Field Reports

On June 13, Astana hosted the 25th high-level meeting of Kazakh and Chinese leaders since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev and his Chinese colleague Hu Jintao signed a declaration on strategic partnership, which provides for increased cooperation in a dozen areas, such as technological and scientific exchange, water management and culture. In his statement to the press, Hu referred to the joint plan of boosting bilateral trade expected to double by 2015, thus reaching the benchmark of US$ 40 billion. Kazakhstan’s leader also promised to start supplying China with nuclear tablets this year in order to better satisfy the ever-growing energy demand of Chinese industries.

On June 1, World Bank director of strategy and operations in Europe and Central Asia Theodore Ahlers announced that the Tajik government temporarily put a halt to a program for resettling tens of thousands of villagers from the projected reservoir area of the giant Rogun Dam. According to Ahlers, the resettlement was suspended until the results of two ongoing World Bank commissioned studies, which look at the dam’s economic feasibility and its potential social and environmental impact, become available. These studies, expected to be completed in late 2012, will help the Tajik authorities to develop a proper resettlement framework based on the needs of the affected populations.

The latest round of Geneva talks held on June 7 in Switzerland signaled Tbilisi’s hesitation to participate in the multilateral format. Whereas previous rounds at least conveyed a “shared desire” to continue the talks, this discussion ultimately focused on reciprocal exchanges of blame between Moscow and Tbilisi and displayed the problematic dynamics of the negotiation format.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited Uzbekistan on June 14, 2011. Medvedev was invited by Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov to discuss some issues of regional and international politics as well as economic issues. Even though the visit lasted only four hours, both leaders stated it was quite fruitful. Since the negotiations took place behind closed doors, observers voiced several ideas about the possible issues on the meeting’s agenda.

The dispersal of a protest rally turned violent at Tbilisi’s Rustaveli Avenue on Georgia’s Independence Day. Riot police broke up an anti-government demonstration, led by former Parliamentary Speaker Nino Burjandze on May 26. Two people died and dozens were injured during the turmoil. Although the dispersal has troubling consequences, it may mark the beginning of a new phase in the country’s political life.

On May 29, the village of Terekli-Mekteb in the Nogaysky District of Dagestan hosted a congress dedicated to the problems of the Nogai people living in Russia. The delegates of the congress demanded that a decree, issued by the Supreme Soviet in 1957, should be declared unconstitutional since it divided the traditional territory of the Nogai people between Dagestan, Chechnya, the Astrakhan Oblast, and the Stavropol Krai. The congress also proposed the creation of a committee to discuss the establishment of a new administrative-territorial unit in the Nogai people’s historical homeland.

Just two days after Amnesty International launched its Twitter campaign to call for the release of the journalist and editor Eynulla Fatullayev, his name was included in a list of prisoners to be pardoned ahead of the 93rd anniversary of the founding of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. Human rights activists in Baku believe that the release of Fatullayev is connected with Azerbaijan’s victory in the Eurovision song contest two weeks ago and numerous subsequent calls to improve the country’s human rights record ahead of hosting the event next year.

Though it is still too early to say whether Kazakhstan’s internal stability is at risk, national authorities are now investigating, with little success, two explosions that occurred on May 17 and 24 in Aktobe in Western Kazakhstan and Astana respectively. The first case involved a 25-year-old citizen of Kazakhstan, Rakhimzhan Makatov, who blew himself up in the temporary detention facility of the National Security Committee. According to the official version, the perpetrator of this act was previously affiliated with a number of criminal organizations. In order to avoid the burden of responsibility for crimes committed earlier, he is believed to have smuggled a medium-sized explosive into the NSC compound, which took his life and severely injured a local guard.

After Nursultan Nazarbayev’s successful reelection to the presidency on April 4, Kazakhstan has hosted a string of high-profile economic meetings aimed at boosting its standing in global affairs and putting forward a number of proposals about how to further economic modernization and diversification in line with contemporary challenges to the world economy.