shanghai

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov will visit Shanghai to attend festivities dedicated to the opening of EXPO 2010 Universal Exposition.

• Ashgabat hosts international water use forum

On April 2, the International Water Forum "A Drop of water is a grain of gold" has convened in Ashgabat. During three days the participants will discuss new prospects for cooperation in the field of water management and rational water use, introduce themselves to the experience and latest achievements in this field.

• Turkmenbashi sea port processes 90 percent of cargo on Europe-Caucasus-Asia route

Turkmenistan has suddenly become a key country of the central segment of Europe-Caucasus-Asia transport corridor (TRACECA), Fineko/abc.az Agency reports with reference to the Government of Azerbaijan.

• Minister of finance of Turkmenistan to participate in CIS meeting in Moscow

Minister of finance of Turkmenistan Annamuhammet Gochyev will attend the IV meeting of Ministers of Finance the CIS.

• EU counts on Turkmen gas in Nabucco project

"The European Union is making plans for the implementation of Nabucco project taking into account Turkmen gas," Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg Jean Asselborn said on March 29 during a meeting with President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. Jean Asselborn arrived in Ashgabat leading a representative delegation of his country.

Social Front

• Turkmenistan Holds Conference On Creating Desert Lake

ASHGABAT -- A two-day international conference on the creation of a lake in Turkmenistan's Karakum Desert was held in the western port city of Turkmenbashi, RFE/RL's Turkmen Service reports.

• Newly appointed UNHCR Regional Representative visits Turkmenistan

On March 26, newly appointed UNHCR Regional Representative and Regional Coordinator for Central Asia Saber Azam completed his first visit to Turkmenistan. He held meetings at the Mejlis and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan as well as State Migration Service of Turkmenistan.

    Uzbekistan

Political Front

Geo strategic Front

• Fatal Shooting Reported On Kyrgyz-Uzbek Border

JALALABAD, Kyrgyzstan -- One person has been killed and a second injured in a shooting incident in Kyrgyzstan's Jalalabad Oblast on the border with Uzbekistan, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.

• Tajikistan Considers Railroad Link To Bypass Uzbekistan

DUSHANBE -- The Tajik government has suggested building a railroad link through Afghanistan to avoid the delays in rail cargo bound for Tajikistan via Uzbekistan, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports.

• President of Uzbekistan receives Russian Vice-Premier

President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov received Vice Chairman of the Government of Russia Sergey Ivanov at Oqsaroy residence in Tashkent on 31 March. Welcoming the guest, the head of the state once again expressed condolences to the leadership and the people of Russia on the death of the people as a result of terrorist acts in Moscow metro on 29 March. Speaking about Uzbek-Russian relations, President of Uzbekistan said they had a stably high level in many areas.

• Uzbek President to give an official visit to Russia in April

In April of 2010 the President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov will give an official visit to Russia, RIA Novosti reports with the reference to Russian Foreign Ministry Department for information and press.

Economic/Energy Front

• Uzbeks 'Ease' Freight Holdup At Center Of Row With Tajikistan

DUSHANBE -- Some of an estimated 1,000 freight cars held up for several weeks on Uzbek territory have now arrived in Tajikistan, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports.

• Uzbek-Russian intergovernmental commission meets

The 12th session of the Uzbek-Russian intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation was held in Tashkent on 31 March. Opening the forum, Prime Minister of Uzbekistan, commission co-chairman Shavkat Mirziyoyev said the relations between the two countries were developing successfully in all directions.

Social Front

• Uzbekistan: The government has not followed UN recommendations on human rights, dated 2005

On March 25, 2010 the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Committee (Committee) adopted its final observations and recommendations after considering third periodic report of Uzbek government, dated March 11-12.