News Digest

BUlgaria, Azerbaijan confirm gas deal
16 November
Azerbaijan will make good on commitments to supply Bulgaria with 1 billion cubic meters of gas per year, Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov said this week. Appearing with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev Monday in Baku, Parvanov said the two countries are ready to make official a deal struck last year to supply that from Azeri gas fields in the Caspian Sea, the Sofia News Agency reported. The agreement could serve as an example to the European Union how to successfully negotiate energy deals with Azerbaijan as the EU strives to diversify its natural gas supplies from Russia. "Bulgaria has its place of being a pro-active factor in these energy relations that can overtake the relations between the EU and Azerbaijan with the realization of some of the initiatives that we started long ago," Parvanov said. Calling the agreement a "small breakthrough," he said it could eventually be of great significance and lead to much more sizable deals in the "southern corridor," including the ambitious Nabucco pipeline proposal and smaller projects to connect Azerbaijani supplies with European customers. The Sofia-Baku agreement, which is separate from the ongoing negotiations on the EU-sponsored Nabucco pipeline, to which Bulgaria is also a party, could serve "to demonstrate to Europe how things can be done," Parvanov asserted. The news agency said current plans call for the gas to flow into Bulgaria via Georgia, Turkey and Greece once gas network interconnections between Bulgaria and Greece are ready.

S. Ossetia views EuroParliament’s resolution on Georgia an example of double standards
18 November
The European Parliament's resolution on Georgia, in which South Ossetia and Abkhazia are described as occupied Georgian territories, does not have any significance to these republics, South Ossetian parliamentary speaker Mira Tskhovrebova told Interfax on Friday. "The resolution does not reflect the current historical and political realities in the Caucasus. The European Parliament is continuing its policy of double standards - if things have been different, then why has a similar resolution not been passed on Kosovo? However, Kosovo's sovereignty meets the interests of the European countries, but in the case of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the European parliamentarians just once again supported the interests of Georgia as their ally and mouthpiece of their interests in the region," Tskhovrebova said. South Ossetia and Abkhazia are recognized independent countries, and the European Parliament's resolution cannot affect their status and the geopolitical situation in the Caucasus, she said. The European Parliament's resolution on Georgia passed on Thursday, in particular, calls on Russia to pull its troops out of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and urges the European Union to recognize South Ossetia and Abkhazia as occupied Georgian territories. (Interfax)

Kazakhstan to export 2.5 mln tones of grain through Black, Baltic Seas this year
3 November
Kazakhstan may export 2.5 million tonnes of grain through the Black and the Baltic Seas this marketing year (July 2011-June 2012), the country's Agriculture Minister Asylzhan Mamytbekov said. "Today we are working closely with the national railway company Kazakhstan Temir Zholy. In October we shipped 1.2 million tonnes of grain, of which 600,000 tonnes were exported. We plan to raise the export volume to 800,000 tonnes in November and to 1 million tonnes in December. To meet the objectives, we are providing incentives to exports through the Black and the Baltic Seas. About 2.5 million tonnes of grain will be exported through those routes," Mamytbekov said at a plenary session of the parliament on Thursday.  "I believe we are bound for an exporting record," he said. Kazakh grain exports to China will be maintained at their previous level, he said. "Last year we exported around 50,000 tonnes of grain to China, and this year roughly at the same volume, maybe a little more," Mamytbekov said. Prodcorporation (the Kazakh operator of grain purchases in state reserve) has said that Kazakhstan plans to export around 3 million tonnes of grain to China in the 2011-2012 marketing year. Mamytbekov said Kazakhstan could export up to 15 million tonnes of grain this marketing year. Kazakhstan exported 5.9 million tonnes of grain last year. Kazakhstan has reaped a record grain harvest of 29.5 million tonnes in bunker weight this year. (Interfax)

Ashgabat brushes off Russian gas concerns
19 October
Cooperation with Europe on energy matters will continue despite Russian reservations, the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Turkmenistan said. European officials in September announced plans to focus on legal agreements needed for Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan to build the Trans-Caspian pipeline system. Russia has cited concern over Ashgabat's energy ties with Europe, including plans to host a section of the Trans-Caspian natural gas pipeline. Moscow says those plans weren't approved by the five littoral countries to the Caspian Sea. Europe noted the September measure was the first time it proposed a treaty to support major infrastructure. Europe is eager to break Russia's grip on the regional energy sector. Turkmenistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement published by the pro-Turkmen government Web site turkmenistan.ru, said Ashgabat would continue cooperation with Europe regardless of Russian objections. "Cooperation with our European partners is developing in a businesslike and constructive way and it will continue," the statement read. A recent survey from British oil field auditing company Gaffney Cline finds Turkmenistan has more than 700 trillion cubic feet of natural gas at its South Yolotan field, enough to satisfy European demand for more than 50 years. Ashgabat blamed Russian gas company Gazprom for a blast at one of its natural gas pipelines in 2009. (UPI)

Pakistan wants road connectivity with Tajikistan

22 September

NATO NAC to Visit Georgia in November

Turkmen leader wages war on satellite dishes

Tajikistan bans minors from entering mosques
3 August
Tajikistan's authoritarian leader has approved a law barring minors from praying in mosques as his secular government seeks to minimize the rising influence of Islam in the Central Asian nation. President Emomali Rakhmon signed the bill Wednesday despite vocal resistance from rights activists and the opposition Islamic Revival Party. The law also requires people under the age of 18 to study in secular schools thus barring thousands of students from attending mosque schools seen by authorities as a breeding ground of Islamism. The impoverished and predominantly Sunni Muslim nation shares a long and porous border with Afghanistan. (AP)

Netherlands sends reduced Afghanistan mission, as Canada ends combat rule
7 July
The Dutch military is sending 160 soldiers to Afghanistan as part of its new, scaled-down mission to the country. The troops, mostly support staff for 225 military police trainers, will be deployed to the northern Konduz Province and will be under the protection of German troops. A total of 545 Dutch soldiers and police trainers will assist NATO in Afghanistan through 2014, a big step back from the Netherlands' previous commitment of 1,600 soldiers. The bulk of the troops was withdrawn last year after the Dutch government collapsed over whether to extend their deployment. Meanwhile, Canada ended its combat mission in Afghanistan today after nine years and the death of 157 men. The departure of nearly 3,000 troops comes as Western forces begin to announce gradual drawdowns of troops ahead of a full withdrawal in 2014. A separate Canadian training mission involving 950 troops will work in Kabul with Afghan security forces. (RFE/RL)gest

Kyrgyz Parliament leader charged with more serious crimes
22 June
The Kyrgyz Prosecutor-General's Office says the charges against the leader of the Ata-Jurt (Fatherland) party in parliament have been increased, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports. Kamchybek Tashiev was questioned by the Prosecutor-General's Investigative Directorate on June 20 regarding his alleged beating of fellow deputy Bakhadyr Suleimanov. Suleimanov filed a lawsuit against Tashiev on April 1, accusing him of assault and battery. Suleimanov spent several days at the cardiology center in Bishkek after the alleged fight and later also in a hospital. Tashiev said he never physically assaulted Suleimanov, but admits they had a heated conversation and verbally insulted each other on April 1. He has not said what they argued about. Originally, Tashiev was charged with hooliganism and battery. But medical experts say Suleimanov's health was seriously damaged after the alleged beating by Tashiev. The Prosecutor-General's Office said the charges against Tashiev had been changed to "premeditated infliction of significant damage to a person's health." Tashiev -- who was a cabinet minister under ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiev -- could face up to eight years in prison if found guilty of the charges. Tashiev told RFE/RL on June 15 that the hooliganism charges brought against him were an attempt "to prevent my participation in the presidential election" scheduled for the fall. Many experts and other politicians think Tashiev is planning to run for president. Ata-Jurt is a member of Kyrgyzstan's three-party governing coalition. Its members include many former ministers and deputies who were loyal to Bakiev. (RFE/RL)