Tag Archives: Kyrgyzstan

Woman charged over anti-China demonstrations

JAN. 23 (The Conway Bulletin) — A Kyrgyz woman has become the first person to be charged with a crime linked to anti-Chinese demonstrations that have grown in size in Bishkek over the past month. Radio Free Europe reported that Guljamila Saparalieva had been charged with inciting racial hatred. She was one of a dozen protesters who had gathered in Bishkek on Jan. 17 to protest against the growing number of Chinese migrants working in the country and also about China’s anti-Muslim policies in its northwest region. China is a key economic partner for Kyrgyzstan.
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>This story was first published in issue 398 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 31 2019
Copyright The Conway Bulletin 2019

Kyrgyz parliament wants president to wear kalpak

JAN. 21 (The Conway Bulletin) — A parliamentary committee in Kyrgyzstan backed a proposal to force the country’s President to wear the traditional Kalpak hat on overseas trips. The Kalpak, a tall black and white felt hat, is a common sight in Kyrgyzstan where it is often worn by older men. It is considered a traditional sign of national pride.
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>This story was first published in issue 398 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 31 2019
Copyright The Conway Bulletin 2019

Police in Bishkek disperse anti-China rally

JAN. 17 (The Conway Bulletin) — Police in Bishkek detained around a dozen people after an anti-Chinese rally in the centre of the city that attracted hundreds of demonstrators. The demonstration was the largest so far in a series of protests against growing Chinese influence over Kyrgyzstan. Demonstrators want Kyrgyz-Chinese marriages to be outlawed and work visas for Chinese to be restricted.
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>>This story was first published in issue 397 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 20 2019

Russia delivers military arid to Kyrgyzstan

JAN. 15 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyz President Sooronbai Jeenbekov inspected the first batch of military equipment donated by Russia to the Kyrgyz border guard service. It had been delivered a month earlier and consisted of 125 off-road vehicles, 108 trucks, four ambulances and a handful of other vehicles. The kit is to be deployed on the Eurasian Economic Union’s borders with China, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
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>>This story was first published in issue 397 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 20 2019

Plane from Bishkek crashes in Iran

JAN. 14 (The Conway Bulletin) — A military cargo plane, initially said to have originated from Bishkek, crashed on landing in Iran killing at least 15 people. Both the Iran and Kyrgyzstan denied that the plane belonged to their militaries and some reports said that the plane was an internal Iran flight. The crash did raise questions by some analysts as to just how developed Iran-Kyrgyzstan relations have become over the past few years.
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>>This story was first published in issue 397 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 20 2019

Kyrgyz fuel prices rose by 10% in 2018

JAN. 17 (The Conway Bulletin) — Fuel prices in Kyrgyzstan rose by over 10% in 2018, media reported by quoting the National Statistics Committee, far quicker than the average inflation rate of 4.5%. People in Kyrgyzstan are increasingly frustrated about jobs going to Chinese, and rising petrol prices will feed into this frustration. The National Statistics Agency also said that Kyrgyzstan’s GDP growth in 2018 had been 3.5%, roughly in-line with expectations.
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>>This story was first published in issue 397 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 20 2019

Former Kyrgyz customs chief extradited from Azerbaijan

DEC. 28 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijani authorities extradited Adamkul Junusov, Kyrgyzstan’s former customs chief, to Bishkek where he has been charged with corruption and abuse of power. Mr Junusov, who was customs chief from 2013-16, was detained in Baku on Dec. 5. He is just the latest former high-ranking official under ex Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambayev to be arrested and charged with corruption. Kyrgyz officials accuse him of stealing $2.1m.
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>>This story was first published in issue 396 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 11 2019

Swedish prosecutors charge three Central Asians with terrorism

DEC. 28 (The Conway Bulletin) — Prosecutors in Sweden charged three men from Central Asia with plotting to commit terrorism and for financing the IS extremist group. Three other men are also charged with financing IS. All six men are from Kyrgyzstan or Uzbekistan. The three men had bought chemicals and other kit and were intent on killing dozens of people, prosecutors said. Last year a failed Uzbek asylum seeker was sent to prison in Sweden for killing five people in an attack in central Stockholm in 2017.
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>>This story was first published in issue 396 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 11 2019

Kyrgyz court strips ex-presidents of immunity

BISHKEK/Oct. 3 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan effectively stripped former president Almazbek Atambayev of his immunity from prosecution after the Supreme Court ruled it was an unconstitutional benefit enjoyed by Kyrgyz former leaders. The ruling is a victory for President Sooronbai Jeenbekov who has argued with his predecessor and mentor since taking over in December last year. that they have drummed up. The IPO market has weakened over the year, possibly delaying Kazakhstan’s IPO plans, but Kazatomprom’s GDR listing is not enough to give ordinary investors a decent buy-in into Kazakhstan and Kazakh companies.

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>>This story was first published in issue 388 of The Conway Bulletin on Oct. 17 2018

Jeenbekov appoints new foreign minister in Kyrgyzstan

OCT. 17 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyz president Sooronbai Jeenbekov appointed Chyngyz Aidarbekov as his new foreign minister, a replacement for Erlan Abdyldaev who had resigned five days earlier after a series of corruption scandals. Mr Abdyldaev denied corruption allegations that Kyrgyzstan’s ambassador to South Korea, Kylychbek Sultan, had levied at him. The row between Mr Abdyldaev and Mr Sultan came less than a month after a Kyrgyz deputy minister was sacked for being drunk and disorderly on a flight back from Seoul.

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>>This story was first published in issue 388 of The Conway Bulletin on Oct. 17 2018