Nathan's Central Asia "-Stans" Summary:2004-09-21

Winds of Change.NET Regional Briefings run on Tuesdays & Wednesdays, and sometimes Fridays too. This Regional Briefing focuses on Central Asia & the Caucasus, courtesy of Nathan Hamm of The Argus. Nathan served in Peace Corps Uzbekistan from 2000-2001.

TOP TOPIC

• NATO cancelled exercises planned to take place in Azerbaijan and may have big consequences for the Azeri government. The decision was made after mounting public protest over the planned presence of Armenian officers. Both Armenia and Azerbaijan are members of NATO's Partnership for Peace program, and Azerbaijan is viewed by some as a potential future member of the alliance and a potential host for a US base in the coming realignment of forces. Tensions between the two countries are related to an earlier war in which Armenians captured Nagorno-Karabakh.

Other Topics Include: Turkestan; Kazakhstan Votes; Secret Mission Removes Uzbek Uranium; "Borat" Give Kazakhstan a Bad Name; It's Cotton Time; Japan and Korea Pursue Central Asia Partnerships; Kazakhstan Tightens Borders; Georgia, Russia, and Pankisi; Idema Sentenced; Elections Near in Afghanistan

TURKESTAN REGION

• Both Japan and Korea are trying to get a piece of the pie in Central Asia.

• Matthew Yglesias and Andrew Apostolou agree that the US should abandon Uzbekistan, though only one of them comes out and says it. Those who know me would rightly guess I strongly disagree with each. For the respectful, letter to the editor type of response, see my co-blogger, Laurence Jarvik's response in the IHT to a similar argument. I have a hard time being as polite.

• The Uzbek government has ordered Internews to close on a technicality. Internews promotes open media worldwide and supports independent media outlets in Uzbekistan. A US official said that the decision highlights the nervousness of the Uzbek government right now.

• Now that schoolchildren have been in class for all of about a few weeks in Uzbekistan, it is high time to turn them out to harvest cotton for a couple months. The timing is probably about the same in neighboring Turkmenistan. Not all schools are required to report, but the labor is considered absolutely essential to harvest the cotton. Harvesters are manufactured locally but not used.

• Following this year's suicide bombings in Uzbekistan, investigators have taken a closer look at how radicals are using Kazakh territory to train for and organize attacks. In response, Kazakhstan has tightened border and immigration controls.

• Ruslan Sharipov, independent journalist and human rights activist imprisoned for homosexuality and pedophilia in Uzbekistan, has reportedly been freed and is applying for asylum in the United States.

• A secret mission to remove uranium from Uzbekistan to a facility in Russia where it will be down-blended was a success.

• In Kazakh parliamentary elections held over the weekend, President Nazarbayev's Otan Pary was far ahead in preliminary counts of votes cast on electronic voting machines. In second place was Asar, led by the Dariga Nazarabayeva, the daughter of the President. Asar ran as an opposition party, though some feel its rhetoric aimed to take votes away from other opposition parties. Prior to the election the OSCE and opposition parties charged that the fix was already in and that the media showed significant bias in its reporting.

• Sacha Baron Cohen's "Borat" character has apparently gotten under the skin of Kazakh officialdom. The press secretary for the Kazakh Embassy saw fit to separate fact from fiction. Essentially, nothing about Borat's Kazakhstan resembles the truth, but might the joke be on Western audiences and not Kazakhstan?

• If all goes according to plan, Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, will be divided by a might river just in time for President Niyazov/Turkmenbashi's birthday in 2006.

CAUCASUS REGION

• Azeri opposition groups suffered major setbacks after last year's presidential election. They hope to make a comeback in December's municipal elections.

• After much tension, Georgian and South Ossetian leaders have agreed to meet.

• Following the attack in Beslan, Russia threatened preemptive strikes on targets beyond its borders. Many speculated that one potential target was Georgia's Pankisi Gorge. In a case of seriously uncoordinated messaging, State Department officials said that Pankisi both is and is not being used as a terrorist haven. The confusion aside, Georgian and Russian border guards have intensified cooperation in the Pankisi area.

AFGHANISTAN

• I'm sure that regular readers were sure to catch Good News from Afghanistan. If not, go back and take a look.

• Jonathan Idema, the American bounty hunter arrested for kidnapping, jailing, and torturing Afghans in Kabul has been convicted. His statement after the trial appears to be par for the course. He maintained throughout the trial that he had daily contact with the highest officials at the Department of Defense, including Donald Rumsfeld. He has been sentenced to 10 years along with his co-defendants.

• President Karzai and one of his vice presidents narrowly escaped recent assassination attempts. The US warns that more attacks are coming in an attempt to derail the October 9 presidential election.

• Unsurprisingly, the Taliban is threatening voters in addition to pledging to attack each of the 18 candidates.

• In response, the US plans to deploy 1,100 additional troops to Afghanistan before the election. The UK is considering sending 8,000 additional troops early next year.

• Highlighting the depth of the split within the group, 150 commanders from Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hizb-i-Islami party have pledged support to Karzai in the upcoming election.

• For those who want to keep an eye on stories in the Afghan press, IWPR has launched the Afghan Press Monitor. The daily survey has the country's top 7 stories and a political cartoon.