Tag Archives: Tajikistan

Uzbek border guards kill shepherd

APRIL 17 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbek border guards shot and killed one Tajik shepherd and injured another, shootings that overshadow progress to repair damaged relations. The Tajik authorities accused the Uzbek border guards of crossing the border and illegally shooting the two men. The Uzbek authorities said that the shepherds had crossed into Uzbekistan and attacked the border guard post. Since Shavkat Mirziyoyev became Uzbek president in Sept last year, relations with Tajikistan have improved.

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(News report from Issue No. 325, published on April 17 2017)

Tajik ex-police chief reportedly dies in Mosul

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APRIL 14 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — A US air strike on Mosul in Iraq has killed Gulmurod Halimov, the Tajik former special police unit chief who defected to the extremist group IS in 2015, Western media said. The death of Halimov has not been confirmed by IS. He had allegedly been promoted to be the IS military commander. Halimov was one of the most high-profile recruits to join IS and had been in propaganda.

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(News report from Issue No. 325, published on April 17 2017)f

Panic fuelling monetary crisis, says Tajik CBank

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APRIL 13 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajikistan’s Central Bank said that panic speculation was driving up the cash exchange rate against the official rate to dangerous levels. The Reuters news agency said that the official somoni rate was 8.49 somomi/$1 compared to 8.9/$1 at cash exchanges. Tajikistan’s banking system has been teetering on the verge of collapse, only propped up by the government.

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(News report from Issue No. 325, published on April 17 2017)

After 25 years, Uzbek Air flies to Dushanbe

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DUSHANBE, APRIL 11 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — After three aborted attempts blamed on a variety of different issues, Uzbekistan Airways made its first flight between Tashkent and Dushanbe for 25 years.

A spokesman at Dushanbe Airport said that the Uzbekistan Airways flight had landed at 8.03am local time. Earlier in the year a flight by the privately-owned Somon Air landed at Tashkent airport from Dushanbe.

The resumption of flights between the two capitals was considered a vital sign of improved relations between the neighbours. Uzbekistan Airways has said that it now intends to fly between Tashkent and Dushanbe twice a week.

Under Uzbek president Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan perused an isolationist policy, especially with regards to Tajikistan which he viewed virtually as a pariah state.

Karimov was particularly incensed by plans drawn up by his Tajik counterpart, Emomali Rakhmon, to build a dam across rivers that feed Uzbekistan’s cotton fields. His successor, Shavkat Mirziyoyev has been more avuncular and has patched up damaged relations.

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(News report from Issue No. 324, published on April 13 2017)

Tajik banking sector needs reform, says ADB

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APRIL 6 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajikistan’s banking sector needs urgent reform if it is going to pull out of the current crisis, the Asian Development Bank said. Among other things, Tajik banks should increase their capital levels and improve their ownership transparency. Tajikistan’s banks have been teetering on the verge of bankruptcy. Only investments from the government and international institutional banks have averted a collapse of the banking sector.

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(News report from Issue No. 324, published on April 13 2017)

Go to the theatre, Tajik police chief tells men

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APRIL 13 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — In an interview with the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Tajik interior ministry spokesman said that interior minister, Ramazon Rahminzoda, had ordered policemen to go to the theatre at least once a month. He said that the theatre could inspire, challenge and educate policemen. Tajik police have a reputation for being corrupt.

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(News report from Issue No. 324, published on April 13 2017)

Tajik President’s son starts as Dushanbe mayor

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APRIL 10 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon officially signed a decree appointing his 29-year-old son, Rustam Emomali, as the mayor of Dushanbe. Mr Emomali had been acting mayor of Dushanbe since January when the previous long- serving incumbent was suddenly fired. He had to wait until he had been elected to the city assembly before he could take up the position on a full-time basis. He was elected to the assembly at the end of last month. Some analysts have said that Mr Emomali’s promotion is part of the grooming he is undergoing ahead of taking over from his father as president.

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(News report from Issue No. 324, published on April 13 2017)

Tajik president’s son gets elected into city assembly

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APRIL 2 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The son of Tajik president Emomali Rakhmon, Rustam Emomali, was officially voted in as a deputy in Dushanbe’s city assembly. The vote allows Mr Emomali to take over as mayor of Dushanbe, a move that marks yet another shift rise for a man analysts have said is being groomed to take over the top job from his father. In January, Mr Rakhmon appointed his son to be the acting mayor of Dushanbe, but he could only become the permanent mayor after he had been elected to the city’s assembly. He had previously been head of the government’s anti-corruption unit and head of Tajikistan’s football federation.

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(News report from Issue No. 323, published on April 6 2017)

Tajik lawyer flees into exile

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MARCH 29 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — A lawyer working on a human rights case in Tajikistan has fled the country fearing for her safety, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported, just the latest in a series of anti- government activists who have moved into self-imposed exile. RFE/RL said that they had spoken to Muazzama Qodirova who was now in Germany where she hoped to apply for asylum. She had been working on defending jailed human rights lawyer, Buzurgmehr Yorov. Free speech and human rights groups have complained of the Tajik government’s increasingly dictatorial approach to governing.

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(News report from Issue No. 323, published on April 6 2017)

Kazakhstan-focused oil producer posts 47% revenue fall

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APRIL 3 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tethys, the embattled London- listed oil producer with interests in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Georgia, said that its revenues from oil and gas sales had fallen by 47% in 2016 to $11.7m. It said that the drop was due to a fall in production and a devaluation of the tenge in the second half of 2015. Tethys sells most of its oil in Kazakhstan’s domestic market.

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(News report from Issue No. 323, published on April 6 2017)