Summery

     Azerbaijan

Political Front

• Executive power chiefs receive instructions concerning parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan

Executive power chiefs have received instructions in Azerbaijan due to upcoming parliamentary elections. "The heads of the executive bodies are instructed to create conditions for use of sitres envisaged for promotion by all interested persons,

Geo strategic Front

• Azerbaijani Defense Ministry Rejects 'Laughable' Armenian Statement

BAKU -- Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry has rejected as "laughable" a claim by Yerevan that Russia could back Armenia in case of a new conflict over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reports.

• Armenia Warns Azerbaijan Over New UN Resolution

YEREVAN -- Armenia's Foreign Ministry has warned Azerbaijan against trying to push through the United Nations General Assembly a fresh resolution that accuses Yerevan of occupying Azerbaijani lands and thereby hampering a peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports.

• The Wider Implications Of The Russian-Armenian Defense Deal

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian signed a protocol last week prolonging the two countries' 1995 bilateral defense treaty. While the protocol is deemed a mere prolongation of the existing treaty, there are important new features.

• UN General Assembly expected to discuss resolution on Azerbaijan's occupied territories in September

 Resolution on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict entitled "The situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan" will possible be discussed at the UN General Assembly meeting on Sept. 9, a UN source told APA’s Washington DC correspondent.

• Azerbaijan studies Russia-Armenia military protocol

Azerbaijan is studying military agreement signed between Russia and Armenia on lease of the military base in Gyumri.

Economic/Energy Front

• Baku to host 1st Renewable Energy Caucasus Forum

Azerbaijan's capital will host the 1st Renewable Energy Caucasus Forum in September. The forum will be co-organized by the Academy of European Management and EVRA International, Inc.

• India seeks to invest in Azerbaijan's oil and gas sector

 India intends to invest in oil and gas sector of Azerbaijan, Joint Secretary (Eurasia Division) in India's Ministry of External Affairs, Mr. Ajay Bisaria said at the meeting with a group of journalists from CIS countries in Delhi.

Social Front

• EU Pressures Azerbaijan On 'Donkey Bloggers'

Nice to see the EU's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton take a stand on the case of Azerbaijan's "donkey bloggers," who in 2009 received jail terms, ostensibly on hooliganism charges.

Kazakhstan

Political Front

• Nazarbayev appoints new head of National Security Committee

ASTANA, August 23 (Itar-Tass) -- Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev on Monday, August 23, appointed Nurtai Abykayev as the new head of the National Security Committee.

Geo strategic Front

• Kazakh president’s refusal from nuclear arms is historic – experts

 MOSCOW, August 27 (Itar-Tass) -- A refusal of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev from nuclear armaments is a historic event, Russian and Kazakh experts said at a Moscow roundtable on Friday.

Economic/Energy Front

• Kazakhstan pushes Islamic finance post-crisis

Seeking to diversify its financial industry after a banking crisis, oil-rich Kazakhstan is drawing on Arab and Malaysian investment in an effort to build an Islamic finance industry among its 13 million Muslims.

Social Front

• 'Award' Visit For Jailed Kazakh Rights Defender

The head of a European human rights watchdog has visited jailed Kazakh rights activist Yevgeny Zhovtis to congratulate him on being awarded the group's annual prize, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.

• Kazakh Journalists Covering Sufi Trial Briefly Detained

On August 26, police in Almaty detained a group of journalists and kept them at a police station for three hours without any explanation, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.

    Kyrgyzstan

Political Front

• Interview: Osh Governor Says 'We Have To Remove The Fear'

Sooronbai Jeenbekov was named governor of the southern region of Osh by interim President Roza Otunbaeva in April, almost two months before the clashes between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz in the Osh and Jalal-Abad regions that led to nearly 400 deaths and thousands of homes and businesses being destroyed.

• Protesters In Southern Kyrgyz City Want Old Mayor Back

BATKEN -- Some 100 protesters are picketing the mayor's office in Kyrgyzstan's southern city of Batken to demand that former Mayor Seidakmat Ermatov be reinstated, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.

• No Kosovo For Kyrgyzstan

There is growing resistance in Kyrgyzstan to having police from the Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe (OSCE), an organization in which Kyrgyzstan is a member, sent to two cities in the south.

• In Kyrgyzstan 190 criminal cases commenced against Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s milieu

190 criminal cases are commenced on the fact of crimes committed by high ranking officials during the era of Kurmanbek Bakiyev. The Prosecutor General of Kyrgyzstan Baytemir Ibraev stated at the government session today.

• General Prosecutor Office of Kyrgyzstan completed investigation of April events

General Prosecutor Office of Kyrgyzstan has completed investigation of April events when over 80 people were killed near the Government House in Bishkek. The Prosecutor General Baytemir Ibraev stated in the government today.

• Two political parties refused to participate in the election campaign in Kyrgyzstan

Two political parties refused to participate in the election campaign.

Algyr-Kyraan political organization told 24.kg news agency that they decided not to run for seats in the 5th convocation of Zhogorku Kenesh.

• Parties canvassing before the beginning of the pre-election campaign violate Election Code

 “The parties canvassing before the beginning of the pre-election campaign are harshly violating Election Code and must incur responsibility,” Galina Skripkina, the member of the Central Election Commission of Kyrgyzstan, stated to 24.kg news agency.

• OSCE/ODIHR to prepare recommendations to Kyrgyz authorities prior to parliamentary elections

Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe will prepare a number of recommendations to the Kyrgyz authorities prior to the parliamentary elections. Some of them, according to the bureau, must be implemented before the Election Day, the OSCE Centre in Bishkek announced today.

Geo strategic Front

• June events in Kyrgyzstan forced CSTO countries to change the Charter

June events in Kyrgyzstan forced Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) countries to change the organization’s charter. This is one of the results of the informal summit in Yerevan, which brought together the presidents of Russia, Armenia, Tajikistan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Only the president of Uzbekistan failed to come through illness, Russian media reports.

Economic/Energy Front

• Kyrgyz government cannot expend 6 percents of GDP on infrastructure development - Chyngyz Makeshov

 “Kyrgyz government cannot expend 6 percents of GDP on infrastructure development as international financial institutions advice to do,” Executive Director of Businessmen Union Chyngyz Makeshov stated at the session of the Council for Business Development and Investment.

Social Front

• Obama orders to allocate 10 mln dlrs for displaced Kyrgyz persons

WASHINGTON, August 28 (Itar-Tass) -- US President Barack Obama has ordered to allocate up to 9.5 million dollars in assistance to displaced people in Kyrgyzstan, the press office of the White House said on Friday. These funds will be disbursed from the Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance Fund.

• Kyrgyz Authorities Say Schools In South To Open On Time

Education Minister Kanat Sadykov said that university students' new academic year had been postponed in order to prevent the students being used by different political groups during the upcoming election campaign.

• Few Turkmen, Uzbek Students Return To Kyrgyz University

OSH -- The rector of the largest university in Osh says many students from Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are not expected to return to school this semester, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.

Tajikistan

Political Front

• Twenty-Five Militants Escape Prison In Tajikistan

DUSHANBE -- Tajik authorities say some 25 Islamic militants serving long jail terms have escaped from prison, killing at least five prison guards.

Geo strategic Front

• Tajik, Kazakh FMs sign government-to-government agreement

DUSHANBE, August 25, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- The first sitting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of Tajikistan and Kazakhstan took place in the Kazakh capital Astana on August 24.

• Tajikistan, Armenia underline necessity of expansion of bilateral cooperation

DUSHANBE, August 23, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- On Friday August 20, Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi met in Yerevan with His Armenian counterpart Edvard Nalbandyan on sidelines of an informal meeting of the heads of state of member nations of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) that took place in the Armenian capital the same day, according to the Tajik MFA information department.

• Tajik official dismisses fears of militant attacks on Kyrgyzstan

DUSHANBE, August 23, 2010, Asia-Plus – A senior Tajik security official says Kyrgyzstan's concerns about the infiltration of Islamic militants from Tajikistan into Kyrgyzstan are unfounded, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reported on August 20.

Economic/Energy Front

Social Front

• 5,500 Tajiks to perform Hajj this year

DUSHANBE, August 25, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- Registration of Tajik Muslims who want to perform Hajj this year will last until August 31, according to the Committee on Religious Affairs. “Saudi authorities have allocated a quota of 5,500 hajjis to Tajikistan this year, which is 500 more than last year,” said the source.

• Women Appeal Against 'Impending Hijab Ban' At Tajik City Market

QORGHONTEPPA, Tajikistan --- A group of women market merchants in the southern Tajik city of Qorghonteppa say they are coming under pressure to stop wearing the hijab, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports.

• Tajikistan's Official Calm Belies Potential Prison Break Crisis

A major international manhunt is under way after dozens of enemies of the Tajik state broke out from prison this week, but you wouldn't know it from the official reaction.

Turkmenistan

Political Front

Geo strategic Front

• Kabul to host meeting of Turkmen-Afghan commission on cooperation

The second meeting of the intergovernmental Turkmen-Afghani commission on trade-economic and technical cooperation will take place in the capital of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Kabul, on August 30-31.

• Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan to hold talks in Islamabad

The second meeting of the intergovernmental Turkmen-Pakistani commission will take place in Islamabad on August 24-25. The delegation of Turkmenistan will be headed by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov.

Economic/Energy Front

• Delegation of Turkmenistan to attend conference of Asian oil companies

The Director of the State Agency for Management and Use of Hydrocarbon Resources under the President of Turkmenistan, Yagshigeldy Kakayev has left for Seoul, where he will participate in a conference at the level of heads of national oil companies of Asian countries.

• Turkmenistan Tips Its Hand On Future Energy Exports

An oil platform in Turkmenistan's Caspian Sea territory -- the president indicated that Turkmenistan is willing to open up Caspian development to U.S. and other companies.

Turkmenistan, so key to the energy plans of so many, had long shown its readiness to break Russia's stranglehold on its gas and oil exports. But Ashgabat has offered few hints as to who it prefers as an alternative.

Social Front

• Turkmenistan Removes Gold Statue Of Niyazov From Ashgabat

A prominent 12-meter golden statue of Turkmenistan's former dictator Saparmurat Niyazov has been taken down in the capital Ashgabat -- a move further eroding the personality cult around the late Central Asian leader.

    Uzbekistan

Political Front

Geo strategic Front

• Chinese delegation visits Uzbekistan

Delegation of China headed by Liu Yunshan, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, met the Speaker of Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan Dilorom Tashmuhamedova in Tashkent on 24 August.

Economic/Energy Front

Social Front

• Uzbekistan Burns Half A Ton Of Seized Afghan Heroin

Authorities in Uzbekistan have incinerated nearly a half ton of confiscated Afghan heroin worth an estimated street value of $150 million in Europe.

• Disabled Uzbek Man Tries To Crown President

TASHKENT -- A disabled Uzbek man has ridden over 500 kilometers in his wheelchair -- in the hope of crowning President Islam Karimov on Independence Day, RFE/RL's Uzbek Service reports