Summery

     Azerbaijan

Political Front

• Aliyev's Azerbaijani Empire Grows, As Daughter Joins The Game

The daughters of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev: Arzu (left) and Leyla in Baku last month

Geo strategic Front

• Netherlands wants to have all-around" cooperation with Azerbaijan"

 "The Netherlands wants to have all-round cooperation with Azerbaijan," said visiting Dutch Minister of Justice Ernst Hirsch Ballin.

• Azerbaijani official meets with U.S. diplomat

 Ruling New Azerbaijan Party (NAP) Deputy Chairman, MP Ali Ahmadov met today with newly appointed Political Officer to the U.S. Embassy in Baku Brigette Buchet.

At the meeting, Buchet and Ahmadov discussed the existing cooperation between Azerbaijan and the United States, and also exchanged their views on prospects of development.

• Karabakh problem "to be discussed at NATO PA's Autumn session"

The Nagorno-Karabakh problem will be discussed at the autumn session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, said deputy executive secretary of the New Azerbaijan Party, member of the country`s delegation to NATO PA, Siyavush Novruzov.

• Azerbaijani Scientist Released From Iranian Prison

BAKU -- An Azerbaijani scientist has arrived in Baku after being released from an Iranian jail after serving a two-year sentence for espionage, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reports. Rashid Aliyev travelled to Iran in 2006 to work for the Sazan Electronics Industry Company in the city of Semnan, east of Tehran. 

• Azerbaijan - U.S. discuss military cooperation

  Azerbaijan Minister of Defense, colonel-general Safar Abiyev has met today Adjutant General of Oklahoma, Major General Myles Deering.

• OSCE observation groups to visit Azerbaijan in September

The OSCE’s small observation group will visit Azerbaijan early September, head of the OSCE Office in Baku Ali Bilge Cankorel told journalists, APA reports.

Economic/Energy Front

• U.S. expert: "Azerbaijan's role as gas supplier and transit country for Europe and Balkans grows"

 Borut Grgic, a senior fellow at the Washington DC based Atlantic Council and the founder of the TransCaspian Initiatives believes that, Azerbaijan’s role as gas supplier and transit country for Europe and Balkans grows.

Social Front

• Azerbaijani Plane Crew Criticized Over Evacuation Delay

BAKU -- The head of the Istanbul airport says the crew of an Azerbaijani plane that went off a runway failed to comply with emergency procedures for evacuating passengers, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reports.

• Baku to host International Botanic Conference

International Botanic Conference will take place in Baku, from September 24-27, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences said. The event will feature a wide range of issues, including use of plant resources, problems of greenery in cities' ecosystem, plant ecology.

• Azerbaijan to give $1 million financial assistance to Pakistan

 Azerbaijan will give financial assistance to Pakistan, Foreign Ministry’s press service told APA. In connection with the natural disaster in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,

    Kazakhstan

Political Front

Geo strategic Front

• OSCE to hold next summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Dec 1-2

Astana. August 6. Interfax-Kazakhstan - The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe on Tuesday decided to hold its next summit in Astana on December 1-2, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said on Thursday.

Economic/Energy Front

• KazMunayGas to invest $8 billion in Kashagan development project in 2010-2014

“KazMunayGas’s investments in 2010-2014 will come to $20 billion, including $8 billion in Kashagan, $4 in the refinery upgrading project”, Kairgeldy Kabyldin, the president of KazMunayGas, told Samruk-Kazyna Board of Directors in Astana on Thursday.

Social Front

• Kazakh Subway Workers To Start Hunger Strike Over Upaid Wages

ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- Dozens of construction workers building a subway in Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest city, have vowed to begin a hunger strike on August 11 to demand three months of unpaid wages, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.

• Two dead in Kazakh prison riot 

At least two inmates have been killed and more than 80 injured during a prison riot in Kazakhstan, close to the Russian border. Troops stormed the facility using batons and stun-grenades, but no firearms, the interior ministry said.

    Kyrgyzstan

Political Front

• Former Kyrgyz Prime Minister Released From Detention

Igor Chudinov has been released from custody in Kyrgyzstan, after guaranteeing he will not try to leave the country.  Chudinov, who was prime minister from 2007 to 2009 under former President Kurmanbek Bakiev, voluntarily turned himself in earlier this week when he discovered there was a warrant for his arrest.

• Kyrgyz Activists Protest OSCE Police Deployment

TALAS, Kyrgyzstan -- Dozens of activists have protested in Kyrgyz cities about the planned international police deployment in the south of the country, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.

• Kyrgyz Official Criticizes Foreign Partners

The deputy head of Kyrgyzstan's government, Azimbek Beknazarov, has used a press conference to lash out at regional and international organizations of which Kyrgyzstan is a member. Referring to the carnage that broke out in southern Kyrgyzstan when fighting started between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in June, Beknazarov said the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the CIS Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) "ignored us" when "the tragic events started....and we appealed through official channels for help from the SCO and CSTO."

• Kyrgyzstan Arrests 'Bakiev Supporter' Over June Clashes

BISHKEK -- Kyrgyzstan's National Security Service (UKK) has arrested an alleged supporter of ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiev who it says was involved in starting ethnic clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan in June, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.

• Kyrgyz Elections Due In October

Kyrgyzstan's President Roza Otunbaeva has announced that parliamentary elections will take place on October 10.

Officials waited to announce the election date until the situation in southern Kyrgyzstan, the scene of violence between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in June improved enough to allow for conducting a poll.

• Kyrgyzstan Lifts State Of Emergency In South

OSH, Kyrgyzstan -- Authorities in Kyrgyzstan have lifted the state of emergency in southern regions, which were hit by a wave of ethnic violence earlier this year, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports. Sooronbay Jeenbekov, the acting governor of Osh Oblast, told RFE/RL the situation in the region has stabilized and it is necessary to begin preparing for parliamentary elections scheduled for October 10.

• Primer On Kyrgyz Parliamentary Elections

Kyrgyzstan's President Roza Otunbaeva has announced that the government will hold parliamentary elections on October 10. The government waited to announce the election date until the situation in southern Kyrgyzstan had improved. The area was the site of violence between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in June, but the state of emergency has now been lifted.

Geo strategic Front

• Swiss Diplomat Will Head OSCE Police Advisers In Kyrgyzstan

Swiss diplomat Markus Mueller has been selected to head a team of 52 police advisers whom the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) plans to send to Kyrgyzstan.

Economic/Energy Front

Social Front

• Turkmenistan Preventing Students From Returning To Kyrgyzstan

LEBAP, Turkmenistan -- Turkmen officials are attempting to stop university students from returning to Kyrgyzstan to continue their studies in the wake of ethnic violence there, RFE/RL's Turkmen Service has learned.

• Kyrgyz University Students Asked To Fill Teacher Shortage

OSH -- The Kyrgyz government is asking university students to teach at secondary schools in the southern city of Osh due to a shortage of teachers, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.

Tajikistan

Political Front

• Arrest Of Former Tajik Prosecutor-General's Son Confirmed

Faizullo Bobokhonov, the son of Tajikistan's former prosecutor-general, has been arrested and charged with accepting bribes.

Geo strategic Front

• President Rahmon receives new ambassador of China

DUSHANBE, August 13, 2010, Asia-Plus - Friendship of leaders of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon and China Hu Tzin Tao is guarantor of relations development between two countries in spheres of policy, economy, safety and international relations. New ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of China Fanak Syanzhun in RT declared about it to journalists on Friday after presentation of credentials to head of state.

• 'Tajik Terrorist Suspects' Detained In Northern Afghanistan

DUSHANBE -- The Tajik Foreign Ministry says it is investigating whether three men detained three days ago in Afghanistan on suspicion of terrorism are Tajik citizens, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports.

• Uzbekistan does not rescind restrictions for Tajik nationals on proceeding via crossing in Tursunzoda

DUSHANBE, August 9, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- Uzbekistan has not yet rescinded restrictions for Tajik nationals on proceeding via crossings on the Tursunzoda stretch of the Tajik-Uzbek border that was imposed almost three months ago.

Economic/Energy Front

• Gazprom Zarubezhneftegaz prepares for drilling of the first prospecting hole

DUSHANBE, August 12, 2010, Asia-Plus - Closed Joint-Stock Company Gazprom Zarubezhneftegaz (the company-operator of the investment project of JSC "Gasprom" on search and investigation of hydrocarbons in the Republic of Tajikistan) conducts preparation for the next stage of the project - search drilling on the site Sarikamysh, Shahrinav district.

Social Front

• Female Suicides In Tajikistan Linked To Domestic Violence

QURGHONTEPPA, Tajikistan -- A Tajik official says the high rate of self-immolation among women in southern Tajikistan is related in most cases to domestic violence perpetrated by men, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports.

• Prayers Banned At Tajik Opposition Party Mosque

DUSHANBE -- Prayer has been banned in the mosque at the headquarters in Dushanbe of the Islamic Renaissance Party (IRP), in a move that could pave the way for its closure, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports.

• Muslim Call To Prayer 'Banned' In Tajik City Ahead Of Ramadan

Local reports say the call to prayer through loudspeakers has been banned in northern Tajikistan as Muslims worldwide ready for the holy month of Ramadan, which starts on August 11 and 12.

• USAID will allocate to Tajikistan within the next three years more than $1.1 million for struggle against the human traffic

DUSHANBE, August 10, 2010, Asia-Plus - Agency of the USA on the international development (USAID) will allocate to Tajikistan within the next three years more than $1,1 million for struggle against the human traffic.

    Turkmenistan

Political Front

• Turkmenistan prepares for elections of local people's councils

The Central Commission for Elections and Referenda of Turkmenistan held a meeting in Ashgabat on 7 August to discuss preparations for elections of regional, district and city peoples councils. According to TDH news agency, this important social-political action is scheduled for 5 December 2010.

Geo strategic Front

• U.S. and Turkmenistan to continue cooperation on drug control

Turkmenistan and the U.S. have formally extended the ongoing cooperation on drug control and law enforcement by signing the fourth annex to the existing Intergovernmental Agreement of September 2001.

The signing ceremony was held yesterday at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan. On behalf of the Government of Turkmenistan the document was signed by the Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov, and on behalf of the U.S. government " by Charge d'Affaires in Turkmenistan, Lynn Tracy.

Economic/Energy Front

• Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India preparing framework agreement on gas pipeline

The technical working group on the gas pipeline project Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) fleshed out a number of economic and technical components of the future gas pipeline at a regular meeting that finished in Ashgabat on 6 August. The working group also identified further steps related to construction of the gas pipeline.

• Turkmenistan plans to increase electricity exports

Turkmenistan plans to increase exports of electricity, including via a new route to Pakistan through Afghanistan. To this end, the country plans to implement a number of major energy projects, President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said on 9 August at a meeting on the development of construction and energy industries of Turkmenistan.

• Turkmen President Wants Chinese Loan To Open Huge Gas Field

Facilities at the Samantepe gas field. Foreign investors are vying for access to Turkmenistan's gas resources.

August 13, 2010

• Turkmen Oil Starts Flowing Through BTC Pipeline

Leaders of Turkey, Georgia, and Azerbaijan pose with BP CEO John Browne at the opening of the BTC pipeline in 2006.

August 12, 2010

• Turkmenistan stands ready to sign agreement on TAPI gas pipeline before end of 2010

The Government of Turkmenistan will do all the necessary work to ensure that a contract for the sale of natural gas as part of the gas pipeline project Turkmenistan - Afghanistan - Pakistan " India (TAPI) is signed this year. As the Turkmenistan.ru correspondent reports from Ashgabat, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov issued relevant instructions at a meeting yesterday.

• China to provide major loan for development of Southern Yoloten field

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov instructed the leadership of the oil and gas industry to hold "fruitful negotiations with the State Development Bank of China to obtain a soft loan worth US $ 4,100 billion.

• Foreign oil companies to intensify work in Turkmen sector of Caspian Sea

On August 12, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov instructed the Director of State Agency for Management and Use of Oil and Gas Resources under the President of Turkmenistan, Yagshigeldy Kakaev, to "accelerate the pace of work on environmental assessment of projects implemented on PSA terms in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea.

Social Front

• Turkmenistan Preventing Students From Returning To Kyrgyzstan

LEBAP, Turkmenistan -- Turkmen officials are attempting to stop university students from returning to Kyrgyzstan to continue their studies in the wake of ethnic violence there, RFE/RL's Turkmen Service has learned.

    Uzbekistan

Political Front

• Legislative Chamber holds session

The Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan held its regular session on 12 August. Chairman of the Committee for Democratic Institutions, NGOs and Citizen’s Self-Government Bodies Akmal Saidov presented the draft law on prevention of child neglect and juvenile delinquency in the third reading.

• Senate to convene for third plenary session

The Kengash (Council) of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan adopted a resolution on 10 August on convening the third plenary session of the parliament’s upper house on 28 August.

Geo strategic Front

• Uzbekistan does not rescind restrictions for Tajik nationals on proceeding via crossing in Tursunzoda

DUSHANBE, August 9, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- Uzbekistan has not yet rescinded restrictions for Tajik nationals on proceeding via crossings on the Tursunzoda stretch of the Tajik-Uzbek border that was imposed almost three months ago.

• President meets with Japan’s Foreign Minister

President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov met with Katsuya Okada, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, at Oqsaroy August 8.

Welcoming the guest, the head of our nation expressed satisfaction with the current state and the level of Uzbek-Japanese relations in various spheres.

Economic/Energy Front

• New cargo terminal opens at Navoi airport

Opening of the cargo terminal, which is part of the intermodal logistics center, took place on 12 August at Navoi international airport. The commissioning of the terminal is an important stage of the investment project “Creation of intermodal logistics center at Navoi international airport”, implemented with participation of Korean Air.

Social Front

• Uzbekistan: The correspondent of Russian Parlamentskaya gazeta is brought to trial in Tashkent

On August 10 the first court session, dedicated to the case of Vladimir Berezovskiy, the correspondent of Russian Parlamentskaya gazeta in the region and editor of Vesti.Uz, took place in Tashkent.

• What Net Neutrality Means In Uzbekistan

The U.S. debate about net neutrality -- whether Internet service providers (ISPs) can discriminate against certain types of content -- has been anything but sensible, with no shortage of hyperbole from both sides. What is a complex, legitimate, and healthy debate about regulation and the opaque and sometimes byzantine deals between ISPs and content providers has been reduced to a standoff between proponents of a "public" Internet and evil corporations bent on controlling your favorite blog.