Tag Archives: security

Kyrgyzstan announces amnesty

NOV. 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan released 1,277 inmates from its prisons in an amnesty designated to celebrate both the 25th anniversary of independence from the Soviet Union and also the 100th anniversary of an uprising against imperial tsarist forces. The pan-Central Asia rebellion of 1916 was triggered by a decree from the Tsar to mobilise men to fight for Russian forces in the First World War. Russian soldiers repressed the rebellion within a year, killing thousands of people. Different governments have interpreted the uprisings through different lenses. The Soviet Union saw the uprisings as a class struggle. The newly independent countries of Central Asia frame them as national-liberation movements.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 305, published on Nov. 18 2016)

Uzbek and Kyrgyz officials meet

NOV. 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbek and Kyrgyz officials met in Ferghana City, Uzbekistan, to agree resolutions to seven more border dispute areas, the 24.kg news website reported. The border resolution process is part of a drive by Uzbekistan since the death of Islam Karimov in September to repair damaged relations with its neighbours. 24.kg reported that the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border was 1,378km long and that nearly a third of this has been disputed.

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(News report from Issue No. 305, published on Nov. 18 2016)

Kazakh beer king imprisoned for funding coup

ALMATY, NOV. 8 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — A closed court in Astana sentenced Tokhtar Tuleshov, the self- styled beer king of southern Kazakhstan, to 21 years in prison for attempting to stage a coup against Kazakh leader Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Prosecutors had said that Tuleshov had financed a series of anti- government protests in April and May that focused on land ownership. The breadth of the protests and their leaderless nature unnerved Mr Nazarbayev. Police arrested the protest organisers and charged Tuleshov, detained in January for unrelated charges of illegally owning weapons and fraud, with financing the demonstrations.

Tuleshov made his millions through the Shymkentpivo brewery, one of the biggest in Kazakhstan, in the southern city of Shymkent.

His supporters say that he has been framed and point out that it is not possible for him to have paid for the protests from prison.

An ostentatious and dapper figure, Tuleshov used to drive through the scruffy streets of Shymkent in a chauffeured Rolls Royce. Birthday parties for his daughter were lavish affairs with pop stars flown in to sing and guests dressing up in outlandish fancy dress.

The trial was held behind closed doors with journalists only allowed into the courtroom for the final verdict. Human rights activists have said that the arbitrary and closed nature of the trial worried them and could set a precedent.

Analysts have also speculated that Mr Nazarbayev and other senior members of the government from the central and northern tribes in Kazakhstan used Tuleshov to send a warning to high-ranking members of the southern tribe not to challenge their dominance.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Uzbeks and Tajiks face Taliban threat

NOV. 9 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — A senior Afghan army commander in the north of Afghanistan said that the Taliban was encouraging Uzbek and Tajik radical militants to infiltrate Central Asia. The Pajhwork reported that Lt. Gen. Sher Aziz Kamawal had said that the Taliban was using instability in Kunduz region, on the border with Uzbekistan, as a launchpad for militants to move into Central Asia. Governments in Central Asia have been increasingly concerned about Taliban encroachment north.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Georgia’s defence minister to return conscription

NOV. 7 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s new defence minister, Levan Izoria, has said that he may reverse a decision by his predecessor to scrap military conscription next year, media reported. Georgia announced in June that it was going to scrap conscription, part of a drive to professionalise its military. It wants to join NATO and has sent its forces to Afghanistan and Iraq. By regional standards, Georgia’s army already looks and feels like a Western army. Only non- combat roles are filled with conscripts. Media reported that Mr Izoria had said that conscription was useful in helping ethnic minorities integrate.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Georgia and Armenia unveil border crossing

NOV. 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia and Georgia unveiled a new border crossing at Bagratashen and renewed vows to boost bilateral cooperation. At the inauguration ceremony, Georgian PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili met Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and stressed the importance of improved regional cooperation.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

US embassy in Dushanbe warns of attacks

NOV. 9 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The US embassy in Dushanbe issued a warning that Islamic militants were planning to attack large gatherings and kidnap people near the border with Afghanistan.

It said US citizens should avoid crowds and refrain from camping near the border.

“Terrorist groups may attempt to target large public gatherings and/or border crossings with Afghanistan,” it said in a statement.

The warnings comes a month after a similar warning was released in Kyrgyzstan. Governments in Central Asia have been worried both by a rise in the intensity of recruitment drives by the IS extremist group and by the encroachment north of the Taliban.

The US embassy did not give any more details of the threats or what had triggered the warning.

Media later quoted an official from the Tajik government as saying that the warning was overblown and that there was no threat to Tajiks or foreigners.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan patch up border disputes

BISHKEK, OCT. 31 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Delegations from Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan met to agree solutions to 49 long-running border disputes around the Ferghana Valley which, earlier this year, had threatened to tip into conflict.

The agreements mark the next stage in an unprecedented and surprising detente between the two rivals since Uzbek PM Shavkat Mirizyoyev was appointed acting president after the death of Islam Karimov in September.

This was the second of two meetings between the Uzbek and Kyrgyz deputy PMs. A third meeting is scheduled before the end of the year.

Bishkek-based analyst Elmira Nogoybaeva said the change in attitude in Tashkent was welcome but that Kyrgyzstan would need to see whether this was a genuine change of heart or a temporary fad.

“Such meetings are always welcomed by Kyrgyzstan, the question is how long will they last,” she said. “We all look to these meetings with optimism.”

The Ferghana Valley lies at the heart of Central Asia and analysts have previously said that if tension between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan over borders boils over into conflict, and this year there have been reports of Kyrgyz and Uzbek soldiers squaring up to each other, it will pull the whole region into war.

In Bishkek, people were optimistic. Ainagul, 43, said it was a positive but there would be problems ahead.

“Of course, it is good that borders are being delineated, now Kyrgyz people will know to whom territory belongs, and it will prevent conflict between Kyrgyz and Uzbek,” she said. “I still doubt though that conflicts on borders will stop altogether as we still have problems even on the Kyrgyz- Kazakh border which was supposed to have been delineated.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 303, published on Nov. 4 2016)

Kazakh court sentences man to death

NOV. 2 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — A court in Almaty sentenced Ruslan Kulekbayev to death for killing 10 people during a shooting spree earlier this year. Like Russia, Kazakhstan has a moratorium on the death sentence and Kulekbayev will instead serve a life sentence. If the moratorium is lifted, though, he will be placed on Death Row. Kulekbayev had previously said that his shooting spree in July, which started with the murder of a prostitute in the southern city of Shymkent, was a personal form of revenge against a society which he felt had rejected him. The court, though, said that he was an Islamic extremist.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 303, published on Nov. 4 2016)

Man blows himself up in Georgian region

OCT. 17 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – A man blew himself up outside the headquarters of the TV station in the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia. Reports were unclear on whether the bomb was a suicide or the man was targeting the TV station itself. Abkhazia and South Ossetia broke away in 2008 after a brief war between Georgia and Russia. Russia recognises their independence.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 301, published on Oct. 21 2016)