22 February 2012 News Digest
12 February
Election officials in the Central Asian state of Turkmenistan recorded a near-unanimous turnout in the country's presidential election on February 12. The Election Commission said 96.28 percent of the country's 3 million eligible voters had cast their ballots by the time polls closed. Incumbent President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov is nearly certain to defeat the seven relatively unknown candidates who were running against him. Berdymukhammedov appeared at an Ashgabat polling station accompanied by his father, his son, and his grandson. Berdymukhammedov allowed his father to exercise his constitutional right as the elder in the family and vote first. The poll marked only the third time in more than 20 years of independence that Turkmenistan has held a presidential election, and only the second time when there has been more than one candidate running. “I voted for our current president, Gurbanguly [Berdymukhammedov]. There is no other candidate," a voter in Lebap Province told RFE/RL’s Turkmen Service on condition of anonymity. (RFE/RL)
Tajik caught in Moscow for selling two Uzbek girls as prostitutes
13 February
The man caught by the Moscow police several days ago trying to sell two young women from Uzbekistan appeared to be a native of Tajikistan, not a resident of Russia's Lipetsk region, Galina Mikhailova from the Moscow southwestern district police department told Interfax on Monday. "The police detained the man trying to sell two girls, 25, for 50,000 rubles. The girls are natives of Uzbekistan," he said. The detainee was identified as a 46-year-old native of Tajikistan without registration in Moscow. The police learned that he was a member of the criminal group involved in human trafficking. "A criminal case was opened for the illegal deprivation of freedom [Article 127 of the Russian Criminal Code]," Mikhailova said. A police source told Interfax earlier that a 46-year-old resident of the Lipetsk region was caught in southwestern Moscow while trying to sell two 24-year-old natives of Uzbekistan. The detainee told the police he was selling the girls as prostitutes. The criminal case was opened on Saturday, and the suspect was in custody pending trial, the source said. (Interfax)
Tehran accuses Baku of helping Israeli agents murder Iranian nuclear physicists
13 February
Azeri ambassador to Tehran Javanshir Ahundov was summoned to the Iranian Foreign Ministry last weekend where he was handed a protest note against Baku assisting agents of Israeli special services, the official Iranian media reported on Monday. The Iranian authorities believe that Azerbaijan helped the Israelis who had organized the assassination of several Iranian nuclear physicists return home. Tehran thinks these people returned to Israel via Azerbaijan after completing their missions. At the Foreign Ministry, Ahundov was told Azerbaijan must stop Israeli spies from using its territory to conduct operations against Iran. (Interfax)
Azerbaijan in row with Iran over ‘Israeli spies’
13 February
Azerbaijan has angrily denied an Iranian claim that it has been helping Israeli spies plotting against Iran. Iran says agents of the Israeli secret service Mossad were behind recent killings of Iranian nuclear scientists. The latest victim was Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, killed by a car bomb in north Tehran on 11 January. Azerbaijan's foreign ministry called Iran's claim "slander". On Sunday Iran had summoned the Azeri ambassador and given him a protest note. An Azeri foreign ministry spokesman, Elman Abdullayev, said the Iranian protest was an "absurd reaction" to Azerbaijan's protest last month over an alleged plot by Iranian agents to kill Israelis in Azerbaijan. Energy-rich Azerbaijan, a mainly Muslim country, has a secular government and borders on Iran. Azerbaijan has friendly ties with Israel and the US, who accuse Tehran of trying to develop nuclear weapons. Azeri-Iranian relations have long been strained over the large ethnic Azeri minority in northern Iran. The Iranian protest note to Azerbaijan on Sunday asked the Azeri government to "stop the activities of the Mossad intelligence services in that country against Iran", Iran's Irna news agency said. Azeri ambassador Cavansir Akhundov was told that "some of the terrorists linked with the terror of Iranian scientists" had travelled to Azerbaijan and then on to Israel "for co-operation with the spying network of the Zionist regime", Irna reported. The Azeri spokesman insisted on Monday that Azerbaijan "will not permit any external interference or any terrorist activity on its territory". (BBC)
Uzbekistan snubs ‘alien’ Valentine’s Day
14 February
Uzbekistan Tuesday encouraged people to skip Valentine's Day in favour of marking the birthday of a national poet, with officials describing the February 14 lovers day as an "alien" Western import. Rather than sending cards and exchanging red hearts, Uzbeks instead were holding readings and poetic festivals to mark the birthday of the medieval emperor and poet Bobur. There was no official decree or law to ban Valentine's Day, but there was a verbal instruction not to mark or mention it in mass media as a holiday, according to an official. "During a government meeting a month ago it was described as an element of Western mass culture and alien to our national mentality, and instead we were instructed to mark Bobur's birthday with poetic festivals," an official, who asked not to named, told AFP. Zahiriddin Muhammad Bobur, born on February 14 more than five centuries ago in Andijan, in the east of Uzbekistan, had founded an empire stretching from Afghanistan to India. Bobur, a descendant of another Turkic emperor Amur Temur, was also a great poet. Valentine's Day has become popular among youth in Muslim Uzbekistan in recent years, worrying the secular government of ex-Soviet Central Asia's most populous nation about Western cultural imports. A concert by Uzbek pop star Rayhon, traditionally held on February 14 to mark the lovers' day in Tashkent's main concert hall, was postponed and replaced with another event. Unlike last year, private TV channels, radios and papers made no mention of Valentine's Day, but some young people continued to greet each other to mark the day. One of the biggest supermarket chains in the capital Tashkent "Korzinka.uz" placed a red-yellow picture of the heart at the entrances of its shops without any mentioning of Valentine's Day. Its largest store had a big sign of the heart made of flowerpots on the floor. Uzbekistan's government is wary of cultural imports both from the the West as an "excess of liberalism" and from the Middle East as an "religious fanaticism". (AFP)
SOCAR might start dismantling Azerneftyag Oil Refinery in June
14 February
State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic (SOCAR) plans to start dismantling the Azerneftyag Oil Refinery in June 2012, a source at the company told Interfax. "Preparations for this process have already started. Work will start up directly in June 2012, after the government makes the necessary decision. Since Baku is vying for organizing the 2020 Olympic Summer Games, the decommission of the Azerneftyag Oil Refinery should take place and 150 hectares for the construction of the new Olympics complex should open up," the source said. The source said that the refinery's main units for producing bitumen, lubricants, and heating fuel should be moved to the Aliyev Oil Refinery in Baku. The remaining production facilities will be dismantled. "Since oil refining operations in the center of the city cause serious harm to the capital's environment, they will be moved to the city boundaries. Therefore, the Geidar Aliyev Oil Refinery in Baku will function until the Garadag Oil Refinery and Petrochemical Complex is commissioned," the source said. During the 1930, using smaller oil refineries and processing plants as a base, the Stalin Oil Refinery was created. The enterprise was renamed 22nd Party Congress Refinery in 1967 and then, in 1987, Azerneftyag in 1981. The production unit Azerneftyag was formed at the plant in 1994. The enterprise has operated at Azerneftyag Oil Refinery since March 2003. The Azerneftyag Oil Refinery specializes in the production of lubricants and other heavy petroleum items (such as kerosene, naphtha, heating fuel and others). The plant's capacity comes to 14 million tonnes a year. (Interfax)
Turkmenistan's president sworn in for second term
16 February
Turkmenistan's strongman president serenaded guests with a folk tune played on a synthesizer Friday as he was sworn in for a second term after winning over 97 percent of the vote in elections. Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov promised a "beautiful future" for his isolated but energy-rich ex-Soviet state at a lavish ceremony which culminated in the president being shown playing a popular folk song on a big screen. "We will go hand in hand together to realise the tasks for our Fatherland and together walk into a beautiful future," he said in his inauguration speech to 3,000 dignitaries at the Palace of the Soviets in Ashgabat. Berdymukhamedov appeared to take his distance from Turkmenistan's late dictator Saparmurat Niyazov in the ceremony, making no mention of his predecessor's eccentric rule which lasted to his death in 2006. He excluded a phrase about working under the inspiration of Niyazov that was included in the oath Berdymukhamedov read on taking office after his first election victory in early 2007.
The festive event saw Berdymukhamedov, 54, bow down on one knee before the Turkmen flag and kiss its corner before being handed the official certificate of president by the head of the central election commission. He also placed his hand on the Koran and the constitution. The ceremony ended with the playing of several musical works in honour of the president, who is known as Arkadag (Protector) in Turkmenistan. They included: "Let Your Bright Path Continue, Protector". However, the grand finale was the showing on a big screen of Berdymukhamedov playing a traditional folk tune on a synthesizer as an ensemble danced live on stage. The entire hall then stood and applauded loudly, an AFP correspondent reported. Berdymukhamedov won 97.14 percent of the vote in February 12 polls against seven rivals who were all loyal members of the elite and none of whom made the slightest effort to criticise his record. His nearest competitor mustered barely over one percent of the vote. In keeping with the harmonious tone of the election campaign, all of Berdymukhamedov's seven former competitors were present at the swearing-in ceremony and greeted him warmly. (AFP)
Afghanistan’s Karzai in Pakistan for talks on Taliban
16 February
Afghan President Hamid Karzai is holding talks in Pakistan, which are expected to focus on attempts to bring the Taliban into the peace process. Mr Karzai is likely to tackle claims that Pakistani military personnel continue to support the insurgency. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is due to join the meeting on Friday for talks focusing on trade issues. Mr Karzai earlier said Kabul had already had contacts with the Taliban - but the militants denied the claim. In a statement on a militant website Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said that no decision had yet been taken to hold a dialogue with the "puppet" Kabul administration. But in an interview published on Thursday, President Karzai insisted that there have been contacts between the US government and the Taliban, as well as contacts between the Afghan government and the Taliban. "And there have been some contacts that we have made, all of us together, including the Taliban," he told the Wall Street Journal. He said Pakistan's co-operation would make the process easier. The paper reported that Mr Karzai refused to go into details about the talks. The Afghan ambassador to Pakistan, later described the contacts with the Taliban as "exploratory". "They are not talks. We have not reached that stage," ambassador Umar Daudzai told Reuters. The Afghan leader has already held talks with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. Analysts say Mr Karzai may seek access to Taliban leaders believed to be in Pakistan. The Afghan leader has good relations with Pakistan's civilian politicians, but ties have often been tense with the military, whom he accuses of backing the Taliban. (BBC)
Ahmadinejad: Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan ‘united’
17 February
Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan have agreed to work together to promote stability, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said. He also accused 'foreigners' of trying to dominate the region, after he held talks with Afghan and Pakistani leaders in Islamabad. But the summit was marred by a row between Afghanistan and Pakistan over peace talks with the Taliban. (BBC)
Ban hails Kyrgyz reform
17 February
Kyrgyzstan's peaceful transfer of power in the wake of a 2010 coup should serve as an example to other countries in the region, the U.N. secretary-general said. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met in Vienna with Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Ruslan Kazabayev to discuss reconciliation efforts in the Central Asian country. Kyrgyzstan elected its first new government last year after an April 2010 coup led former President Kurmanbek Bakiev to flee to Belarus. Following the coup, at least 470 people were killed in ethnic conflicts near Osh and Jalal Abad. Few skirmishes were reported last year, though ethnic tensions between Uzbeks and Kyrgyzs continued and human rights officials said torture in the country was systemic. Nevertheless, Ban, in a statement issued through his spokesman's office, praised the Kyrgyz minister for the relative peace. "The secretary-general said Kyrgyzstan's peaceful transfer of power was an important step toward consolidating democracy in the country and was an example for other countries in the region," his statement read. Protesters loyal to the opposition in neighboring Kazakhstan demonstrated in January after the ruling Nur Otan party of President Nursultan Nazarbayev won 80 percent of the vote. Its borders with Turkmenistan were closed earlier this month as a precaution ahead of Turkmen presidential elections. (UPI)
Uzbek-language Wikipedia pages blocked
17 February
Uzbek-language articles in the Wikipedia multilingual encyclopedia are blocked in Uzbekistan, regional news outlets reported, with some blaming the government. Almost 8,000 entries in the Uzbek language appear to be blocked, Ferghana.ru in eastern Uzbekistan reported. Users trying to access the Uzbek site are redirected to the MSN.com news aggregator operated by Microsoft Corp., Ferghana.ru and CA-News.org said. The site is accessible from outside the country, United Press International confirmed, and the blockade does not include Wikipedia in other languages, the Uzbekistan news sites said. Russian state news agency RIA Novosti blamed the government in Tashkent for the blockage to central Asia's most populous nation and said the government blocked the Uzbek-language pages of the encyclopedia at least two other times, in 2007 and 2008. EurasiaNet.org said Tashkent has blocked hundreds of Web sites for years, including EurasiaNet.org. Tashkent had no immediate comment despite a spokesman promising to offer one Friday to RIA Novosti. Uzbekistan has 30 million people, with almost 9 million Web users, government statistics released last month indicated. Wikipedia is Uzbekistan's 10th most visited Web site, statistics cited by Ferghana.ru said. The site had 7,883 articles late Friday, a UPI spot check indicated. Press-freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders has cited Uzbekistan for online censorship, landing the country on its 2011 list of "enemies of the Internet." (UPI)
RZD Logistics still has no plans to form JV with Kazakhstan Railways - source
14 February
OJSC RZD Logistics (RZDL), a subsidiary of OJSC Russian Railways (RTS: RZHD) (RZD), has no plans so far to form a joint venture (JV) with national company Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (Kazakhstan Railways), a source at RZDL told Interfax. "We have an interest in working with them. A partnership memorandum was signed in November. But we still don't plan to form a JV," the source said. Kazakhstan Temir Zholy's vice president for logistics, Yerkhat Iskaliyev, earlier told journalists that both companies are working on forming a logistics operator using the Kazakh company as base, which would "operate with RZD Logistics on a parity basis." "As a start, we're forming an alliance on an alliance basis. Later, a JV might be formed," Iskaliyev said, declining to provide further details. RZD founded RZD Logistics in 2010 as a 100%-owned subsidiary. The company offers a full range of transport and logistics services ("door to door services") thanks to their integration as a single system in the RZD Holding. (Interfax)
Baku invites more to Turkish gas line
14 February
Azerbaijan would appreciate major international companies taking part in a natural gas pipeline planned through Turkish territory, an executive said. The State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan Republic has a majority interest in the Trans-Anatolia gas pipeline planned with Turkish Pipeline Corp. SOCAR President Roynag Abdullayev said alongside Turkish officials that more partners were welcome to join the transnational pipeline. "We would like other large international companies to be part of the project as well," he was quoted by Turkish newspaper Today's Zaman as saying. The Turkish pipeline is considered a blow to European plans to build the Nabucco pipeline for Europe through Turkey. European leaders are searching for ways to break Russia's grip on the energy sector through a series of transit networks dubbed the Southern Corridor. Of those, Nabucco is the most ambitious, though it's also the most expensive and lacks firm commitments from gas-rich countries like Azerbaijan. Abdullayev countered that the Turkish pipeline, dubbed TANAP, isn't a competitor to Nabucco. "The two projects are in synergy and they add value to each other," he said. (UPI)
Atambayev says no foreign troops at Manas after 2014
20 February
Kyrgyzstan President Almazbek Atambaev has announced at a meeting with visiting U.S. State Department officials that that "no foreign troops" should remain at Kyrgyzstan's Manas airport after 2014. The United States military pays Kyrgyzstan to use facilities at Manas, near Bishkek, as a transit center for U.S. operations in Afghanistan.
Atambaev is quoted as making the statement while meeting with a U.S. delegation led by Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Susan M. Elliott on February 20. Last week, Atambaev vowed to demand overdue fees from Moscow for Russian military assets based on Kyrgyz soil. The Kyrgyz president is scheduled to soon have talks with the Russian leadership in Moscow. Kyrgyzstan hosts a Russian long-distance communication center and a torpedo-testing base, among other facilities. (RFE/RL)
Afghan kuran ‘burning’: US apologizes
21 February
US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta has apologised to the Afghan people for an incident in which copies of the Koran were reportedly burned. Mr Panetta said the US military respected the religious practices of the Afghan people "without exception". The Nato commander in Afghanistan, US Gen John R Allen, has already announced an inquiry into the incident. Reports suggest the US had confiscated materials that they suspected Taliban prisoners were using to send messages. News of the incident has triggered angry protests outside the US base at Bagram, north of Kabul. One person was wounded and five were detained when Nato forces used rubber bullets to disperse the crowd. "This morning Gen Allen notified me of the deeply unfortunate incident involving the inappropriate treatment of religious materials, including the Koran, at Bagram Airbase," a statement from Mr Panetta said. "He and I apologise to the Afghan people and disapprove of such conduct in the strongest possible terms. "These actions do not represent the views of the United States military. We honour and respect the religious practices of the Afghan people, without exception." Mr Panetta said he supported Gen Allen's decision to launch an inquiry. Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the reports that the Koran had been burnt. The Taliban said the incident would hurt the feelings "of one billion Muslims around the world". Reports said the Korans had been found in piles of rubbish that Nato had transported in a lorry on Monday night to a pit on the base where waste is burned. Afghans working at the pit are believed to have seen the religious books and stopped the disposal process. (BBC)
Five Kazakhs Sentenced On Terror Charges
21 February
Five men in Kazakhstan have been sentenced on terrorism charges to jail terms varying from five to 13 years in the northwestern city of Aqtobe. The men were found guilty on February 21 of creating an illegal armed group and of organizing and conducting a bombing in Aqtobe's suburbs in July 2011 which killed two suspects and one policeman. In a separate incident in May 2011, a resident in Aqtobe carried out what was described as the first ever suicide bombing in Kazakhstan, blowing himself up at the entrance to the National Security Committee's local branch and injuring three men. Investigators said the bomber was a member of an extremist Islamic group. (RFE/RL)
Kazakh former nuclear company executive arrested in Canada
21 February
The former vice president of Kazakhstan’s KazAtomProm national nuclear company has been arrested in Canada.
The Kazakh National Security Committee announced on February 21 that Rustem Tursynbaev, 49, was arrested on February 10 for violating Canada's immigration laws. Tursynbaev is wanted in Kazakhstan for allegedly creating and leading a criminal group, embezzlement, tax evasion, misappropriating the property of others, and money laundering. Tursynbaev’s ex-boss, KazAtomProm’s former President Mukhtar Dzhakishev, was found guilty in March 2011 of corruption and sentenced to 14 years in jail. A new criminal case was launched against him later last year. Dzhakishev insists he is not guilty. His supporters and relatives say both of the cases against him are politically motivated. (RFE/RL)
Six dead in Afghanistan Koran burning protests
22 January
At least six people have been killed and dozens injured in Afghanistan after protests spread over the burning of copies of the Koran at a US airbase. One person was killed in Kabul, one in the eastern city of Jalalabad and at least four in Parwan province. US officials apologised on Tuesday after Korans were "inadvertently" put in an incinerator at Bagram airbase. The ISAF spokesman Brigadier General Carsten Jacobson says the incident was an unfortunate mistake. (BBC)
Region on alert, arrests in Azerbaijan
22 January
Authorities in Azerbaijan say they've arrested several Iranian intelligence and Hezbollah activists who were allegedly planning attacks on foreigners. The Azeri national security agency announced the arrests Tuesday, while the state-owned television reported those arrested had been gathering intelligence and acquiring explosives and weapons, Haaretz.com reported. The arrests follow a similar action last month, in which three men were detained for allegedly planning to attack two Israelis employed by a Jewish school in the Azeri capital of Baku. Tensions between Iran and the West arising from Tehran's nuclear program appear to have spread to the south Caucasus, with the arrests and an attempted bomb attack on an Israeli embassy vehicle last week in Tbilisi, capital of Georgia, which borders the oil-rich Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan also borders Iran. Israel blamed Iran and Hezbollah for the Tbilisi attack and for a similar bombing in New Delhi and blasts in Bangkok. Iran and Hezbollah denied the charges. A report in the Tehran Times, quoting Fars News Agency, accused Azerbaijan of harboring a Mossad agent accused of being involved in the assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist. A BBC report said the strategic importance of the Caucasus grows with the development of energy resources in Azerbaijan and in the Caspian Sea that are carried through pipelines to markets in the West. Georgia political analyst Alexander Rondeli told the BBC the region has become like Switzerland prior to World War II as a center fr spying: "Everyone is using the South Caucasus for this hidden war. No doubt about it." The report said while Georgia and Azerbaijan, formerly part of the Soviet Union, have ties to Iran, both also are allies of the West, supporting NATO efforts in Afghanistan, and any major conflict in Iran is bound to spill over into the region. (UPI)
