Field Reports

On September 11, 2012, Uzbekistan’s Committee on Protection of the State Border under the Service of State Security (SSS) stated that Uzbek border guards had come under fire from Tajik counterparts near the village Chillamazor in Zaamin rayon, Jizakh district. Tajik border guards had purportedly crossed the Uzbek-Tajik border line adopted as a result of an Interstate Agreement signed by the Presidents and Parliaments of the two states. One Uzbek border guard was injured in the exchange of fire and Uzbekistan has appealed to Tajik authorities to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation of the incident.

On September 6 and 7, Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov paid an official visit to Kazakhstan. Upon his arrival at the Astana airport, he was warmly greeted by his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev. Despite the geographic proximity of the two countries and the prominent role that each plays in Central Asia – Kazakhstan remains the most economically advanced Central Asian country, while Uzbekistan is the most populous and in many respects the strongest in military terms – Kazakh-Uzbek relations have traditionally been complicated. As both Astana and Tashkent consider themselves to be regional leaders in post-Soviet Central Asia, their bilateral relationship has been marked throughout the 1990s and 2000s by a scarcity of official contacts and a lack of long-term cooperation projects. The last time Karimov went to Kazakhstan on a bilateral visit was in April 2008, although he also attended the Astana Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in June 2011.

In September 2012, three reputable international organizations – National Democratic Institute (NDI), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), and the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) – reported on a “competitive” though “polarized” pre-election environment in Georgia ahead of the October 1 parliamentary elections.

The breakup of Kyrgyzstan’s parliamentary majority coalition and dismissal of the government as a result of corruption allegations against Prime Minister Omurbek Babanov has led to the formation of a new government. While many consider the new Prime Minister, Jantoro Satybaldiev, an “anti-crisis manager” in light of the serious economic problems the country is facing, others are skeptical of his capability to bring about significant changes.

Despite some existing problems, Russia and Armenia retain a close alliance. This was once more underlined in a non-official summit held in Moscow last August.

Three Georgian Special Forces personnel and eleven militants were killed in northeastern Georgia close to the Dagestan section of the Georgian-Russian border, the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) reported on August 29. The fierce clash between Georgian troops and a well-armed paramilitary group of around twenty people seemingly confirmed Tbilisi’s concerns about possible spillover of instability from the North Caucasus to Georgia and Russian attempts to destabilize the situation in the country prior to the upcoming parliamentary elections. 

On August 29, Kazakhstan hosted an international conference entitled “From the ban on nuclear testing to a world free of nuclear weapons.” This high-level gathering attended by representatives of more than 70 countries from five continents was organized to commemorate the International Day against Nuclear Tests, which became a UN holiday in 2010 following Kazakhstan’s proposal. Twenty years ago, President Nazarbayev adopted one of his first decrees as the leader of an independent Kazakhstan, closing down the Semipalatinsk nuclear test facility, established by the Soviet Union in 1949, that served as a launching site for hundreds of missiles. According to official statistics, the Semipalatinsk facility was used for over 500 nuclear explosions. The adverse effects of such nuclear tests, including high levels of radiation, have directly impacted the health of around 1.5 million Kazakh citizens, especially those living in close vicinity.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake visited Uzbekistan on August 16 as a part of a tour to several Central Asian countries to present the “New Silk Road” strategy. The presentation was originally planned to be held in Almaty, Kazakhstan. However, the top-ranking U.S. official suddenly changed his plans and moved the location for the round table on economic integration in Central Asia with business leaders to Tashkent. During the meeting the parties discussed a range of bilateral issues, including regional stability and security, democracy and human rights, counter-narcotics, education and cultural exchanges, and economic development and trade. The reasons for this sudden change of plans and the increased attention to Uzbekistan caused extensive speculation in local media about the reasons behind it and possible future developments in the bilateral relations between these two states.

International mediators of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said on Monday that Azerbaijan's decision to pardon an Azerbaijani soldier who killed an Armenian officer had damaged the peace process in the region.

South Korea has taken a very interesting step lately with its embrace of Emomali Rahmon’s regime in Tajikistan. Earlier this month, Tajik Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi was in Seoul to attend the 6th Republic of Korea-Central Asia Cooperation Forum. This year marks the 20th anniversary of Korea-Tajikistan official diplomatic relations. Over the past decade, South Korea’s diplomatic and business clout in Central Asia has surged and presented a formidable challenge to the pre-eminence of the traditional players in the region such as Russia, the U.S. and China.