Hello all; first of all, I am sorry for my hiatus from posts (paucity of posting) for such a long time, but also, I am happy to say that I have found a new home on the web, and I will be once again posting much more frequently!
From now on, I will be posting about Tajikistan at
http://studentdigitalus.org/TajikistanFocus/
I hope you will head over and check us out.
Over on Global Voices there is a really interesting post and discussion on LGBT rights and discrimination in Tajikistan (hit the link for more):
Gay issues are a taboo subject in Tajikistan. Although the country decriminalized homosexuality fifteen years ago, there is still very little tolerance toward sexual minorities within its conservative society. In addition to homophobic attitudes, those rare individuals who dare to disclose their ‘unconventional’ sexual orientation become easy targets of physical and psychological abuse, including from police (pdf). As a result, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community remains ”one of the most closed and secretive parts of Tajik society”.
A recent discussion in the country’s blogosphere offers a rare glimpse into what it means to be gay in Tajikistan and how the country’s people view members of the LGBT community.
‘It means PAIN…’
The discussion started after blogger Rishdor wrote [ru] about a violent incident at his university. Students there found out that one of their classmates was a gay. Rishdor writes [ru]:
Как-то все восприняли это как личную обиду. Гомика решили проучить. Человек 8 однокурсников избили его в туалете. Жестоко избили, у него все лицо и костюм были в крови…
For some reason, everyone took it as a personal offence. It was decided that the [gay] should be taught a lesson. About eight of our classmates beat him up in the bathroom. They beat him up badly; there was a lot of blood on his face and clothes…
Tajikistan is turning ageism into state policy. Supposedly seeking to “attract young specialists” into government service, the president’s office has instructed officials to lay off elderly government employees –including teachers, doctors at state hospitals, and office functionaries – regardless of their qualifications.
Critics fear the policy will exacerbate the decline of Tajikistan’s intellectual capital. The December 6 order covers those who are old enough to qualify for pensions – 63 for men and 58 for women. Signed by the president’s chief of staff, former Justice Minister Bakhtiyor Khudoyorov, the order is designed to “accelerate the use of modern technologies, especially in the area of e-governance.”
Telecommunications engineer Ilkhom Shomuddinov, 64, is among those affected. He has worked for the state for more than 40 years. “Believe it or not, I don’t remember taking a single sick day. Now, I am told that I am dismissed – they [the managers] follow instructions from above. They don’t know whom to replace me with. Even if they manage to find a young specialist with my qualifications, it is unlikely he would work for that joke of a salary,” Shomuddinov told EurasiaNet.org.
Government wages are paltry: High school teachers earn about $70 per month, doctors between $100 and $200, and secretaries between $100 and $150.
But pensions (a form of social security issued to all, regardless of where a pensioner worked) are more difficult to live on, not only because they are smaller, but because they do not afford one the opportunity to use his or her official position to earn extra income (teachers offer their students private lessons, doctors see patients outside of office hours, and bureaucrats pocket bribes). The order effectively condemns many older workers to poverty. According to the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, there are 590,000 pensioners in Tajikistan; the average monthly pension is 152 somoni (less than $32).
Judging from reactions in local media, the order is deeply unpopular. Some legal experts argue it not only undermines Tajiks’ constitutional rights, but also their human rights according to international law.
Multiple attempts to discuss the order with officials at the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection and the president’s office failed. Officials repeatedly transferred calls to phones that went unanswered.
In response to media criticism, during a January 7 press conference Education Minister Nuriddin Saidov promised “no dismissals will be carried out in the educational system in relation to the age of employees,” the Asia-Plus news agency quoted him as saying. “Many workers who have reached the pension age are qualified and experienced cadre, and we need them [as badly] as we need the air.”
Yet layoffs in the education system, which the minister oversees, have occurred. In early January, Khujand State University dismissed 11 professors who had passed retirement age, the Avesta news agency reported. At Kulyab State University, 23 elderly teachers have reportedly been laid off.
Government sources say they are faced with a dilemma: Ignore authoritarian President Imomali Rahmon’s order and face punishment from the chief executive’s office, or replace aging specialists with unqualified and untested young people who have come up through the dilapidated post-Soviet education system. “On the one hand, we cannot ignore instructions from the president’s office; on the other hand, it would be a crime to fire professors. Who will train young doctors then? Both the education and health sectors have decayed during the years of independence and the civil war,” said a source in the Health Ministry’s Education Department, speaking on condition of anonymity because of a fear of retaliation.
via Tajikistan: Executive Order Disregards Collective Wisdom | EurasiaNet.org.
Tajikistan in 2012: A Year in Review
The past year was an eventful one in Tajikistan on the economic, political and military fronts, with both domestic and regional ramifications. Importantly for Tajikistan’s economy, in May 2012, construction on the controversial hydroelectric Rogun Dam on the Vaksh River—a tributary of the Amu Darya river—was suspended following an order from the World Bank. The suspension reportedly put 5,000 people out of work and will remain in effect until the ecological impact study of the dam is completed. It is expected that the Word Bank’s feasibility study will be published this summer. Rogun is commonly seen to be at the heart of the hostility between Tajikistan and downstream Uzbekistan, which fears that the dam would severely damage Uzbekistani farmers’ ability to irrigate their cotton crops and would accelerate the ecological disaster in the Aral Sea. Uzbekistan has retaliated by periodically not allowing Tajikistan-bound rail and truck cargo to cross its borders and cutting off the flow of natural gas, exacerbating Tajikistan’s perennial energy shortages (Ozodi, January 1).
The year 2012 did however bring some good news for Tajikistan’s hopes of energy security with the news of the discovery of potentially huge hydrocarbon reserves in the Bokhtar region. The find was announced earlier this summer by the Canadian firm Tethys Petroleum and was deemed credible enough to attract investment from both the French energy giant Total and China’s National Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Corporation (CNODC) (Asia Plus, December 24, 2012). While further exploration needs to be done, the potential reserves of oil and gas are estimated to be more than enough to make Tajikistan a net exporter of hydrocarbons. Such a development would free Dushanbe from its energy reliance on Russia and Uzbekistan and no doubt influence its foreign policy calculations.
In December, Tajikistan joined the World Trade Organization, which local economists hope will lower domestic customs tariffs, curb the power of monopolies in certain sectors such as aviation, lower prices on domestic goods, and encourage foreign investment (BBC Tajik, December 11, 2012). On the other hand, some critics have raised concerns over the potential negative short-term effects on the competitiveness of Tajikistan’s two chief exports, aluminum and cotton. The country’s cotton industry is not only an important economic force but, given the continued existence in Tajikistan of Soviet-style collective farms (kolkhozy), an important socio-political institution as well.
On the political front, the big story looming in 2013 is the presidential election slated for November. The election will mark the first in Tajikistan since 2006 when Emomalii Rahmon secured his third term in office. That vote was boycotted by several opposition parties including the largest, the Islamic Renaissance Party (IRP). However, this time the opposition parties are expected to participate and possibly put forth a coalition candidate. Nonetheless, 2012 was a rough year for the opposition as both religious and political figures such as Muhiddin Kabiri (the head of the IRP) and Hoji Akbar Turajonzoda (prominent cleric and former deputy prime minister) were legally harassed, imprisoned (such as Umarali Quvatov, businessman and head of the exiled opposition group “Group 24”), and even killed (notably, Sabzali Mamadrizoev, head of the IRP in the remote Gorno-Badakhshan region). Since the last presidential vote in 2006, Rahmon has seen neighboring states and allies embroiled in contested elections and subsequent hostility (witness Iran’s 2009 presidential election, the 2010 coup in Kyrgyzstan as well as the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011-2012). Despite assurances from some quarters that the country’s civil war has bred a war-weary and politically disinterested population, the regime will likely increase the pressure on the opposition and consolidate its power during the run-up to the elections in anticipation of potential unrest. President Rahmon may attempt to secure his rule by exaggerating the threat of Islamic extremism and proffering himself as a bulwark against regional instability in the context of a post-2014 Afghanistan. However the unrest this summer in Tajikistan’s Gorno-Badakhshan that killed dozens was a sobering reminder of at least three things: 1) not all Tajikistanis are war weary, 2) not all threats to the regime are inspired by Islam, and 3) the regime underestimates the domestic and international backlash against such heavy-handed tactics.
via UNHCR | Refworld | Tajikistan in 2012: A Year in Review.
Authorities in Tajikistan have ordered Internet service providers, again, to block access to Facebook, local news agencies report. The blocking orders (which this time also target the local service of Radio Liberty) have become so familiar in the past year that there’s little new to say. So let’s look at how the man in charge of Internet access has explained his thinking in recent months.
Last March, the head of the communications service, Beg Zukhurov, after denying any order to block Facebook, said his office had actually blocked the site for “prophylactic maintenance.”
Internet service providers have said they were ordered to block Facebook last weekend, along with three or four news portals, by the state communications service, after one of the portals published an article severely criticizing [President Emomali] Rakhmon and his government. When queried by news agency Asia-Plus, the head of the service, Beg Zukhurov, denied any order to block Facebook, but said the authors of offensive online content “defaming the honor and dignity of the Tajik authorities” should be made “answerable.” Tajikistan frequently uses libel cases and extremism charges to silence critical journalists.
In November, Zukhurov again flipped the switch and memorably called Facebook a “hotbed of slander” when he sought a meeting with the social network’s founder and chairman, Mark Zuckerberg.
“Does Facebook have an owner? Can he come to Tajikistan? I’d meet him during visiting hours. If he does not have time, I’d talk to his assistants,” the BBC’s Russian service quoted Zukhurov as saying. (Zukhurov’s visiting hours are Saturday’s from 10am to noon.)
Zukhurov would like to discuss with Zuckerberg his theory that Facebook users are being paid to complain about their leaders, which is keeping them from discussing more important issues: “For example, somewhere in Tajikistan there is no water or roads are bad or the weather forecast is incorrect. But users do not write about these [topics]. They write especially about money issues. I was told that the users who post critical comments about officials and entrepreneurs are paid $5,000 to $10,000 for doing this. I’m very surprised about how expensive the comments are.”
The following month, over a long weekend in December, Zukhurov blocked 131 sites, seemingly chosen at random, for “technical” reasons.
The latest, short-lived mass blockade lasted from December 21- 25, and had observers scratching their heads. Some believe Zukhurov is honing techniques intended for use during elections this coming November, when President Imomali Rahmon is expected to seek another seven-year term. Tajikistan has no independent television outlets and no daily newspapers, leaving the Internet as the sole outlet open to Tajiks to air criticism of the government. Others say Zukhurov is trying to demonstrate his value to Rahmon.
[…]
Zukhurov’s actions may have unintended consequences, contends former education minister Munira Inoyatova. “The blocking of web resources – especially social networks – is widely seen as impeding access to information and prohibiting free communication. These prohibitions always increase social tensions,” Inoyatova told EurasiaNet.org.
For many, the most memorable Zukhurovism was his explanation for a communications blackout in the restive Gorno-Badakhshan province last summer, scene of heavy fighting between government troops and local warlords: A stray bullet had taken out a cable, he said, severing all phone and Internet connections to the region for a month (he did not explain the simultaneous YouTube block).
The repeated attempts to cut Tajiks’ access to the Internet – and the nonsensical explanations – have drawn widespread criticism from diplomats, press freedom watchdogs, and Tajiks embarrassed for their country. Whatever Zukhurov’s motivations, he’s helping turn isolated Tajikistan into a black hole for media freedom.
16 January 2013 Last updated at 04:49 ET Help
Afghanistan is the world’s biggest opium producer and it is estimated about a third of the drugs produced there go to Russia and Europe via Tajikistan.
Tajikistan is the poorest country in Central Asia and the rewards that come with trafficking the drugs are hard to resist for its people struggling to make a living along its long and open border with Afghanistan.
With Nato troops preparing to withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of 2014 there are fears Tajikistan may become even more vulnerable to the trade.
The BBC’s Rustam Qobil travelled to one Tajik village on the border between the two countries where drug dealers try to recruit couriers for their trade.
Listen to the full report on Thursday, 17 January on Assignment on the BBC World Service.
Tajikistan is a transit point for one of the most lucrative drugs routes in the world.
Illegal drugs from neighbouring Afghanistan flood into the country on their way to Russia and Western Europe.
The rewards that come with trafficking the drugs can be hard to resist for Tajik people, who struggle to make a living along the country’s long and open border with Afghanistan.
In many Tajik villages on the border, villagers are sometimes recruited to help smuggle drugs along their journey into lucrative markets.
Prison sentences
Shadia (not her real name), a woman I met in a remote region near the Afghan border, knows only too well about the risks people in her village take when they give in to temptation.
“My husband wanted to buy some flour to make bread and agreed to carry some drugs,” she says.
“The police caught him along with his two brothers. Now they are all in prison.”
Unemployed and with no income, she is looking after her children by herself.
In this remote and impoverished rural community it is virtually impossible to find a job.
By Lt. Kyle Schlais, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 133 Public Affairs
BAHRAIN (NNS) — U.S. Navy Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 133 deployed to Dushanbe, Tajikistan, in November as part of a Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI), the first Seabee mission in Tajikistan.
In support of the Office of Military Cooperation (OMC) and Tajikistan Ministry of Defense (MOD), the Seabee crew began construction alongside the MOD’s construction force, the Stroibat, on phase one of a $1 million project at the Peace Support Operation Training Center (PSOTC) at Shamsi Base, funded by GPOI.
To help boost the local economy and establish lasting relationships with contractors and vendors, the building materials were procured in nearby street vendor markets by Utilitiesman 1st Class Justin Walker, the Seabee project supervisor, and Air Force contracting officer, 1st Lt. Sunset Lo. The vendors delivered the materials in a timely manner, enabling the project to move forward on schedule.
Throughout the first phase, which included the construction of a new roof, English language lab classroom, kitchen renovations and electrical distribution repairs, the Seabees mentored 10 Stroibat soldiers, teaching them basic construction skills while building strong relationships through coordination with MOD Stroibat forces and communication with high level Tajikistan military officers.
“Working with Stroibat has been a great experience,” said Builder Constructionman Xavier Knowlesball. “It has been educational working through language barrier challenges and I am honored to be a part of the crew.”
Construction Electrician Constructionman Hunter Kiser expressed a similar sentiment.
“It has been an awesome experience working with the local construction force,” said Kiser. “Their hospitality is amazing and made our visit to Dushanbe easy, allowing us to focus on the tasking.”
With the first phase scheduled to conclude in January, planning for the second phase has already begun.
NMCB 133 is currently deployed as a part of engineering support operations throughout the U.S. 5th Fleet Area of Responsibility.
For more news from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 133, visit http://www.navy.mil/local/nmcb133/.
Investors operating in three post-Soviet Central Asian republics face an “extreme risk” of having their businesses expropriated, according to a survey released last week in the UK.
Maplecroft, a Bath-based political risk consultancy, said on January 9 that it had found plenty of reasons to be wary of the business climate in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan after “evaluating the risk to business from discriminatory acts by the government that reduces ownership, control or rights of private investments either gradually or as a result of a single action.” Recent fits of resource nationalism in Kyrgyzstan — where the Kumtor gold mine, operated by Toronto-based Centerra Gold, accounted for 12 percent of GDP in 2011 and more than half the country’s industrial output – and rampant authoritarianism in places like Tajikistan and Turkmenistan have led Maplecroft to rank these countries among the most risky in the world. Not far behind, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan both fall in the “high risk” category.
From the study:
Central Asia is characterized by areas of increasing natural resource exploration and exploitation, but also for poor respect for property rights. Indeed, Turkmenistan (11), Tajikistan (18) and Kyrgyzstan (20) are all categorized as extreme risk. Kazakhstan (26), Azerbaijan (58) and the already mentioned Uzbekistan [24] are rated as ‘high risk’. As such, the region presents high expropriation risk particularly motivated by low regulation enforcement and widespread corruption. Various instances of expropriation have occurred in 2012. These include the allegedly unlawful expropriation and demolition of housing in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku; the expulsion of Russian telecommunications firm MTS in 2012 and the continued fallout associated with the expropriation of a gold mine belonging to Oxus in 2011 in Uzbekistan; and increasingly frequent hostility towards the mining sector from parliament in Kyrgyzstan.
The index, released as part of Maplecroft’s fifth-annual Political Risk Atlas, will offer little surprise to embattled foreign investors. Yet it offers a chance to rank the region, legendary for its pervasive corruption and venal dictators, internationally. Turkmenistan, regularly named by human rights groups as one of the most authoritarian and closed regimes on the planet, sits right after Omar al-Bashir’s war-weary Sudan in the expropriation index. Nepotistic Tajikistan, where the president’s family reportedly controls almost all business interests, is sandwiched between Angola and Bolivia.
via Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan Present “Extreme Risk” to Investors – Survey | EurasiaNet.org.
Tajikistan’s Interior Ministry says three suspected members of the banned Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) have been apprehended in a special operation near the Uzbek border.
According to a ministry statement, one police officer was wounded in the operation conducted in Tajikistan’s northern region of Maschoh overnight between January 9 and 10.
Police and security forces confiscated ammunition and weapons from the suspects.
The IMU, which says it wants to establish an Islamic Caliphate in Central Asia, is believed to have links with the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.
It had been active in the region but moved its operations to neighboring Afghanistan in recent years.
Tajikistan saw a spike in militant activity beginning in 2010 that led to the deaths of dozens of troops.
SHAMSI BASE, Bahrain- U.S. Navy Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 133 deployed to Dushanbe, Tajikistan, in November as part of a Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI), the first-ever Seabee mission in Tajikistan.
In support of the Office of Military Cooperation (OMC) and Tajikistan Ministry of Defense (MOD), the Seabee crew began construction alongside the MOD’s construction force, the Stroibat, on phase one of a $1 million project at the Peace Support Operation Training Center (PSOTC) at Shamsi Base, funded by GPOI.
To help boost the local economy and establish lasting relationships with contractors and vendors, the building materials were procured in nearby street vendor markets by Utilitiesman 1st Class Justin Walker, the Seabee project supervisor, and Air Force contracting officer, 1st Lt. Sunset Lo. The vendors delivered the materials ordered in a timely manner, enabling the project to move forward on schedule.
Throughout the first phase, which included the construction of a new roof, English language lab classroom, kitchen renovations and electrical distribution repairs, the Seabees mentored 10 Stroibat soldiers, teaching them basic construction skills while building strong relationships through coordination with MOD Stroibat forces and communication with high level Tajikistan military officers.
“Working with Stroibat has been a great experience,” said Builder Constructionman Xavier Knowlesball. “It has been educational working through language barrier challenges and I am honored to be a part of the crew.”
via DVIDS – News – NMCB 133 Conducts First-Ever Mission in Tajikistan.
DUSHANBE, January 9 (RIA Novosti) – The lower house of Tajikistan’s parliament ratified an agreement on the country’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Wednesday, concluding Dushanbe’s drive to join the trade body.
Tajikistan was admitted to the WTO last December, becoming only the second Central Asian nation, after Kyrgyzstan, to do so. In order for the accession agreement to enter into force however, it had to be ratified by Tajikistan’s Assembly of Representatives.
The country’s Economic Development and Trade Minister Sharif Rakhimzod said on Wednesday his country’s accession “will certainly facilitate the appearance of Tajik goods in world markets and improve investment attractiveness.”
Tajikistan first applied for WTO membership in 2001, promising to enact reforms to open up its economy.
“Foreign investors will be reassured by the applicability of the WTO’s familiar and predictable rules-based system and will know that Tajikistan is now ‘open for business,'” WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy said in a statement last month while welcoming Tajikistan to the trade body.
The poorest country in the former Soviet Union, Tajikistan’s business climate has been mired by allegations of pervasive official corruption and the influence of a bustling drug trade from neighboring war-torn Afghanistan.
via Tajikistan Parliament Ratifies WTO Agreement | World | RIA Novosti.
DUSHANBE, January 3, 2013, Asia-Plus — Deputies of Tajikistan’s lower house (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament have ratified an agreement between Tajikistan and NATO on physical security and stockpile management (PSSM).
A regular sitting of the fourth session of the Majlisi Namoyandagon of the fourth convocation, presided over by its head, Shukurjon Zuhurov, was held on January 3.
Speaking at the meeting, Jumakhon Davlatov, State Adviser to the President for Legal Issues also President’s Plenipotentiary Representative to Parliament, noted that the agreement was signed in Brussels on January 31, 2012 and it is aimed at improving physical security and stockpile management of ammunition in Tajikistan.
“Since 1998, Tajikistan has taken a number of measures to destroy anti-personnel mines on the border and this agreement provides for allocation of 575,000 euros,” said Davlatov. “To-date, Japan, the United Kingdom and Turkey have allocated 202,000 euros and the remaining part of sum will be provided by the Government of Canada.”
We will recall that the agreement ratification was postponed on December 26, 2012 because parliamentarians did not quite understand the essence of the document.
According to information posted on NATO’s website, the North Atlantic Alliance hopes the project will help prevent illegal cross-border trade in munitions. The task is even more critical because of Tajikistan’s southern border with Afghanistan, where full control for security is due to transition to Afghan national security forces by end 2014.
DUSHANBE, January 4 (RIA Novosti) – A large batch of drugs containing some 122 kilograms has been seized by Tajikistan’s special services in an operation conducted in the Central Asian country’s northern Sughd Province, the State Committee for National Security said.
“A Kamaz truck driven by 46-year-old Sadriddin Safarov has been detained in a special operation,” the committee said in a statement on Thursday. “During the truck’s search, 120 kg of drugs, including 70 kg of hashish and 50 kg of opium, have been seized.”
via Over 120 Kg of Drugs Seized in Tajikistan | Crime | RIA Novosti.
DUSHANBE – The year 2013 promises change in Tajikistan as it is set to join the second World Trade Organisation (WTO) member in Central Asia after Kyrgyzstan.
Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon and WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy on December 10 in Geneva signed a protocol adding Tajikistan to the WTO this summer. The Tajik parliament has until June 7 to ratify the protocol, and Tajikistan will become a full WTO member 30 days later. Tajikistan will join Kyrgyzstan as the two Central Asian countries in the WTO.
Tajikistan first applied for membership in 2001 and for the past 11 years has worked to liberalise its foreign trade and investment laws and reduce customs duties in an effort to be admitted.
“Tajikistan’s accession to the WTO will mark the beginning of a new creative stage,” Rakhmon said at the protocol signing ceremony. “The country will continue to carry out constructive reforms in all spheres of the economy and will focus on developing a free and transparent trading system.”
Two opinions on membership
While some observers agree membership will boost economic development, others are discussing changes that the Tajik domestic market can expect and whether the country will be able to compete on the world stage.
Tajikistan’s accession would help make small and medium-sized business more competitive, Tajik Chamber of Commerce and Industry Deputy Chairwoman Larisa Kislyakova told Central Asia Online.
“Considerable opportunities will open up for small manufacturing companies producing high-value-added products,” she explained. “This business sector will grow, as the main tariff concessions provided by the WTO go to these product groups.” Indeed, Tajikistan’s economy already has benefited from legal reforms mandated by the WTO, according to Saifullo Safarov, deputy director of the Presidential Centre for Strategic Studies.
“Institutionally the republic made automatic progress by adjusting its laws,” he said. “In this respect, Tajikistan is becoming more attractive to investors, whose interests will enjoy protection both under national law and from a global organisation.”
Still, some say that change could be difficult, especially for agriculture.
“Small businesses set up by local entrepreneurs in rural areas hardly will be able to compete with foreign companies,” Social-Democratic Party Deputy Chairman Shokirjon Khakimov predicted, adding that, under the terms of the WTO, agricultural subsidies in developing countries should not exceed 10% of the government budget.
Kislyakova rejected that argument, saying that Tajik agricultural subsidies presently amount to only 4% of government spending, so the cap shouldn’t be a problem. Some farmers will abandon certain crops for others, economist Khodzhimukhammad Umarov said, predicting a decrease in cotton farming and adding, “Tajik farmers will … switch to more profitable crops.”
via Tajikistan’s WTO membership offers pros and cons – Central Asia Online.
Kazakhstan, Astana, Jan.4 / D. Mukhtarov /
An earthquake measuring 4.8 occurred on the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, in 462 kilometers from the Kazakh city of Almaty, website of Seismological Experimental Methodological Expedition of the Science Committee of the Ministry Education and Science of Kazakhstan reported.
“Network of seismic stations of the State Institution “Seismological Experimental Methodological Expedition of the Science Committee of the Ministry Education and Science of Kazakhstan” recorded an earthquake at 04:10 on Jan.4 (Almaty time),” the report says.
The earthquake epicenter was in 462 kilometers of south-west of the Almaty city on the border of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
via Earthquake hits border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan – Trend.Az.
Mike Perdue loves the Soviet bloc.
The 54-year-old from Griswold owns a hostel in Georgia (the republic, not the U.S. state) and has visited Armenia. And he recently traveled to Tajikistan to assist dairy farmers there produce a better product.
“I don’t know,” Perdue said when asked why the area intrigues him. “A combination of reading I’ve done and interest in going beyond western Europe.”
Despite the reason, his love of the region and his love of agriculture made him a perfect fit for the Washington D.C.-based CNFA’s Farmer-to-Farmer program, which enlists volunteers to assist farmers in developing nations.
While in Tajikistan Perdue worked with farmers outside Isfara, near the country’s border with Uzbekistan. The majority of his work was in cattle rationing – ag talk for what to feed the animals and how much.
The 46 milking cows at the operation, Mirsaid, were producing about 16 pounds of milk per day, Perdue said, “about one-fourth of what they should be doing.”
via Griswold farmer helps Tajikistan dairy production – SouthwestIowaNews.com: News.
Something strange happened in Tajikistan over a late December weekend. On a Friday evening, the government’s communications agency ordered Internet service providers (ISPs) to block 131 websites for “technical” reasons. Then suddenly, a few days later, the ISPs were told, in effect; ‘never mind.’
Internet users in Tajikistan are getting accustomed to such erratic behavior from the state communications agency and its mercurial boss, Beg Zukhurov. For example, Zukhurov blocked Facebook twice in 2012, supposedly because he was upset that Tajiks were using the social network to criticize Tajikistan’s long-serving president. He’s also overseen the repeated blocking of Tajikistan’s leading independent news agency, Asia-Plus, as punishment for its critical reporting. But the December list appeared to be a random compilation of sites that included, besides Twitter and several popular Russian social networks, lots of obscure entertainment portals that few in Tajikistan care about.
“Among the pages to be banned [were] personal pages of unknown individuals,” said the head of one Tajik ISP, speaking on condition of anonymity. “More than 70 percent of them are local music and video portals. Obviously, the list is composed by a spider-bot, which followed an absurd algorithm. Public officials have once again proven their illiteracy and none of them will comment on this foolish order.”
Zukhurov’s explanations of his actions often border on the farcical: Facebook, for example, was blocked for “prophylactic maintenance” last March, other sites for “technical reasons,” and phone access in Tajikistan’s restive east was severed for a month because a bullet, Zukhurov claimed, had sliced a wire. IT service providers contend that Zukhurov has no legal power to order blocks. (Only courts have that authority). But providers follow his orders out of fear of official harassment, such as a sudden visit from the tax inspector.
via Tajikistan: Dushanbe Web Regulator Creating “Preposterous Impediments” | EurasiaNet.org.
12/27/2012| 03:04am US/Eastern
Beeline Tajikistan offers now unlimited mobile browsing with Opera Mini Oslo, Norway – December 27, 2012
Opera Software and Beeline Tajikistan announced today that Beeline subscribers will be first in Tajikistan to get unlimited access to the mobile web with the Opera Mini mobile browser. All subscribers using Opera Mini on their phones or tablets will now be able to enjoy smooth, unlimited browsing for the lowest price in Tajikistan.
Starting today, an unlimited, mobile web package called Operativnyj Internet will be offered for only 10,29 Tajikistani somoni per month, or 4,11 somoni per week. With these special bundles, almost one million Beeline subscribers will get seamless access to the web, regardless of the mobile device they use. Viewing, downloading and sharing multimedia files will not be covered by the service fee and will be charged at regular rates. Other restrictions may also apply.
via Opera Software ASA : Mobile web goes unlimited in Tajikistan | 4-Traders.
Dushanbe: Over 130 websites have been blocked in Tajikistan in connection with “technical repair work”, the country’s telecom agency said. Many of the sites listed were inaccessible within Tajikistan till Saturday.
Most of the sites targeted host music and video content, including topvideo.tj – dubbed Tajikistan’s answer to YouTube. Popular social networking service Vkontakte, similar to Facebook, and Odnoklassniki, similar to Friends Reunited, were also on the list. Access to sites popular with Tajik bloggers, and some publishing pro-opposition content, or run by Tajiks abroad was also blocked.
In November, Beg Zukhurov, the head of the country’s communications agency, issued an instruction that internet providers and mobile operators in the country block access to Facebook, “because of slander of the government of the country and its leaders”.
This prompted concern among the international community, including the OSCE and the EU. On Dec 4, access to Facebook was restored.
IANS
via 130 Websites Blocked in Tajikistan | Asia | www.indiatimes.com.
Tajikistan has ordered local Internet providers to block Twitter, one of more than 100 sites including popular Russian-language social networks starting next week, an industry representative told AFP Saturday.
“The (government) communications service has sent Internet companies a huge list of 131 sites that must be blocked in the country from Monday,” said Asomiddin Atoyev, the head of the Tajik association of Internet providers.
“The list includes social networking sites that are actively used by Tajik Internet users including government officials,” Atoyev said.
Among the blocked sites are Vkontakte, or In Touch, and Odnoklassniki, or Classmates, the most popular social networking sites in Russia with many users in the ex-Soviet Union, and Mail.ru, an email service.
By: Bruno de Paiva
December 23, 2012
The recent opening of a visitor centre by Qatari Diar in Tajikistan’s capital, Dushanbe, is a further sign of Qatar’s desire to diversify it’s economy and use it’s economic wealth to increase it’s global clout.
Wholly controlled by the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Qatari Diar opened the centre in December.
The visitor centre is the first phase of Diar Dushanbe, a mixed-use development in the Tajikistani capital that will encompass 68,000 square meters and is set to be completed by 2014.
The agreement for the construction of the Diar Dushanbe was signed in August 2011 and aims to provide 1,500 jobs during the construction phase and 400 jobs once the Diar Dushanbe begins operations.
via Tajikistan: Diar Dushanbe A Symbol Of Qatar’s Desired Future Outlook – Analysis Eurasia Review.
After cutting local access to Facebook in November, the authorities in Tajikistan have ordered to block over 130 websites, including popular Russian-language networking platforms. Blogger Tomiris writes [ru]:
Hurray! [Tajikistan is] ahead of the rest of the world again! Where else do they block more than 130 websites at once?
In a surprising turn of events, Russian President Vladimir Putin deferred his visit to Pakistan, scheduled on between October 2 and 3. As a result, the quadrilateral summit for the Afghan Security Situation, having Tajikistan, Russia, Pakistan and Afghanistan as participants was postponed to an undisclosed date.
Although Putin’s decision may raise serious concerns, the prevailing situation behind the scenes is quite different and, dare I say, positive. According to Moazzam Khan, the foreign office spokesman, Putin has written a letter to President Zardari expressing Russia’s desire to enhance cooperation with Pakistan.
With this announcement, the Pakistani media outlets started to cite ‘security reasons’ for Putin’s deferred visit. However, I believe that this can hardly hold true as Islamabad is known for its safety when it comes to visits by foreign delegates. Considering the anti-US sentiment and the hatred towards the US among militants, there should have been multiple attacks on Hilary Clinton and her peers if there were any security risks in Islamabad. An Asian, and more specifically an East Asian, leader like Putin would be far from a hated figure among the militants.
But who knows? Putin’s security advisors may have sensed danger in Islamabad.
Strategically, the following reasons might have caused Putin to delay his visit to Pakistan:
US-India nexus
A possible reason, ignored by the media, could be the US-India nexus that may have forced the Putin to delay his visit. With India in the process of making a multi-billion military deal with Moscow, and USA angry over Pakistan’s new ‘SCO affiliation’ and Russian approach, it is quite possible that India may have pressurised Russia in to calling off the Pakistan visit.
This pressure by India may have also been influenced by its important strategic partner, USA. Russia wants peace, and maybe, influence in Afghanistan, in cooperation with Pakistan, whereas India is increasing its activities in Kabul in collaboration with USA. This jinx of strategic interests alongside India may also be a strong reason behind Putin’s decision.
Bitter Pak Afghan ties
For quite some time, the Pak Afghan ties have witnessed a downward spiral. Be it the cross border intrusions, attacks on Pakistani military check posts by Taliban intruding from Afghanistan, the visa limbo and the media attacks – nothing seems to be going in the right direction between the neighbours.
In this context, it is quite obvious that Afghanistan, under the US influence, may have politely refused to participate in a summit having Russia, a US rival, as participant. With Afghanistan also blaming the ISI (Inter Services Intelligence) and the Haqqani network for activities in Kabul, it may have preferred not taking part in an event arranged by a country blasted by Kabul in media on a daily basis. With Afghanistan’s non-participation, the summit would have lost its core value, and thus Pakistan itself may have asked Russia to delay this visit.
Russia-Tajikistan ties
Since the Russian and Estonian pilot’s arrest in Tajikistan, in 2011 , relations between Russia and Tajikistan are not at their best. Russia accused Tajikistan of creating a politically charged case, under the US influence, against the pilots. Although a local court later released the pilots, this incident coupled with Dushanbe’s increased affiliation towards the US has withered its relations with Moscow.
Russia, with this recent downturn of ties, may have refused to participate alongside Tajikistan.
Lack of preparation
Although a less obvious reason, one cannot negate the cause of non-seriousness of attitude persisting among the participant states towards the summit. There was no major word on the event in Russian media. Last week, an ex Russia Today (RT) producer reported that there were no confirmed reports in Russian media regarding Putin’s visit. Even some of the Russian newspapers quoted The Nation and The Express Tribune while reporting on the possibility of Putin’s visit. With no special emphasis by leaders both in Islamabad and Moscow on the summit, it is likely that Pakistan may not have prepared well for this summit and thus requested the Russian officials to postpone the visit.
Although, we still have no official word on the reasons, one can assume that any of the aforementioned scenarios may have played their part for such an unexpected decision at this juncture of time when both the countries are moving forward in the right direction.
From the look of past events, it is quite obvious that both the states have agreed to put their past behind and move forward for socio-economic development. Moving ahead on the lines of these developments, the Pakistani Army sources have reported that COAS General Kayani’s visit to Moscow will go ahead according to schedule irrespective of Putin’s decision.
Pakistan’s latest look-east policy presents a wide array of opportunities not only from Russia but also from East Asia to engage on a bigger spectrum through the SCO. That is why, Russia would want a peaceful eviction of ISAF forces from Afghanistan in order to ensure a stable Central and Eur0-Asian region, meaning friendship with Pakistan, Afghanistan’s neighbour, would surely be one of Russia’s top priorities.
via So, why did Putin delay his visit? – The Express Tribune Blog.
TAJIKISTAN’S president, Emomali Rakhmon, likes things big. He has built the world’s tallest flagpole. Last year he opened the region’s largest library (with few books in it so far). But one gigantic project is proving contentious with the neighbours: building the world’s tallest hydroelectric dam.
Islam Karimov, the strongman who rules downstream Uzbekistan, says the proposed 335-metre Rogun dam, on a tributary of the Amu Darya, will give Tajikistan unfair control over water resources and endanger millions in the event of an earthquake. On September 7th, he said such projects could lead to “not just serious confrontation, but even wars”.
Mr Karimov wasn’t talking only about Tajikistan. Upstream from Uzbekistan on a tributary of the region’s other major river, the Syr Darya, Kyrgyzstan is seeking investment for a project of its own, called Kambarata. The two proposed dams (Rogun at 3.6 gigawatts and Kambarata at 1.9) would theoretically end their respective countries’ frequent power shortages and provide badly needed export earnings.
Both were conceived in the twilight of the communist era and stalled when subsidies from Moscow evaporated at independence. Soviet leaders envisioned managing the region’s water flows, energy trades and competing interests, and their Russian successors still maintain an interest. During a visit to Bishkek on September 20th, Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, promised help with Kambarata in exchange for, among other things, an extension of military-basing rights in Kyrgyzstan. Tajikistan has sought Russian help for Rogun, too. Mr Putin promised $2 billion for the dam in 2004. But that deal fell apart three years later, when the two countries could not agree about the dam’s height.
Spurring on both projects is Uzbekistan’s bad behaviour, egregious even in a tetchy region. Unlike Uzbekistan, neither Tajikistan nor Kyrgyzstan, the two poorest former Soviet republics, has reliable access to oil or gas. Uzbekistan’s Mr Karimov has a habit of changing gas prices and cutting deliveries during the coldest months. He has prevented electricity supplies to his indigent neighbours from transiting his country’s Soviet-era grid. Uzbekistan has also unilaterally closed most border checkpoints with both upstream countries, set mines along parts of the boundary with Tajikistan, and often holds up commercial traffic. When a rail bridge in southern Uzbekistan mysteriously exploded last autumn, depriving southern Tajikistan of its rail connections, few believed Uzbek claims of a terrorist attack. Indeed, rather than fix the track, the Uzbeks dismantled it. Tajikistan calls the actions a blockade.
via Water wars in Central Asia: Dammed if they do | The Economist.
Thursday, 27 September 2012
by Hayrullo Mirsaidov
Tajikistan’s media organisations and mass media outlets are beginning a joint action called “100 days of freedom in Tajnet”. The reasons for the joint action are regular blocks of websites and many violations of the rights of journalists.
The media’s problems in Tajikistan began with special military operations in Khorog in July 2012 aimed at neutralising illegal armed gangs and catching the killers of Abdullo Nazarov, the General of the Committee of National Security. From the first days of the operations, the website of information agency Asia-plus was blocked. According to the agency’s director Zebo Tadjibayeva, site providers blocked their site following a verbal order from the Communications Service head Beg Zuhurov. “Operators who did not listen to this, received official letters telling them to block sties for technical reasons,” said Ms Tadjibayeva.
The Asia-plus site was unblocked only on 21 September, and the head of the Communications Service said that she has no idea why operators blocked the site. Beg Zuhurov said that a special organisation takes care of sites in Tajikistan, which creates lists of web resources which publish “black PR” about the country, however Asia-plus is not on that list. Currently, RIA Novosti, Lenta.ru, Fergananews.com, Centrasia.ru and the world’s largest video hosting site Youtube are not available in Tajikistan. Recently, the management of another national information agency Tojnews also announced that its site was blocked.
As well as blocking sites, journalists’ work was impeded by the country’s security agencies. Journalists are often detained and taken to police stations, some have their cameras and other equipment taken away and some even experience physical violence.
To root out these situations, media outlets have developed a series of actions to defend the rights and interests of the media and harness solidarity among journalists. Head of the National Association of Independent Media in Tajikistan (NANSMIT) Nuriddin Karshibov said that the main features were organising meetings with the heads of the security structures and an appeal to the General Prosecutor by the media about the wrongful treatment of journalists by security agencies. The campaign will also includes on-line events, like adverts on social networking sites, the radio and creating banners for all the media outlets. The campaign will also work with internet cafй owners, distribute leaflets and hold round tables. Media organisations are also going to ask the Constitutional Court of Tajikistan to look into the legality of blocking websites.
The head of the Tajikistan Media Alliance Hurshedi Atovullo said that every year, the pressure on journalists is increasing and that this is only the beginning. “Through my personal bitter experiences I know that before every election in Tajikistan, constraints on the media increase and this has already become a tradition. The authorities could close down certain newspapers again for different reasons and block websites, and maybe beating up journalists will also become a tradition.”
The next presidential election is planned for the end of 2013. Current president Emomali Rahmon will stand as candidate of the ruling National Democratic Party of Tajikistan. If is selected, he will be in charge of the country for the third decade.
via Tajik Journalists Attempt to Defend Their Rights again and again , 27 September 2012 Thursday 14:33.
Whether it’s Israel maybe pre-emptively striking Iran, Afghanistan spiralling into sectarian violence, Libya becoming home base for Al-Qaeda, or Syria continuing to be the site of a government-led genocide, there’s no shortage of potential dirty wars and ominous harbingers in the Middle East and Central Asia. While everyone is focusing on the recent turmoil in Benghazi, a new kind of conflict is rising in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan that could eventually lead to the first water war of the 21st century.
It’s fair to say that when Louise Arbour, the hard-ass former UN prosecutor of war criminal Slobodan Milošević, lists her bets on future wars, the rest of us should take her seriously. In December 2011, writing for Foreign Policy, Arbour predicted Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, two obscure Central Asian countries to most westerners, as potential combatants in a war over quickly depleting water resources. Judging by current tensions between the two, she might be right.
Basically the Tajiks, who are already plagued by an Islamic insurgency, plan to build the Rogun dam on the Vakhsh River. The river is a major tributary to the Amudarya—the main water vein for downstream Uzbekistan. While the hydroelectric power from the proposed dam would make the Tajiks rich, it’ll make the Uzbeks thirsty. This has been a problem for Uzbekistan since Stalin’s failed plan for the Transformation of Nature during the 1940s drained the Aral Sea (Uzbekistan’s main water reserve) to irrigate cotton fields.
Pissing off the Uzbeks, however, may not be what the Tajiks want to do. Besides being geopolitical wildcards, Uzbek President Islam Karimov is widely considered a tyrant, ruling over his country’s oil reserves and national wealth since a questionable 1991 election. He’s also a cheap imitation Saddam. And like any delusional dictator, he’s known for his outlandish behavior: like rewriting history books to make himself the spiritual descendant of the warlord Tamerlane, owning a soccer team in the national league (who are conveniently champions nearly every year), and allegedly ordering the assassination of a political dissident hiding in Sweden. Human Rights Watch even accused his regime of systematic torture, including boiling rebels alive.
One former diplomatic employee of a country in the region, speaking on the condition of anonymity, says the lack of western sanctions on Karimov is no surprise: “There’s the general feeling that Karimov gets off very lightly from the International community because of his violent campaign against Islamic extremists and the war on terror, which is really an excuse for a political crackdown.” Meanwhile, the Karimovs enjoys total rule over the state: “It’s modern tribalism. One family rules the country for two decades, keeping the population poor so they can use them as a cheap labor force under the loose tenants of communism,” the source added.
When or if a war will erupt is unknown. “I don’t want to speculate on the probability of a war breaking out,” says David Trilling of Eurasianet, “but Islam Karimov did up the ante [recently] by suggesting that attempts by Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to build giant hydropower dams upstream could lead to war.”
The rugged eastern region of Gorno-Badakhshan in Tajikistan has been the scene of violence in recent months, with about 70 people having been killed in a government operation lasting to late August.
As President Emomali Rahmon arrives for a working visit, many questions remain as to how the violence started, and more importantly, who was behind it.
The violence began after an opposition leader from the 1990s Tajik Civil War who had become a top regional security official, Abdullo Nazarov, was stabbed to death on July 21. After protests erupted the next day, 3,000 government troops were deployed to the region on July 24.
After a week of fighting, those resisting the government forces agreed to lay down their arms on July 28 following negotiations that included representatives of the Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of the Ismaili sect of Islam. A majority of the region’s population of 250,000 belong to the Shi’ite Muslim sect, while the rest of the country is mostly Sunni.
The situation appeared calm until late on August 22, when Imomnazar Imomnazarov, another former opposition civil war commander, was killed in an early-morning attack at his home in Khorugh, the Badakhshan region’s administrative capital. Imomnazarov had been wanted in connection with Nazarov’s killing. He reportedly had diabetes and was confined to a wheelchair.
Protesters gathered at the regional administrative building in Khorugh to demand officials fulfill promises to restore order, pelting the building with rocks and even attempting to storm the building.
On August 24, again after negotiations involving representatives of the Aga Khan, government forces announced they would withdraw from the Gorno-Badakhshan region completely.
Earlier this week, President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan indicated that efforts by Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to build hydroelectric power stations on rivers that flowed into Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan could “spark war.”
Water wars are a hot topic right now, with conflicts or potential conflicts brewing literally all over the world. US policy makers seem most concerned with conflicts in Yemen and Pakistan, in times at the expense of seeing water wars in the broader context of their respective regions. A report drawn up for the Committee of Foreign Relations warns about the danger of narrow focus, saying:
“While the focus of the United States is appropriately directed toward Afghanistan and Pakistan, it is important to recognize that our water-related activities in the region are almost exclusively confined within the borders of these two countries. We pay too little attention to the waters shared by their Indian and Central Asian neighbors—Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan. For example, in 2009 the United States provided approximately $46.8 million in assistance for water-related activities to Afghanistan and Pakistan compared with $3.7 million shared among all five Central Asian countries for these efforts.”
‘Water wars’ refers to the idea that some countries, which hold enough water to be able to export it, control headwaters of a river, or hold reservoirs/large sources of water, have an extremely strong source of leverage over water-scarce countries. At times, this causes water to be thought of in simplistic terms as a commodity, rather than a basic building block of life, access to which is detailed in several international human rights conventions, but not explicitly recognized as a self-standing human right in international treaties. When countries deny other states water or imply they might use water as leverage for political gain, this is water conflict, and it’s brewing in Central Asia.
Within the context of Central Asia, to simplify, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have it, and Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan need more of it. The latter two are very nervous about the resource imbalance. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are upstream of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, giving them control of two trans-border rivers.
Eurasianet points out that one of the central issues facing the five Central Asian republics is that leaders there are more known for rivalry than cooperation, which could greatly complicate any resolution on water scarcity in the overall region.
….
This precedent of water being used as leverage bodes poorly for water being seen as external to political gain, or as simply a human right. The leaders of Central Asia are already deeply suspicious of each other, and border skirmishes are a common occurrence. With Karimov already warning about water wars between the Central Asian countries, and the coming reverberations of the NATO pullout from Afghanistan, there is the looming possibility of more instability in Central Asia.
via Central Asia Could Go To War Over Water – Business Insider.
Tajikistan’s President Imomali Rahmon has promised he will soon visit Gorno-Badakhshan, the mountainous eastern region where government security forces carried out a secretive military operation this summer. If the trip goes off as planned, Rahmon will confront one the most stubborn political challenges of his tenure, trying to win over regional residents who have long relied on local strongmen more than on Dushanbe.
Officially, the deployment of thousands of heavily armed government troops to the regional capital, Khorog, came in response to the July 21 stabbing death of a local security official, Abdullo Nazarov. Officials asserted the killing was organized by an officer in the Tajik border guards, Tolib Ayombekov. He denied the charges and reportedly fought a government attempt to capture him together with three other influential local leaders, all former commanders during Tajikistan’s 1992-1997 civil war, and all suspected of involvement in narcotics trafficking. A battle between the military and local armed groups on July 24 left about 50 combatants and one civilian dead, officials say. At the time, critics assailed what they described as the disproportionate use of force in what should have been a standard police investigation.
In part, this year’s clash has roots in the country’s devastating civil war, which was fought largely along regional lines. During the Soviet era, Gorno-Badakhshan (known by its Russian acronym, GBAO) was an autonomous province receiving subsidies directly from Moscow rather than Dushanbe. Inhabitants of the region, who speak a group of languages distinct from Tajik, are generally known as Pamiris. Most are Ismaili Muslims and maintain strong networks of mutual social support. Towards the end of the war, local commanders accepted peace in exchange for government positions and relative autonomy. In the years following, Rahmon managed to consolidate power elsewhere in the country, but GBAO seemed to remain out of his reach.
Drawing clear distinctions between good and bad guys can be difficult in post-civil-war Tajikistan. Men characterized by the state as criminals sometimes hold government posts, while officials in good standing, such as Nazarov, have been suspected – by local residents, Western diplomats, and researchers – of involvement in illicit activity, especially the drug trade, which is estimated to account for 30 percent of Tajikistan’s GDP.
via Tajikistan: President to Head East as Battle for Badakhshan Control Continues | EurasiaNet.org.
One problem for anyone seeking to foster regional integration in Central Asia (“New Silk Road” or otherwise) is the frequent border disputes between the countries involved. Uzbekistan, which abuts all the other Central Asia states, has been particularly uncooperative, often closing its border posts without notice, hampering trade and hurting economies around the region.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB), a multilateral lender, has announced it will grant $100 million to help people and goods cross one of those tricky borders. Much of the money will be used to repave a 113-kilometer stretch of road in Tajikistan connecting a major highway with an isolated valley leading to the border with Uzbekistan.
“Improvements to this road will increase regional connectivity, reduce transport costs, and strengthen competitiveness,” said Zheng Wu, a transport specialist at ADB’s Central and West Asia Department, in a September 13 press release. Part of the money will also be spent on upgrading infrastructure at the Sarazm border post on the Uzbekistan-Tajikistan frontier.
But that post has been closed for almost two years. Uzbekistan sealed it in late 2010, cutting Panjakent – a Tajik town in the valley, home to some 33,000 people – off from the Uzbek city of Samarkand, only 60 kilometers away.
The new road project, expected to begin later this year, will certainly help connect the isolated Zarafshan Valley with the rest of Tajikistan, and thereby with a new source for the goods and supplies local residents used to buy in Uzbekistan. At present, in winter Zarafshan’s access to the “mainland” is often restricted to irregular flights to Dushanbe.
Asked if ADB knows whether Uzbekistan has any intention of opening the post slated for restoration, a bank spokesman said, “No, but ADB will actively facilitate bilateral dialogue between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan under the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program to resolve this matter.”
Uzbekistan has never shown itself too eager for cooperation, especially not with archrival Tajikistan. So good luck with that.
via Tajikistan: Will Asian Bank’s $100 Million Road Lead to a Dead End? | EurasiaNet.org.
India and Tajikistan elevated their relationship to a strategic partnership last week following discussions between Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi. In an email interview, Meena Singh Roy, a research fellow at the Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses, discussed India-Tajikistan relations.
WPR Article | Global Insider: India and Tajikistan Draw Closer.
Deputy Defence Minister of Russia Anatoly Antonov arrives in Dushanbe on Tuesday night, a source close to the government circles told Avesta.Tj.
He said Antonov’s visit is linked to the Tajik-Russian negotiations on a military base, in particular matching negotiation positions of the parties under on terms of the further stay of the Russian military base in Tajikistan.
via Russian deputy defence minister arrives in Dushanbe – Trend.Az.
The Uzbek President islam Karimov has a reputation for blunt talking. But his mastery lies in nuancing his bluntness. It may sound a contrarian trait but then Karimov is a leader of many parts. That is why it is necessary to sit up and take note of his warning that wars could erupt in Central Asia over water disputes.
via Karimov threatens war, bids for peace – Indian Punchline.
Focusing on Tajikistan 