NATO NAC to Visit Georgia in November
12 September
NATO Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, and diplomats from NATO’s senior decision-making body, North Atlantic Council (NAC), will visit Georgia on November 9-10, Grigol Vashadze, the Georgian foreign minister, said on Monday. The visit will be an opportunity for NATO officials “to ascertain on the ground how fast our country is developing and how our macroeconomic parameters, our democratic reforms, our defense budget and our participation in peacekeeping missions are in line with NATO standards,” Vashadze said. He was speaking with journalists on a sideline of the annual ambassadorial conference in Tbilisi, which gathered Georgian diplomats accredited abroad to discuss the country’s foreign policy priorities. The North Atlantic Council, comprising of the 28 NATO permanent representatives and the Secretary General, first visited Georgia in September, 2008 [1] – a month after the war between Georgia and Russia. At the time Russia condemned [2] the visit saying it was “untimely, which does not correspond to the interests of stabilization in the region.” (Civil Georgia)
Turkmen officials ban students from studying in Tajikistan
12 September
Hundreds of Turkmen students enrolled at universities in Tajikistan have been barred by Turkmenistan's Migration Service from returning to resume their studies, RFE/RL's Turkmen Service reports. A fifth-year student from Turkmenistan's northeastern Lebap Province studying at the Tajik State Medical Institute told RFE/RL he has returned home every summer and has never before had problems leaving the country. Most students from Lebap travel overland to Tajikistan via Uzbekistan. But he said that on September 1 Turkmen border officials stopped him and several other students at the border and did not allow them to cross. The officials said they were acting on orders and gave no reason for the ban. The student said his father has gone to Ashgabat to raise the issue with State Migration Service officials. A fourth-year female student from Lebap who studies at Tajik State University also told RFE/RL that this year she and fellow students were barred from entering Uzbekistan at the Tally Merjen border crossing -- which they had used in the past -- as well as at the Farab checkpoint. She said they were told by the Migration Office in Lebap and the State Migration Office in Ashgabat that they have been barred from crossing the border. They were not told who imposed the ban, why, or for how long it will remain in force. She added that about 870 Turkmen students study at Tajik State University. Only a few Turkmen students get government scholarships to study at Tajik universities, where the annual tuition fees average about $2,000. Turkmen students from Lebap often choose Tajik schools as the tuition is cheaper than it is in Europe. Last summer it was reported that local government officials collected detailed information from every Turkmen family and their children about their place of work or study. Some parents say the reason for the ban on student travel to Tajikistan may be connected to the increase in activity by extremist Muslims that resulted in months of fighting by Tajik forces against purported Islamists. The Turkmen Education Ministry has not replied to RFE/RL requests for comment on the travel ban. Meanwhile, the Tajik Education Ministry has confirmed that no Turkmen students have returned to Tajikistan since the end of their summer vacation. It said they risk expulsion if they fail to arrive by September 20. (RFE/RL)
Kyrgyz president creates US base oversight body
13 September
The president of Kyrgyzstan has created an oversight body designed to ensure transparency of rental payments for a U.S. air base in the ex-Soviet Central Asian nation. Roza Otunbayeva's decree issued Tuesday entitles the body to monitor payments by the base to the Kyrgyz government and the money's eventual use. The Manas Air Transit Center was mired in allegations of corruption during the regime of former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who was deposed in a popular uprising in April 2010. Commercial arrangements for the supply of fuel to Manas was subject of a U.S. Congressional investigation last year. The probe revealed no wrongdoing, but the final report expressed misgivings over the opaqueness of the system. U.S. contributions to Kyrgyzstan's economy through Manas reached $123.6 million in 2010. (AP)
Georgian FM: Fifth Round of WTO Talks with Russia Yields No Results
13 September
The fifth round of Swiss-mediated talks between Georgian and Russian negotiators on Russia’s WTO entry terms “ended without results” on September 12, Grigol Vashadze, the Georgian foreign minister, said on Tuesday.
He said he was not expecting “breakthrough” from this round of talks and added that negotiations would continue.
“Of course these are very difficult negotiations; the both sides know each other’s position; the Georgian side is permanently making compromises; the Russian side stands stubbornly on its fixated position like on Borodino [battlefield – a reference to 1812 battle between Russia and the invading French army],” Vashadze said, adding that he would not go further into details as “Georgia is so far observing” a gentlemen’s agreement between sides not to speak publicly about the negotiating process. (Civil Georgia)
Iran, Russia oppose EU’s energy move
16 September
Iran joined Russian officials in expressing frustration with an EU decision to approach former Soviet Union countries about their natural gas. The European Union this week agreed to negotiate deals with gas-rich Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan aimed at backing a series of pipeline networks in the so-called Southern Corridor, which includes the Nabucco pipeline. Europe aims to break Russia's grip on the energy sector by courting rival suppliers who would feed natural gas through the new pipeline network. Tehran, in a statement issued through its embassy in Moscow, said it shared the Kremlin's concerns about European initiatives with Caspian states. "The two countries oppose this decision, which runs against ecological interests and the authority of each of the five states in solving issues concerning the Caspian Sea," Russia's state-run news agency RIA Novosti quoted the embassy as saying. Moscow said it regretted Europe's move to broker agreements with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, two former Soviet states. "Outside attempts to meddle in the affairs of the Caspian (Sea) … could very seriously complicate the situation in this region and hamper the ongoing five-party negotiations on the Caspian Sea's legal status," the Russian Foreign Ministry said Monday. (UPI)
Austrian Federal President to visit Azerbaijan
16 September
Austrian Federal President Heinz Fischer [3] will pay an official visit to Azerbaijan on October 11-12, the presidential administration told Trend. "President Fischer will visit Azerbaijan for the first time after the Austrian Embassy opened in Baku last year," the spokesman for the presidential administration Bruno Aigner said. "It was a significant and long-expected welcome." The development and intensification of bilateral relations in the economy, culture, energy, regional development, cooperation between the EU and neighboring countries, as well as urgent EU economic problems, will be among the main topics of discussion. The President will be accompanied by a delegation, including the minister of economy and the minister of social affairs. The Azerbaijani-Austrian economic forum will be held during the visit. President Fischer plans to meet with Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev, Prime Minister Artur Rasizade, and Speaker of Parliament Oktay Asadov. A large delegation of Austrian businessmen will arrive in Baku on the eve of the visit. A business forum will be held on September 19-20. Major Austrian companies working [4] in the field of new technologies and urban improvement will also be represented.
The Austrian delegation, headed by President Fischer, will visit Turkmenistan after the meetings in Baku. (Trend)
Kyrgyzstan seeks extradition of ousted president
16 September
Kyrgyzstan is preparing to file a new extradition request for ousted president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who fled to Belarus last year after a popular uprising. More than 80 people died when government forces tried to suppress the protest that brought down Bakiyev's government in April 2010. Authorities have since arrested several officials involved in those events and in earlier attacks on opposition politicians and activists. Deputy Interior Minister Melis Turganbayev also said Friday that authorities will charge several former security officials that served under Bakiyev over their alleged involvement in the murder of an influential politician. Belarus has already declined requests for Bakiyev to be extradited, describing the Central Asian nation's pleas as politically motivated. (AP)
Afghan NGO seeks to increase the number of Afghan women in government
16 September
An Afghan nongovernmental organization has compiled a list of 1,400 women qualified to hold posts in national or local government in an effort to promote greater inclusion of women in politics and social life, RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan reports. The list, based on a nationwide survey, was put together by Khorasan, an NGO affiliated with the Women's Affairs Ministry. The group hopes to present the list to the government. Khorasan Director Seema Ghani told RFE/RL that the goal is to raise the voices of women, particularly those from remote and undeveloped regions of Afghanistan where women's involvement in government decision-making is minor or nonexistent.
"Despite the general perception that women are not capable of undertaking leadership positions, our survey shows that women have the qualifications needed to take an active role in the politics and social affairs of their regions," Ghani said. "The list is also evidence that it is not just women in urban areas, but also from the poorest and most-remote areas, who possess these abilities," she said. "We are therefore continuing efforts to increase the names on this list and present them to the government." Halima Ropema, one of the women on the list, told RFE/RL the compilation of the list is a cause for optimism and a step in the right direction. "Unfortunately, women are playing a very insignificant role in the everyday running of the country," Ropema said. "We all welcome the creation of such a list as we need to have more competent women in all levels of governance." Following the ousting of the hard-line fundamentalist Taliban in 2001, women burst onto the public scene, assuming political roles, establishing women's organizations, and flooding back to schools and universities. The country's election laws include a quota for women in elected posts like provincial councils and parliament. But despite such advances, many challenges remain.
National surveys show that more than 60 percent of women still experience physical violence, while 70 percent are forced into marriage. Numerous schools for girls have been burned down by militants, who have also attacked and killed female students. Afghan authorities have also failed to investigate and prosecute those behind the high-profile murders of female journalists, rights activists, and politicians. (RFE/RL)
Date of French President's visit to South Caucasus announced
17 September
French President Nicholas Sarkozy will pay a visit to the South Caucasus region on Oct.6-7, Reuters reported.
Azerbaijani Ambassador to Paris Elchin Amirbekov confirmed that Sarkozy will visit Azerbaijan on Oct.7.
He said this is the first official visit of the French president to Azerbaijan in the history of the diplomatic relations.
During his regional visit, Sarkozy will visit Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia. He will discuss the cooperation prospects. On the eve of Sarkozy’s visit, opportunities to develop Azerbaijan- France trade and economic relations will be discussed in Paris in late September. The sixth meeting of the Azerbaijani-French intergovernmental commission on trade-economic cooperation will be held in Paris on Sept. 23, Azerbaijani Ambassador Elchin Amirbekov told Trend [5] on Friday. The Azerbaijani delegation will be headed by Finance Minister Samir Sharifov and French delegation will be headed by Secretary of State for Foreign Trade Pierre Lellouche, he said.
Based on the Azerbaijani State Statistics Committee, the bilateral trade amounted to $ 2.2 billion in January-June 2011. Azerbaijan announced the discovery of large gas reserves on the Absheron field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea last week. Participants [6] in Absheron are SOCAR (40 percent), Total (40 percent), and Gaz De France Suez (20 percent). The contract on the Absheron Field was signed on Feb. 27, 2009, between SOCAR and Total. Later Total sold 20 percent of its equity participation [7] to Gaz De France Suez. The field’s potential reserves hit 350 billion cubic meters of gas and 45 million ton of condensate. (Trend)
Suspected U.S. drone crashes near Afghan-Pakistan border
18 September
Pakistani security officials say a suspected U.S. drone has crashed in northwestern Pakistan near the Afghan border.
The officials say the unmanned drone crashed near the village of Jangara in the South Waziristan tribal area. Members of the Taliban militia say they have recovered the debris from the crash. It is not clear what caused the crash. The U.S. Embassy in Pakistan has not commented on the incident. American officials normally do not comment on the U.S. drone program in Pakistan, which is operated by the CIA and has been used to carry out aerial strikes against suspected Taliban and Al-Qaeda sites in northwest Pakistan. (RFE/RL)
Global clothing brands boycott Uzbek cotton
18 September
More than 60 of the world’s top clothing labels, including Burberry and Levi, are to boycott cotton from Uzbekistan over claims the government forces children to harvest the crop. Swedish high street retailer H&M, and sportswear companies Adidas and Puma were among the brands who pledged not to buy cotton from the former Soviet Central Asian country that they know has been collected by children. The groups have signed a pledge under the Responsible Sourcing Network, a project organised by the US-based advocacy group As You Sow which is organising the boycott. “We are a major cotton consumer and like many companies, we take a clear stand against child labour, regardless of country,” said Henrik Lampa, corporate social responsibility manager at H&M. US retail industry group American Apparel and Footwear Association, which represents more than 800 companies, had previously signed up for the pledge but Andrew Behar, Chief Executive of As You Sow, said the new individual pledges had extra significance. “It’s about integrity and transparency,” he said. “It’s different when you sign up individually and put your logo on it.” The Uzbek foreign ministry did not comment. The move is the second victory this month for human rights groups over the Uzbek regime, a government they revile. On September 9 organisers of the New York Fashion Week, under pressure from the media and rights groups, cancelled a show by the eldest daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov. (telegraph.co.uk)
Energy-rich Turkmenistan boosts gas exports
19 September
Turkmenistan's state newspaper says the energy-rich Central Asian nation has started up a new natural gas compressor station, boosting its annual export capacity by 2 billion cubic meters. The daily Neutral Turkmenistan reported Monday that the gas will be fed into the Central Asia-Center 3 pipeline, which is linked into supply routes to Russia and Iran. Russian demand for Turkmen gas is weak, meaning the gas will likely go to covering the unused annual capacity in an 8 billion cubic-meter pipeline to northern Iran. Around 5 billion cubic meters of gas sourced from an offshore Caspian Sea field operated by Malaysia's Petronas are already pumped annually into that route. Turkmenistan and Iran are currently joined by two gas pipelines, allowing for total deliveries of up to 20 billion cubic meters per year. (AP)
Azerbaijan holds military exercises in Nakhichevan [8]
19 September
VS Azerbaijan began regular large-scale military exercises in the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic. The press service of the Ministry of defence of Azerbaijan. In the military exercises by personally commanded by the Minister of defence, Colonel-General Safar Abiyev, take part military, part of the Army Air Defense units and parts (AIR DEFENSE). According to the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan Republic, it is planned that the exercises will last until the end of this week. (Baku Today)
Kazakhs to sell gas to Kyrgyz after Uzbekistan raises price
20 September
An agreement under which Kazakhstan will supply Kyrgyzstan with 300 million cubic meters of natural gas in exchange for water is contingent upon the cooperation of transit country Uzbekistan, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports. KyrgyzGaz Chairman Turgunbek Kulmurzaev told RFE/RL that the agreement -- under which Kyrgyzstan will supply water to southern Kazakhstan in exchange for gas -- was reached on September 16 in Bishkek between Kyrgyz officials and visiting Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov. The two sides agreed to further discuss the technical arrangements of the deal. Any agreement for natual gas to be transported to Kyrgyzstan from Kazakhstan would need the cooperation of Uzbek officials, who control a large part of the gas pipeline that could supply gas to Kyrgyzstan. Kulmurzaev explained that Bishkek started looking for alternative gas supplies after Uzbekistan raised the price for natural gas deliveries to $278 per 1,000 cubic meters. He said the exact price that Kyrgyzstan would pay for Kazakh gas has not been decided. (RFE/RL)
Ukraine, Azerbaijan sign LNG deal
21 September
Azerbaijan and Ukraine signed an energy deal for liquefied natural gas deliveries that would start as early as 2014, a Ukrainian official said. Vladyslav Kaskiv, a Ukrainian official in charge of investments and project management, said his country would get around 70 billion cubic feet of LNG starting in 2014. This would increase to 176 bcf by 2015, he said, noting both sides would set up a joint venture as part of the deal. Kaskiv added that the Azeri energy deal would give Ukrainian efforts to build an LNG terminal in the Black Sea momentum. "The construction of the LNG terminal supports the Ukrainian Energy and Coal Industry Ministry's efforts to reinforce the country's energy security," he was quoted by Russia's state-run news agency RIA Novosti as saying. Kiev is pressing the Kremlin for a better natural gas deal. Former Prime Minister and opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko is on trial for corruption stemming from a 2009 deal with Gazprom she helped broker. She and some of her Western supporters claim the charges are politically motivated. (UPI)
Kyrgyz official arrested as suspect in high-profile murder case
21 September
A Kyrgyz Interior Ministry police general was arrested as a suspect in a high-profile murder case -- then released after his supporters picketed the mayor's office, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports. Rasulberdi Raiymberdiev, who is head of the Interethnic Concord Committee in Osh, was detained in the southern city on September 20 as a suspect in the 2009 killing of former presidential chief of staff Medet Sadyrkulov and taken to Bishkek for questioning.
Osh mayor's office spokesman Guljan Ajymatova told RFE/RL on September 21 that at least 100 protesters, mainly from Raiymberdiev's native village of Toloikon and some on horseback, picketed the mayor's office to demand his release. The Prosecutor-General's Office decided to release Raiymberdiev on September 21, but warned him not to leave the country while the investigation into Sadyrkulov's murder continues. Sadyrkulov, who served as presidential administration head under ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiev, and two of his associates were found dead in a burned-out car in March 2009, shortly after Sadyrkulov resigned to join the anti-Bakiev opposition.
Officials said the deaths were the result of a traffic accident. But Sadyrkulov's relatives challenged that finding, saying the bodies were in positions indicating that the victims were dead when the car caught fire. The investigation into Sadyrkulov's death resumed in April 2010 after Bakiev fled the country in the wake of antigovernment demonstrations. On September 16, Deputy Interior Minister Melis Turganbaev told journalists that four Kyrgyz citizens were arrested in neighboring Tajikistan as suspects in the murders. He added that authorities intend to again seek Bakiev's extradition from Belarus, where he now lives in exile, for his alleged involvement in the killings. Belarus had previously rejected an extradition request from Kyrgyz officials. On September 14, Interior Minister Zarylbek Rysaliev said 17 people have been detained in Kyrgyzstan as suspects in the murders. Turganbaev told RFE/RL the following day that opposition United Kyrgyzstan party leader Adakhan Madumarov, former Prosecutor-General Elmurza Satybaldiev, and ex-Interior Minister Moldomusa Kongantiev will be interrogated in connection with Sadyrkulov's killing. (RFE/RL)
Jailed Kazakh journalist allowed to visit ailing mother
21 September
Prominent Kazakh journalist Ramazan Esergepov has been allowed to leave prison to visit his ailing mother in an Almaty hospital, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports. Esergepov, the founder and chief editor of the Almaty-based newspaper "Alma-Ata Info," was sentenced in August 2009 to three years in prison for publishing state secrets in an article published in his newspaper in 2008. Esergepov and rights organizations protested the verdict, saying the case was politically motivated. "Alma-Ata Info" was closed down after his arrest. Esergepov, who is serving his term at a labor camp in the southern city of Taraz, was given one week to see his mother, who suffered a stroke earlier this month. Esergepov told RFE/RL on September 21 that he asked prison officials on September 5, after he learned of his mother's stroke, to allow him to leave prison and visit her. He said they agreed to his request on September 19.
Esergepov said he has been able to communicate with his mother during their visits. "Although she is not able to talk, she heard me, she saw me, she wept, and she smiled," he said. "I had to tell her that I was fully released and exonerated in order to give her strength and make her feel happy." Esergepov's jail term is due to end in January.
Esergepov is one of the recipients, announced in June, of a Hellman-Hammett Grant for 2011. The grant is administered by Human Rights Watch and awarded to writers and journalists who have been subject to political persecution and are in financial need. Esergepov is the third Kazakh to receive a Hellman-Hammett Grant. (RFE/RL)
Nagorno Karabakh may become next recognized state after South Sudan – Armenian leader
21 September
Armenian President Serzh Sargsian believes in the possibility of independence for Nagorno Karabakh and warns against the use of force in resolving the problem of Karabakh. "This year South Sudan became independent thus enriching the international experience of matters related to the self-determination of nations. I am simply sure that we will have the same result in Karabakh," he said in an interview with Russia 24 channel. He said "calls for a military solution are dangerous for the entire region, not just Karabakh itself." Sargsian stressed that at the summit in Kazan Azerbaijan proved "its reluctance and inability to reach compromise" but assured that in its turn Yerevan will continue seeking compromise. (Interfax)