MAY 5 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia has re-started talks with Tajikistan on stationing 3,000 guards along the important Tajik-Afghan border, Reuters reported. Russia, the US and China are competing for influence in Central Asia. Russian soldiers patrolled the border until 2005.
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(News report from Issue No. 39, published on May 9 2011)
APRIL 25 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) members — China, Russia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan — pledged greater cooperation at a meeting in Shanghai. Russian news agency RIA Novosti described the meeting as the first summit for the SCO military chiefs. Some analysts have said the SCO could act as a counterbalance to NATO.
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(News report from Issue No. 37, published on April 25 2011)
APRIL 22 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan’s second city, started to pull down Central Asia’s tallest statue of Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin, AP reported. Lenin statues were ubiquitous during the Soviet Union but have disappeared since its collapse in 1991. Khujand used to be called Leninabad and its Lenin statue was the height of a six-storey building.
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(News report from Issue No. 37, published on April 25 2011)
APRIL 15 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajik forces have killed an Islamic militant leader and at least 10 of his fighters, the ASIA-Plus website reported. The government has fought Abdullo Rakhimov and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) since September when they ambushed an army column and killed at least 28 soldiers.
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(News report from Issue No. 36, published on April 18 2011)
APRIL 15 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will give Tajikistan $45m to spend on social projects. The ADB said Tajikistan is the poorest CIS state and that without help vital social services would fail. In January the ADB gave Tajikistan $145m for a new road.
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(News report from Issue No. 36, published on April 18 2011)
APRIL 7 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Following warnings of low water levels, Tajikistan has now extended its seasonal electricity restrictions, AP reported. Water running off the Pamir Mountains is vital for both Tajikistan’s hydroelectric dams and the cotton fields of downstream Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 35, published on April 11 2011)
MARCH 31 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan’s Hydrological Agency warned that significantly less snow in its Pamir mountains this year will lead to lower water levels for downstream Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, media reported. Arguments over water supplies are a major source of tension in Central Asia.
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(News report from Issue No. 34, published on April 4 2011)
MARCH 25 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia has increased the tax on fuel exports to Tajikistan by 5.3%, media reported. Tajikistan imports nearly all its fuel from Russia. Last year Russia imposed a duty on oil exports to Tajikistan for the first time in 15 years. Russia has previously used tax on fuel to Kyrgyzstan to leverage influence.
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(News report from Issue No. 33, published on March 28 2011)
MARCH 25 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – In a thinly veiled warning that food prices in Tajikistan will continue to rise and that supplies are running low, local media quoted President Emomali Rakhmon telling people in a northern province to hoard food over the next two years. Food prices have soared in Central Asia, worrying governments which fear unrest. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have been worst hit.
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(News report from Issue No. 33, published on March 28 2011)
MARCH 17 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Defence ministers from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states — Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan — met in Astana to coordinate policy until 2013. The SCO, a military and economic group, has increased its activities over the last few years and some analysts have even referred to it as a potential counterbalance to NATO.
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(News report from Issue No. 32, published on March 21 2011)