SEPT. 30 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Dushanbe sentenced on Sept. 26 two ethnic Uzbeks to nine years in jail for fighting for the Taliban in Afghanistan.Tajikistan’s government has said it is increasingly worried about the spread north of Taliban fighters.
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(News report from Issue No. 202, published on Oct. 1 2014)
SEPT. 27 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan’s top state-sponsored Muslim cleric, chief mufti Saidmukarram Abdulkodirzoda, has issued a fatwa against people criticising the government, AFP news agency reported. He said criticising the government should be considered a sin. Opponents said that this underlined government control over society.
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(News report from Issue No. 202, published on Oct. 1 2014)
SEPT. 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajik president Emomalii Rakhmon will visit the city of Khorog in the east of the country for the first time since fighting between local forces and government soldiers in 2012, officials said.
The visit is, officially, part of countrywide tour by Mr Rakhmon but his trip to Khorog will also be seen as a show of strength in the troublesome area. Few would have been surprised if Mr Rakhmon had chalked the city off his tour. It remains a bastion of anti-government opposition where armed groups opposed to the regime in Dushanbe enjoy support from the local population, mostly ethnic Pamiris that have felt shortchanged ever since Mr Rakhmon’s political faction claimed victory in a five year civil war.
For much of the country’s first two decades of independence, Khorog was relatively stable. But a military operation launched by the government against local powerbrokers in July 2012 shattered the calm in the city. Both government and opposition forces suffered heavy losses.
In May this year, another smaller scale operation saw government agents kill three Khorog residents suspected of drug-smuggling, triggering two days of rioting.
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(News report from Issue No. 202, published on Oct. 1 2014)
SEPT. 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Despite a World Bank report tentatively giving backing to Tajikistan’s Rogun Dam, Uzbekistan foreign minister Abdulaziz Kamilov used a speech at the UN to underline his country’s continued opposition to the project. Increased tension between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan over the dam is an important issue to monitor.
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(News report from Issue No. 202, published on Oct. 1 2014)
SEPT. 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan lawmakers want to arm villagers living in disputed areas along its borders with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
A majority of Parliamentarians debating the plan say they want to help people defend themselves but the military has said the strategy will only worsen already tense cross- border relations.
The initiator of the legislation, Bakyt Torobayev of the Progress parliamentary splinter faction claims the initiative will save budget money. Paying a civilian that already lives on the border will cost less than housing, feeding and paying a soldier, he has argued.
Kyrgyzstan’s Defence Council issued a statement as parliament discussed the legislation. “(Arming) ordinary citizens without higher or military education and preparation for border service, can have consequences, including their potential participation in illegal migration, narcotics trafficking and contraband,” it said.
Medet Tiulegenov, a political science professor at the American University of Central Asia was also against the plan.
“This issue has been raised in the context of insufficient formal security on the border,” Mr Tiulegenov told The Conway Bulletin. He also said that security issues are beyond the parliament’s formal mandate.
“But when government itself lacks a clear vision on border issues and security in the country, MPs exploit that lack of clarity and try to make a name for themselves,” he said.
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(News report from Issue No. 202, published on Oct. 1 2014)
SEPT. 22 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Remittances to Central Asia from sanctions-hit Russia have fallen by around 8%, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said. Heaviest hit in Central Asia is Uzbekistan which sends back the most remittances from Russia, although this forms a lower proportion of GDP compared to Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 201, published on Sept. 24 2014)
SEPT. 18 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – There is only one natural resource Tajikistan is indisputably rich in. Water.
With the fresh water reservoirs close to Tehran running low, Iran is trying to work out how to import Tajikistan’s spare water, opening up a tantalising export prospect for Central Asia’s poorest country.
Iranian officials have previously touted the idea of pumping water from Tajikistan to Iran.
According to RFE/RL’s Tajik service, as of 2004 Tehran was prepared to invest $3b in an ambitious pipeline to send water from Tajikistan’s Lake Sarez to Khorasan province in Iran.
The pipeline, which could transit a billion cubic metres of water annually, would also have to travel at least 500 km across Afghanistan.
It’s expensive but when Iranian officials visited Dushanbe they again brought up the prospect, Bloomberg quoted Iran’s Mehr news agency as reporting.
With Iran’s liquidity hampered by UN sanctions, it is no surprise that now that the talk is of a water for oil swap. Tajikistan depends mostly on Russia for its petrol supplies.
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(News report from Issue No. 201, published on Sept. 24 2014)
SEPT. 23 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajik footballer Khurshed Beknazarov has test positive for a banned substance at the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, media reported. Reports said that the 20-year-old defender had been sent home. The Asian Games are a showcase for countries and the ruling will be an embarrassment to Tajikistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 201, published on Sept. 24 2014)
SEPT. 19 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Around 200 Tajiks are fighting in Syria and Iraq for the extremist group Islamic State, President Emomali Rakhmon said according to media. Mr Rakhmon has long said he is facing pressure from Islamic extremist recruits who are attracting disaffected young Tajiks.
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(News report from Issue No. 201, published on Sept. 24 2014)
SEPT. 19 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – A delegation from Qatar visited Tajikistan promising various investments, including setting up an Islamic bank, media reported. Islamic banking has previously been discussed in Central Asia, especially in Kazakhstan. Qatar is looking to spread its influence across the Islamic World, including Central Asia.
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(News report from Issue No. 201, published on Sept. 24 2014)