Field Reports

In late July, Kazakhstan’s capital hosted the sixth subcommittee meeting on trade and economic relations of the Kazakhstan-China Cooperation Committee. The Committee was established in May 2004 in order to deepen the bilateral relationship and reinforce the ever growing strategic partnership between Astana and Beijing. On this occasion, the deputy minister of external trade of the People’s Republic of China Jiang Yaopin, who headed the Chinese delegation, requested the Kazakh Government to simplify entry procedures for Chinese nationals who wish to work on Kazakhstan’s territory.

Competition is increasing among pipeline projects aspiring to bring Caspian gas to the European market. According to BP Azerbaijan, the main partners in the development of Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz field, including BP, aim to participate in each pipeline project transporting gas to Europe: “That includes the South Caucasus Pipeline, TANAP and TAP/ Nabucco West,” according to a BP representative.

Negotiations on the extended presence of the Russian military bases in Tajikistan are ongoing since September, 2011 and both sides term the negotiation process “long and complicated.” Russian senior military officials regularly make media statements blaming Tajikistan for delaying the negotiations and demanding unacceptable conditions for the new treaty. In return, Tajik senior governmental officials either refrain from public statements or highlight the strategic partnership between Russia and Tajikistan and the constructive dialogue between two countries.

On July 21, a Major General of the State Committee on National Security of Tajikistan (SCNST), Abdullo Nazarov was killed near Khorog, which is the major city of Gorno Badakhshan Autonomus Oblast (GBAO) in Tajikistan (known as the Pamir region). According to an official statement of the SCNST and the Tajik Ministry of Internal Affairs, the General was killed by a local criminal group. The asymmetric response of the Government was a large scale special operation in Khorog by the security and military forces involving armed vehicles and helicopters.

On May 30, a Kazakhstani border patrol operating in the country’s east made a gruesome discovery: 15 people who had been recruited to guard the Kazakh-Chinese border in a remote mountain outpost were found dead. Their charred bodies were scattered around the ruins of what used to be the wooden barracks of the Kazakh border protection service. Speaking at an extraordinary session of Kazakhstan’s National Security Council the following day, President Nursultan Nazarbayev called this incident a terrorist attack and promised to mobilize all available personnel of the Ministry of internal affairs, the National Security Committee and the Prosecutor General’s Office to investigate its circumstances. According to the already existing practice introduced in the wake of the December 2011 unrest in the western town of Zhanaozen, Nazarbayev ordered the establishment of a special investigative commission endowed with extensive authority.

The Georgian ruling party – United National Movement (UNM) – has expressed its satisfaction with a National Democratic Institute (NDI)-commissioned poll, fielded by the Caucasus Resource Research Centers (CRRC) in June in Georgia, whereas the opposition coalition Georgian Dream (GD), led by Bidzina Ivanishvili denounced the poll results.

Azerbaijan is increasingly considering the Nabucco West project linked with the Trans-Anatolian natural gas pipeline (TANAP) as the best option for transporting Caspian gas to West European markets. Azerbaijan’s Industry and Energy Minister Natik Aliyev recently stated that “I consider that Nabucco West is the best option from all points of view because it is a project of the European Union and they always supported this project,” to reporters ahead of a formal decision. “It has a big capacity, big diameter, and it gives us the opportunity to deliver gas to east and central Europe. It's a more reliable market for Azerbaijani gas.”

The competing political and economic interests of the five littoral countries of the Caspian Sea after the collapse of the Soviet Union resulted in a prolonged dispute over the definition of the legal status and fair division of the basin according to national segments. Different legal interpretations have led to political and even military clashes between countries. The former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan have recently exchanged barbs over a disputed oilfield in the Caspian Sea.

On June 8-14, member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) held a joint military exercise, Peace Mission 2012, at the Chorukh-Dayron training range in Sughd Province, northern Tajikistan. According to the Tajik Ministry of Defense, the exercise was designed to test and strengthen the capacity of the SCO member states to respond jointly to terrorist threats in Central Asia’s mountainous areas.

The Georgian Dream coalition led by tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili started a vigorous election campaign in May to beat the ruling United National Movement in the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for October. On behalf of three opposition parties (Georgia-Free Democrats, Republican Party and National Forum) and individual politicians united under the coalition, Ivanishvili outlined political priorities to thousands of Georgians at large demonstrations held in Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Ozurgeti in May and June. At the rallies, the billionaire-turned politician outlined the policies of Georgian Dream in case they win the parliamentary elections. The coalition aims to reduce unemployment rate “to a minimum level in the shortest period of time.”