NOV. 24 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh sentenced 17 ethnic Uzbeks to life in prison and two more to 25 years for the murder of 16 Kyrgyz during rioting in June. About 370 mainly ethnic Uzbeks died in the ethnic violence. Human rights groups have said Uzbeks are being blamed unfairly for the violence.
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(News report from Issue No. 17, published on Nov. 29 2010)
NOV. 25 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) – The heads of governments of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation member states met in Dushanbe to discuss increasing humanitarian and economic cooperation. They were candid about the results other than to say they had agreed to boost regional aid. Founded in 2001, the SCO consists of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Mongolia, India, Pakistan and Iran hold observer status and attended the meeting.
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NOV. 29 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) – In the wake of WikiLeaks’ publication of confidential files from US Embassies around the world, US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton will visit Central Asia this week. She flies to Kazakhstan for an OSCE summit on Dec. 1, 2010 and then visits Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan before flying on to Bahrain.
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(News report from Issue No. 17, published on Nov. 29 2010)
NOV. 23/24 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov flew to Qatar and signed bilateral agreements promising closer ties between the energy producing nations. This was Karimov’s first trip to Qatar. He has previously spoken about increasing cooperation
with energy producers in the Middle East.
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(News report from Issue No. 17, published on Nov. 29 2010)
NOV. 9 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) – Germany’s human rights commissioner called on the International Labour Organisation, a UN agency, to investigate Uzbekistan for using child labour to pick its cotton harvest. This is the sharpest criticism by a leading European figure of Uzbekistan’s alleged use of child labour. Uzbekistan has previously promised to stop the practice.
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(News report from Issue No. 15, published on Nov. 15 2010)
OCT. 28 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — Booming commodity prices and a sustained revival in Russia’s economy are driving economic recovery in Central Asia and the South Caucasus, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a report. The IMF said economies in both regions will grow this year except for Kyrgyzstan where political turmoil has dented growth.
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(News report from Issue No. 13, published on Nov. 1 2010)
OCT. 28 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — Underdeveloped banking systems, a high rate of non-performing loans and inflexible exchange rates are potential brakes on economic recovery in Central Asia and the south Caucasus, the IMF said.
With their reliance on neighbouring Russia and global commodity prices, the global financial downturn in 2009 was tough for the economies of Central Asia and the south Caucasus. This year, with Russia and commodity prices recovering and the impact of domestic fiscal stimulus taking hold, the IMF predicts steady economic growth throughout the regions, other than for Kyrgyzstan.
Remittances from workers in Russia, so important for the poorer Central Asian and Caucasus countries, grew by 26% in the first half of 2010 compared to the same period in 2009.
The IMF said that inflation was generally under control at around 8%, although in Uzbekistan it was nearer 11%. For the IMF, the regions’ banking sectors are a concern. In Kazakhstan, the IMF pointed out, non-performing loans total nearly 26% of all loans.
IMF’s GDP % growth figures (2010 and 2011 are predictions):
Armenia +13.7 (2007); +6.9 (2008); -14.2 (2009); +4.0 (2010); +4.6 (2011)
Azerbaijan +25.0 (2007); +10.8 (2008); +9.3 (2009); +4.3 (2010); +1.8 (2011)
Georgia +12.3 (2007); +2.3 (2008); -3.9 (2009); +5.5 (2010); +4.0 (2011)
Kazakhstan +8.9 (2007); +3.2 (2008); +1.2 (2009); +5.4 (2010); +5.1 (2011)
Kyrgyzstan +8.5 (2007); +8.4 (2008); +2.3 (2009); -3.5 (2010); +7.1 (2011)
Tajikistan +7.8 (2007); +7.9 (2008); +3.4 (2009); +5.5 (2010); +5.0 (2011)
Turkmenistan +11.6 (2007); +10.5 (2008); +6.1 (2009); +9.4 (2010); +11.5 (2011)
Uzbekistan +9.5 (2007); +9.0 (2008); +8.1 (2009); +8.0 (2010); +7.0 (2011)
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(News report from Issue No. 13, published on Nov. 1 2010)
Oct. 21 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbek President Islam Karimov visited Turkmen leader Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov for two days of talks starting on Oct. 19. He was followed on Oct. 21 by Russian President Dmitri Medvedev for separate meetings with Mr Berdymukhamedov.
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(News report from Issue No. 12, published on Oct. 21 2010)
OCT. 19 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — Relations between Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan have blossomed recently and on Oct. 19 Uzbek President Islam Karimov arrived in Ashgabat for a two day visit, his second trip in 10 months.
Mr Karimov last visited in Dec. 2009 for the opening of a gas pipeline running from Turkmenistan to China via Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. As if to highlight strengthening Uzbek-Turkmen friendship, Mr Karimov’s press office said trade in 2009 between the two neighbours had increased by 40%.
But relations haven’t always been this cosy and only since Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov took over as Turkmenistan’s president in 2006, have links visibly improved.
There was little official detail on what was discussed but talks were likely to have focused on NATO’s war in Afghanistan, gas export prices and shared concern about the growing influence of Russia in Central Asia — Kazakhstan has joined a Customs Union with Russia and Belarus and an election in Kyrgyzstan handed pro-Russia parties the balance of power — as well as concern at the development of upstream hydropower plants in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
According to Mr Karimov’s press office, the potential of a transport corridor from Central Asia to the Middle East was also on the agenda.
Combined, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan have clout in the region. Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are major gas, gold and cotton exporters and they hold nearly half of Central Asia’s roughly 60m people.
Karimov’s visit was also well timed. The day after he left, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev arrived in Ashgabat for his own talks with Mr Berdymukhamedov.
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(News report from Issue No. 12, published on Oct. 21 2010)
OCT. 15 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan convicted a reporter of slander, insult and disturbing the peace. The judge fined Abdulmalik Boboyev, who works for US-funded Voice of America, $10,000 but did not jail him. Mr Boboyev was the second Uzbek reporter convicted but not sent to jail by Uzbek authorities in a week, the same week an Uzbek delegation visited Washington for talks.
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(News report from Issue No. 12, published on Oct. 21 2010)