APRIL 30 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – The US State Department issued a warning to its citizens in Uzbekistan that Islamic militant groups were planning attacks against US interests (April 25). In Kyrgyzstan, the head of the National Security Committee said a new militant group, the Islamic Movement of Kyrgyzstan, was active (April 30).
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(News report from Issue No. 38, published on May 2 2011)
APRIL 28 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – On a trip to Turkey, Kyrgyz PM Almazbek Atambayev hinted he was looking beyond the US use of the Manas airbase. Manas, outside Bishkek, has become a major cog in the US resupply chain for its forces in Afghanistan. Mr Atambayev said he wanted to turn Manas, already an international airport, into a major global transit centre.
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(News report from Issue No. 38, published on May 2 2011)
APRIL 25 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) members — China, Russia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan — pledged greater cooperation at a meeting in Shanghai. Russian news agency RIA Novosti described the meeting as the first summit for the SCO military chiefs. Some analysts have said the SCO could act as a counterbalance to NATO.
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(News report from Issue No. 37, published on April 25 2011)
APRIL 18 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – A corruption scandal over the privatisation in 2008 of Kyrgyz mobile operator MegaCom and its part re-nationalisation last year is testing the survival skills of Kyrgyzstan’s fragile government coalition.
On March 31, President Roza Otunbayeva sacked Prosecutor-General Kubatbek Baibolov for his links to the scandal. But Mr Baibolov didn’t go quietly and he accused first deputy PM Omurbek Babanov of corruption.
Mr Babanov is head of the Respublika party, one of three partners in a precarious coalition cobbled together at the end of 2010. On April 13, Mr Babanov quit the government while a parliamentary committee investigated the allegations.
For now, his resignation appears to have prevented a split in the coalition but tempers are fraying and a few days before his resignation a fight broke out in parliament.
Corruption is widespread in Kyrgyzstan — ranked by the Berlin-based lobby group Transparency International at 164 out of 178 in its 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index — but the country desperately needs a stable 2011 after a difficult 2010.
Kyrgyzstan hosts both a Russian and US air base and is trying to attract foreign investors, particularly to its mining sector, but in 2010 a revolution, ethnic violence and a new Constitution which shifted power to parliament from the president all underlined its fragility.
Now rampant poverty amplified by soaring inflation and frustration at official corruption are stirring unease once again.
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(News report from Issue No. 36, published on April 18 2011)
APRIL 11 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan aims to join a customs union with Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus on Jan. 1 2012, Russian news agency RIA Novosti quoted Kyrgyz PM, Almazbek Atambayev as saying. The Kremlin has forged closer relations with the Kyrgyzstan since a revolution last April. Moving into the customs union will pull Kyrgyzstan towards Russia’s influence.
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(News report from Issue No. 35, published on April 11 2011)
MARCH 31 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s President Roza Otunbayeva sacked the Kyrgyz Prosecutor-General Kubatbek Baibolov over links to a corruption scandal centred on the privatisation of mobile operator MegaCom. Mr Baibolov denies the allegations. The next day a row in parliament over the scandal between two deputies triggered a brief fight.
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(News report from Issue No. 34, published on April 4 2011)
MARCH 25 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia has increased the tax on fuel exports to Tajikistan by 5.3%, media reported. Tajikistan imports nearly all its fuel from Russia. Last year Russia imposed a duty on oil exports to Tajikistan for the first time in 15 years. Russia has previously used tax on fuel to Kyrgyzstan to leverage influence.
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(News report from Issue No. 33, published on March 28 2011)
MARCH 24 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia said it would scrap tax on fuel exports to Kyrgyzstan and agreed to invest $750m in Kyrgyz hydroelectric projects, local media reported. Russia and the US are vying for influence in Kyrgyzstan where they both control an airbase.
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(News report from Issue No. 33, published on March 28 2011)
MARCH 25 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – In a thinly veiled warning that food prices in Tajikistan will continue to rise and that supplies are running low, local media quoted President Emomali Rakhmon telling people in a northern province to hoard food over the next two years. Food prices have soared in Central Asia, worrying governments which fear unrest. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have been worst hit.
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(News report from Issue No. 33, published on March 28 2011)
MARCH 19 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian news agencies quoted Kyrgyz PM Almazbek Atambayev as saying during a meeting with Russian PM Vladimir Putin that Kyrgyzstan was ready to sell 75% of its gas company, KyrgyzGas, to Russia. Russia and the US are competing for influence in Kyrgyzstan, where they each have an airbase.
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(News report from Issue No. 32, published on March 21 2011)