Tag Archives: Kyrgyzstan

Karimov criticises Eurasian Economic Union

JUNE 9 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbek president Islam Karimov has criticised the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union as a thinly disguised effort to create a broader political group.

Mr Karimov is, perhaps, the first leader from Central Asia to offer such brazen criticism of the Eurasian Economic Union, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s pet projects.

Kyrgyz news agency 24.kg reported Mr Karimov saying that joining the Eurasian Economic Union would mean losing national independence.

“They say that they will only create an economic market and it won’t relinquish sovereignty and independence. Tell me, can political independence exist without economic independence?” Mr Karimov said according to 24.kg.

Of course, Uzbekistan is the most unilateral of the Central Asian countries and criticism from Tashkent of the Eurasian Economic Union is not unexpected but Mr Karimov’s comments are particularly barbed and the timing poignant.

Alongside Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus are also members of the Eurasian Economic Union which was signed into existence last month at a ceremony in Astana. But Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are all eager to join.

Many Western analysts have said that despite assurances from Mr Putin, the Eurasian Economic Union is little more than a thinly veiled effort by the Kremlin to extend its political power. Clearly Mr Karimov shares these views.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 188, published on JUNE 11 2014)

South Kyrgyzstani protest for ex-PM

JUNE 3 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) -An estimated 300 people in Osh, south Kyrgyzstan, blocked a main road to protest the arrest of former parliamentarian Ahmatbek Keldibekov. The authorities have accused Mr Keldibekov of abuse of office. Any sign of unrest in south Kyrgyzstan is a potential problem.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 187, published on JUNE 4 2014)

Putin wants Armenia EaEU entry

MAY 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian president Vladimir Putin threw his support behind Armenia’s planned entry into the Eurasian Economic Union (EaEU). Media quoted Mr Putin as saying that Armenia should become a member as soon as possible. Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan are currently the only members of the EaEU. Kyrgyzstan also wants to become an EaEU member.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 187, published on JUNE 4 2014)

US and Kyrgyzstan clash on crime boss

MAY 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) -The US has offered incentives of up to $1m for information on how Kyrgyz criminal boss Kamchybek Kolbayev runs a money laundering and people trafficking network, media reported. Kyrgyzstan is set to release Kolbayev from jail next month, setting itself up for a clash with the US.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 187, published on JUNE 4 2014)

US contractor jailed in Bishkek

MAY 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Controversy has always stalked the US air base outside Bishkek and even as it wrapped up its mission in Kyrgyzstan on June 3 scandal hovered.

The military facility’s closing ceremony came only a few days after a local court sentenced one of its contractors to four years in jail on hooliganism charges.

Brandon Cornelius, a service manager at the so-called Manas Transit Center, was arrested in the early hours of March 9 after a drunken pursuit of a 22-year old girl. Although the girl did not push through sexual harassment charges, Cornelius allegedly attacked the arresting police officers.

The court verdict was a typically inglorious footnote to the Transit Center, which began life in 2001 as a major logistical hub for the US-led war in Afghanistan but has grown increasingly unpopular with locals.

In 2006, US soldier Zachary Hatfield shot a Kyrgyz man. Hatfield said he was threatened with a knife. He was transferred back to the United States, escaping punishment.

Although estimates of the Transit Center’s annual contribution to the local economy exceed $200 million, many Kyrgyz will be happy to see the back of US soldiers and hard-drinking defence contractors. A February 2014 poll backed by Gallup found 59% of Kyrgyz respondents viewed the Transit Center negatively, compared to 18% positively.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 187, published on JUNE 4 2014)

Russia gives Kyrgyzstan $1.2b

May 30 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia has offered Kyrgyzstan $1.2b to help it join the Eurasian Economic Union (EaEU), Temir Sariev, Kyrgyzstan’s economy minister, told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in an interview. Mr Sariev said that $1b would be given as a long-term loan and $200m as a grant.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 187, published on JUNE 4 2014)

Eurasian Economic Union begins in Kazakhstan

MAY 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – At a ceremony in Astana, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko signed into existence the Eurasian Economic Union (EaEU).

The EaEU is the successor of the Customs Union and is designed to further integrate its members’ economies. The rhetoric has been of high praise for the EaEU but the reaction on the street has been markedly different, as a correspondent for The Bulletin discovered in Almaty.

Berik, a 35-year-old office worker wasn’t even sure of the treaty. “Who are the parties involved?” he said. “Belarus and Russia. I’m not sure, with them it could go either way. It could either be a success or a failure.”

An ethnic Russian lady hurrying along the street also said she doubted the value of the group. “It would have been better if they had not signed the treaty,” she said.

Other people agreed. Most had either not heard of the EaEU or said they doubted it would be positive.

One of the few people to support the formation of the Eurasian Economic Union was Saken a 50-year-old man who worked in real estate. He said that Soviet era ties remained and that the union would be stronger than if countries pursued their own agendas.

“In the Eurasian Union we will welcome troubled countries like Kyrgyzstan and Armenia, who are not really as stable as we are, but we will definitely help them, with the same friendship we used to relate to each other during the Soviet era,” he said.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 187, published on JUNE 4 2014)

Eurasian Bank to grant Kyrgyzstan $20m

MAY 26 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Eurasian Development Bank, set up to fund projects in Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) member states, agreed to lend Kyrgyzstan $20m to develop its agriculture, media reported. The EEU will replace the Customs Union which comprises of Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus. Kyrgyzstan aims to join later this year.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 186, published on May 28 2014)

Kyrgyz president intends to serve 1 term

MAY 20 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atamabayev said that he would respect the constitution which limits him to one 6-year term in office, media reported. Mr Atambayev was voted into power in 2011. His election was the first peaceful transition of power in Kyrgyzstan since the 1991 break-up of the Soviet Union.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 186, published on May 28 2014)

Ex-Kyrgyz President begged for help

MAY 22 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – In an interview with Russian TV, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko described how former Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev phoned him from a forest in southern Kyrgyzstan in 2010 after fleeing protesters and begged him for help. Mr Lukashenko gave Mr Bakiyev residence in Belarus.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 186, published on May 28 2014)