DEC. 1 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan inaugurated Almazbek Atambayev as its fourth post-Soviet president, a ceremony that completed the first peaceful transition of power in Central Asia’s 20 years of independence. Mr Atambayev pledged to heal the country’s north-south divide.
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(News report from Issue No. 68, published on Dec. 8 2011)
DEC. 2 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – On Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev’s first full day in his new job the government coalition in parliament collapsed, highlighting the fragility of the country’s politics. The Social Democratic Party withdrew from the three-party coalition because of disagreements on judicial, economic and political reforms.
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(News report from Issue No. 68, published on Dec. 8 2011)
NOV. 30 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Rafiq Tagi, a 61-year-old widely respected Azerbaijani journalist, died of stab wounds in a Baku hospital on Nov. 23, four days after an unknown assailant attacked him.
He wrote articles critical of both the state and hard line Islam. Muslim extremists, though, are suspected of organising Tagi’s murder.
Whether or not the authorities or Muslim extremists are the main threat, for local journalists the former Soviet South Caucasus and Central Asia states are often both difficult and dangerous to report on.
In Turkmenistan police this year tracked down and imprisoned journalists who reported on an explosion at an arms depot. In Uzbekistan most local correspondents from international news agencies have been chased out and in Tajikistan the BBC’s reporter was jailed.
Southern Kyrgyzstan remains dangerous for ethnic Uzbek journalists and in Kazakhstan in October attackers armed with baseball bats and a gun beat a camera crew covering protests in the west of the country against the state oil company.
A 2010 press freedom index compiled by the US-based NGO Reporters Without Borders scored the countries of the South Caucasus and Central Asia poorly. Armenia, Georgia and Tajikistan ranked slightly better but Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan were in the bottom quarter of the index.
The report card for 2011 may well be even worse.
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(News report from Issue No. 67, published on Dec. 1 2011)
NOV. 28 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – In probably her last main act as Kyrgyzstan’s president, Roza Otunbayeva launched a campaign to reduce bride kidnapping which affects an estimated 15,000 women a year. Bride kidnapping is the traditional term for the abduction of women who then, under pressure, often agree to marry their kidnapper. Ms Otunbayeva leaves office on Dec. 1.
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(News report from Issue No. 67, published on Dec. 1 2011)
NOV. 7 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – At a meeting in St Petersburg, PMs from the six countries in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) said they wanted to set up a development bank. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are members of the SCO which is lead by Russia and China. Many analysts see the SCO as a bulwark against western interests in the region.
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(News report from Issue No. 64, published on Nov. 8 2011)
NOV. 8 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Despite predictable accusations from the losing candidates that a presidential election in Kyrgyzstan on Oct. 30 2011 won by PM Almazbek Atambayev was unfair, opposition protests and marches failed to gather momentum. Dodging post-election violence was vital for Kyrgyzstan to shake off its image as Central Asia’s most volatile country.
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(News report from Issue No. 64, published on Nov. 8 2011)
OCT. 30 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Almazbek Atambayev, Kyrgyzstan’s pro-Russia PM and a northern favourite, won a presidential election with around 63% of the vote.
This comprehensive first round victory avoided a potentially divisive second round run-off. His main southern opponents, though, criticised the legitimacy of his larger-than-expected victory and pledged to contest it in the courts and on the streets.
Politics in Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia’s least stable country, splits along clan and family loyalties. Mr Atambayev and his opponents now need to show real leadership to control their supporters and quickly snuff out any signs of post-election violence.
Since 2005, Kyrgyzstan has suffered two revolutions and a bout of ethnic fighting that killed more than 400 people. It now desperately needs stability.
Although international observers criticised some aspects of the voting process, it was a genuinely contested election — a rarity in Central Asia.
And it was also a genuinely historic milestone in the region’s 20-year post-Soviet history. It marks the first time a sitting president has willingly and peacefully relinquished power.
The outgoing president, Roza Otunbayeva, took power in April 2010 as interim leader after a revolution. She always said she would give up power at a presidential election. Now she is making good on that promise. In a region dominated by autocratic male leaders who first tasted power during the Soviet Union, Ms Otunbayeva is a shining example.
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(News report from Issue No. 63, published on Nov. 1 2011)
NOV. 1 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – In his first policy statement after winning a presidential election, Kyrgyzstan’s pro-Russia PM Almazbek Atambayev said the US will have to quit an airbase outside Bishkek when its lease expires in 2014. The airbase has been vital to NATO efforts in Afghanistan which also wind up in 2014.
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(News report from Issue No. 63, published on Nov. 1 2011)
OCT. 24 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan won a two-year seat at the UN Security Council for the first time after defeating Slovenia to represent the Eastern Europe bloc. Kyrgyzstan failed to defeat Pakistan for the Arab-Asia bloc’s second non-permanent seat at the Security Council.
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(News report from Issue No. 62, published on Oct. 25 2011)
OCT. 16 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – By Oct. 13 2011 Talas Copper Gold, a Kyrgyz gold mining company, had had enough.
After raiders on horseback had firebombed its camp in a remote part of northern Kyrgyzstan and local officials linked to its project had received death threats, the company decided to postpone further gold exploration. It had simply become too dangerous.
Talas Copper Gold, may only be a relatively small operation but the impact is significant and will echo around investors looking at Kyrgyzstan. The attacks bear the hallmarks of organised crime.
A joint venture between a British company Orsu Metals (40%) and South Africa’s Gold Fields (60%), Talas Copper Gold is the sort of operation Kyrgyzstan needs to lift its economy.
Foreign investors may be essential for Kyrgyzstan but their choice of investment sectors is limited. After water, gold is one of the most abundant natural resource. Kumtor, a gold miner owned by Canada’s Centerra Gold, contributes around 7% of Kyrgyzstan’s national income.
But two revolutions since 2005, ethnic violence last summer that killed roughly 400 people and a change of constitution, make Kyrgyzstan a risky place for foreign investors. Raids and death threats organised by local crime gangs looking for extra revenue often make it just too difficult to operate.
Perhaps most disturbing is that Talas Copper Gold’s experience is not unique. There have been several other cases of raiders on horseback attacking foreign gold prospectors this year.
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(News report from Issue No. 61, published on Oct. 18 2011)