28 My to 4 June 2010

Azerbaijan


Political Front

• Azerbaijani draft military doctrine to be considered in Parliament

It was recommended to consider the Azerbaijani Draft Military Doctrine in the Azerbaijani Parliament. The Azerbaijani draft military doctrine has been discussed at a meeting of the Committee on Security and Defence of the Azerbaijani Parliament today.

Geo strategic Front

• Azerbaijani Speaker: No unsolved issues between Russia and Azerbaijan

Russia and Azerbaijan are strategic partners. There are no unsolved problems between them, Chairmen of the Federation Council Sergei Mironov and the Azerbaijani Parliament Oktay Asadov said at a meeting today.

• Azerbaijani MP condenms Israeli attack on Freedom Flotilla

“I share the position of Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, Presidential Administration over the recent happenings between Israel and Turkey. I condemn what has happened. I condemn any country that causes human loss,” Member of the Azerbaijani Parliament of Jewish origin Yevda Abramov said.

• Azerbaijani foreign minister meets U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense

Azerbaijan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Elmar Mammadyarov has met US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia Celeste Wallander.

• U.S. TO OPEN SECRET MILITARY BASE IN AZERBAIJAN?

"The creation of military bases on Azerbaijani territory was never that serious. Although recently, some very weighty newspapers reported that this question has been decided already. I dont believe, that the U.S. will be creating any military bases in Azerbaijan", Azerbaijani military expert Uzeyir Jaffarov said, commenting on the news article published in The New York Times. Reportedly, NY Times reported that the U.S. plan to create military bases in Georgia, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan to carry out special military operations.

Economic /Energy Front

• Azerbaijan To Boost Oil and Gas Production In 2010

BAKU -- Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliev has told an international conference on Caspian Sea oil and natural gas development that opened in Baku that his country will produce some 52 tons of oil and 30 billion cubic meters of gas this year.

• US presses Azerbaijan, Turkey on gas transit deal

A senior U.S. envoy urged Azerbaijan and Turkey on Wednesday to sign a long-awaited deal he said was crucial for retaining confidence in Western plans to reduce Europe's dependence on Russian gas. Richard Morningstar, the U.S. Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy Issues, said the signing of a deal, two years in the making, would be essential to boost confidence in the European Union's ambitious Southern Corridor plan. The corridor would bypass Russia in bringing Caspian Sea gas through Turkey to Europe.

• Azerbaijan Center for Strategic Studies hosts 'roundtable' on US energy policy in South Caucasus and Caspian region

The Center for Strategic Studies under the Azerbaijani President has today hosted a roundtable meeting on “U.S. energy policy in the South Caucasus and Caspian region”.

Special Envoy of the United States Secretary of State for Eurasian Energy Richard Morningstar made a report at the event.

Social Front

• Jailed Azerbaijani Journalist Announces Hunger Strike

A jailed Azerbaijani journalist says he will go on hunger strike to demand authorities comply with a ruling by the European Court for Human Rights to release him from jail, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reports.

• Armenia, Azerbaijan Mark Republic Day

Armenian leaders attend Republic Day celebrations at the Sardarapat memorial.

YEREVAN -- Armenia today marked the 92nd anniversary of the establishment of the first independent Armenian republic that emerged from the Russian Empire at the end of World War I, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports.

• Ecology Ministry spoke of the water level in Azerbaijan

There was a stable level of water in rivers on the territory of Azerbaijan June 1, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources said.

The water level has not changed compared to the previous day on the river Kura in Yevlakh, Zardab, Salyan regions. The slight increase of water level is observed in Surra (the level is currently 881 cm) and Shirvan (781 cm) - two and one centimeter, respectively, lower level - in Banka (429 cm) - one centimeter.

• Protest action outside Israeli embasy in Baku

The Karabakh Freedom Organization has held a picket outside the Israeli embassy in Baku. The organization's activists chanted slogans "Israel regime should face international court" and “Killers must be punished".

Kazakhstan

Political Front

• Kazakh President Won't Sign Draft Law On Special Powers

The draft bill would have allowed President Nursultan Nazarbaev to retain presidential powers even if he stepped down.

• Kazakh president rejects draft law on special powers

ALMATY (Reuters) - Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev on Thursday rejected a draft law to make him "Leader of the Nation" and grant him special powers for life if he resigned, showing he is not about to quit as head of state.

Geo strategic Front

• Tajik National Wanted By Uzbekistan Detained In Kazakhstan

TARAZ, Kazakhstan -- A rights organization says a Tajik citizen wanted by the Uzbek authorities for terrorism has been detained in southern Kazakhstan, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.

Economic /Energy Front

• China, Kazakh Pipeline Expansion On Hu Visit Agenda

Chinese President Hu Jintao will sign an agreement to increase crude pipeline capacity from Central Asia during a trip to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan next week.

Chinese assistant foreign minister Cheng Guoping told reporters in Beijing that the agreement will be part of China's efforts to diversify oil sources.

Social Front

• Kazakh Prison Inmates Mutilate Themselves In Protest

SHAKHTINSK, Kazakhstan -- Several inmates of Dolinka prison in Kazakhstan's central Qaraghandy Oblast have deliberately injured themselves, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports. The jail's warden Qaydar Sarin told RFE/RL that five prisoners had slashed open their stomachs on June 3.

Kyrgyzstan

Political Front

• Anti-Bakiev Protesters On Hunger Strike In North Kyrgyzstan

NARYN, Kyrgyzstan -- Seven residents of the city of Naryn in northern Kyrgyzstan have launched a hunger strike to demand that all associates of ousted former President Kurmanbek Bakiev be dismissed from official posts in the region, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.

• Kyrgyz Regimes Share Same Bloody Entrances, But Profoundly Different Inheritances

In early April, when the people of Kyrgyzstan chased their president from power for the second time in five years, it appeared spasmodic regime change was becoming a permanent fixture of Kyrgyz politics.

• Kyrgyz Demonstrators Protest Naryn Mayor's Ouster

NARYN, Kyrgyzstan -- Supporters of the former mayor of Naryn in northern Kyrgyzstan have rallied to protest his ouster, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.

• Interim Leader Otunbaeva Vows Kyrgyz Elections Will Be Fair, Transparent

Roza Otunbaeva, the acting president of Kyrgyzstan and chair of the interim government, was interviewed by RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service in Bishkek on June 4. The interview was conducted by Burulkan Sarygulova, acting Bishkek bureau chief.

Geo strategic Front

• U.S. stops refueling tanker planes at Kyrgyzstan base

(AP) - The U.S. military has stopped refueling tanker planes at its Manas air base in Kyrgyzstan as the U.S. renegotiates fuel prices with the Kyrgyz government, officials said Tuesday.

• Kyrgyz-Uzbek borders under tension

Regional Batken administration informed NA “24.kg” they are expecting arrival of Kurmankul Matenov, the head of State Frontier Service.

Economic /Energy Front

• Politics may slow economic growth in Kyrgyzstan 2010

Economic growth of Kyrgyzstan may slow down due to politics in 2010, National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic informs

Social Front

Tajikistan

Political Front

Geo strategic Front

• Emomali Rahmon to hold talks with Islam Karimov in Tashkent

DUSHANBE. June 4. “Asia-Plus” -- On June 10 this year Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon will leave for Uzbekistan’s capital of Tashkent to take part in a regular summit of heads of SCO member states, a reliable source in the government of Tajikistan told the AP.

• Tajik National Wanted By Uzbekistan Detained In Kazakhstan

TARAZ, Kazakhstan -- A rights organization says a Tajik citizen wanted by the Uzbek authorities for terrorism has been detained in southern Kazakhstan, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.

Economic /Energy Front

Social Front

• Belarus Flies Humanitarian Aid To Tajikistan

MINSK -- Belarus dispatched 32 tons of humanitarian aid to Tajikistan by air today, RFE/RL's Belarus Service reports.

• Tajik Communists Fear Region's Largest Lenin Statue To Be Removed

KHUJAND, Tajikistan -- Communists in northern Tajikistan say they fear authorities there are preparing to remove what is the largest Lenin statue in Central Asia, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports.

• Tajik Islamic Party Official Accused Of Human Trafficking

KULOB, Tajikistan -- A regional leader of Tajikistan's Islamic Renaissance Party has been charged with human trafficking, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports.

Abdufattoh Abdukholiqov is the head of the Islamic Renaissance Party in the Vose district of Tajikistan's southern Khatlon Province.

Turkmenistan

Political Front

• The 'Worst Of The Worst' Repressive Countries

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov ranks among the heads of the most repressive countries.

Geo strategic Front

• ICRC delegation visits Turkmenistan

Deputy Head of the Regional Delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Central Asia Francoise Blanci paid a working visit to Turkmenistan. In the framework of the visit the guest had a number of meetings in the ministries and departments of the country.

Economic /Energy Front

Social Front

• Turkmen president cruised along Avaza sea area

Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov in the framework of his stay in Balkan province cruised along the coast of the seaside city on July 3, during which he familiarized himself with the progress of construction in Avaza National Tourist Zone.

• Turkmen Officials Prevent Opening Of Art Exhibit

An art exhibit in Ashgabat for a well-known Turkmen artist has been canceled by Turkmen authorities without explanation, RFE/RL's Turkmen Service reports.

Culture Minister Gulmyrat Muradov nixed the plan to show works by Tokar Tugurov on May 28 in the hall of the Union of Artists of Turkmenistan, but gave no reason for the order.

Uzbekistan

Political Front

Geo strategic Front

• Tajik National Wanted By Uzbekistan Detained In Kazakhstan

TARAZ, Kazakhstan -- A rights organization says a Tajik citizen wanted by the Uzbek authorities for terrorism has been detained in southern Kazakhstan, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.

Economic /Energy Front

• China, Kazakh Pipeline Expansion On Hu Visit Agenda

Chinese President Hu Jintao will sign an agreement to increase crude pipeline capacity from Central Asia during a trip to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan next week.

• Uzbekistan receives new passenger locomotives from China

Two electric locomotives produced by CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Company (China) for Uzbekistan Railways were presented in Tashkent on 4 June. In accordance with the agreement signed in 2008, the Chinese company was to supply 15 high-speed passenger locomotives during 2010-2011.

Social Front

• Armored Vehicles Withdrawn From Uzbek Exclave

BATKEN, Kyrgyzstan -- Uzbekistan began withdrawing armored vehicles from an Uzbek exclave on Kyrgyz territory today, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports. The withdrawal was agreed during bilateral talks on June 1 aimed at easing tensions over the Sokh exclave near the two countries' border.

• Uzbekistan: The human rights activist Tatiana Dovlatova is being persecuted

The independent Tashkent-based human rights activist Tatiana Dovlatova, the participant of many demonstrations, the observer in the civil and criminal courts, the defender of property owners’ rights, was invited for interrogation with the district investigator. According to the invitation letter, she is incriminated "Hooliganism", the article of the Republic of Uzbekistan Criminal Code.