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Category: kyrgyzstan

  • Majlis Podcast: New Rules In Kazakhstan, Death Threats In Kyrgyzstan — The Problems Facing Central Asian Journalists

    The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) released separate reports on Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan on March 23.

    Relative to Central Asia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have the most media-friendly environments but the CPJ reports highlight various problems. In Kazakhstan, for example, the government has been limiting the ability of journalists to do their job. Meanwhile, troll factories have been operating in Kyrgyzstan to discredit the work of some reporters, and at least one journalist says death threats are being posted on his social network accounts.

    The situation is still grim for independent media in Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan remain grim, although some outlets in Uzbekistan have been testing the limits of what can and cannot be reported.

    On this week’s Majlis Podcast, RFE/RL media-relations manager Muhammad Tahir moderates a discussion on the problems media outlets and journalists face in Central Asia.

    This week’s guests are: from Kazakhstan, Diana Okremova, the director of the Legal Media Center in Nur-Sultan; from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Timur Toktonaliev, the Central Asia editor for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting; from New York, Gulnoza Said, the Central Asia coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists; and Bruce Pannier, the author of the Qishloq Ovozi blog.

    Listen to the podcast above or subscribe to the Majlis on iTunes or on Google Podcasts.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Kyrgyz Security Chief Says Border Issues With Uzbekistan ‘Fully Resolved’

    BISHKEK — Kyrgyzstan says long-standing border issues with Uzbekistan have been “100 percent fully resolved.”

    Kamchybek Tashiev, the head of Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security, told RFE/RL on March 26 that talks with a group of Uzbek officials led by Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov had ended with the signing of a protocol on the final delimitation and demarcation of the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border.

    Tashiev, who led the Kyrgyz delegation at the talks in Tashkent on March 24-25, said that no disputed segments of the border will remain after the protocol’s implementation.

    The border between the two Central Asian neighbors has been a major bone of contention in bilateral ties since 1991, when they gained independence from the Soviet Union.

    Over the past decades there have been numerous incidents along the border, including gunfire.

    The situation began to improve following the 2016 death of Uzbekistan’s long-ruling authoritarian president, Islam Karimov.

    His successor, Shavkat Mirziyoev, has said that improving ties with Uzbekistan’s neighbors is a major priority of his foreign policy.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Kyrgyzstan Repatriates Dozens Of Children Born To Militants In Iraq

    Kyrgyzstan has brought back dozens of children from Iraq, becoming the latest Central Asian state to repatriate its citizens since thousands from the region went to fight with extremist groups in Iraq and Syria.

    A special plane carrying 79 children born to Kyrgyz parents in Iraq and Syria landed at Bishkek’s Manas Airport on March 16 as part of a humanitarian mission dubbed “Meerim” (Grace).

    Hundreds of women from Central Asia have been languishing in prison in Iraq or at special camps in northeastern Syria since the Islamic State extremist group was largely defeated. Many of their husbands are believed to be imprisoned or dead.

    Kyrgyzstan’s Foreign Ministry said the repatriation was carried out with the consent of the children’s imprisoned mothers in Iraq and on the commitment of relatives in Kyrgyzstan to accept the children into families for upbringing.

    It also said the government would support the children’s rehabilitation and reintegration.

    The operation was conducted with the support of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Kyrgyzstan Red Crescent.

    In a statement, UNICEF representative Christine Jaulmes commended the Kyrgyz government for repatriating the children and “treating them primarily as victims in need of protection.”

    “Children are just children,” the Kyrgyzstan Red Crescent wrote on Facebook. “They are not guilty of anything and adults must care of children no matter where they were born and or their destiny.”

    More than 800 Kyrgyz, including an estimated 150 women, went to Syria and Iraq to join extremist groups during the conflicts in those countries. Most ended up with the Islamic State group.

    Kyrgyzstan follows Central Asian neighbors Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan in completing a repatriation mission from either Iraq or Syria.

    “The United States applauds the Kyrgyz government’s repatriation of 79 children from Iraq, which will give these young people a chance to live a normal life in their home country,” the U.S. Embassy in Bishkek said in a statement.

    “The Kyrgyz government deserves praise for its commitment to help the returned children and to carry out all measures for their early rehabilitation, reintegration, and return to a safe and peaceful life.”

    “We encourage other nations around the world to follow the example set by the Kyrgyz Republic and other Central Asian nations that have made progress in repatriating their citizens from conflict areas,” it added.

    More than 41,000 foreigners from more than 100 countries joined the Islamic State or other extremist groups in Syria and Iraq, both before and after the declaration of its so-called caliphate in June 2014.

    At least 6,000 of them are believed to have come from Central Asian countries, according to a 2018 study by the International Center for the Study of Radicalization at King’s College in London.

    In addition to several thousand foreign fighters and their wives being held in Iraqi prisons, almost 62,000 people are being held by Syrian Kurdish forces at the Al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria.

    According to UNICEF, there are more than 22,000 foreign children of at least 60 nationalities at the camp.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • China Prepares New Era Of ‘Belt And Road’ Amid Pandemic Pressures

    After declaring victories over extreme poverty and the coronavirus, Chinese leader Xi Jinping has laid out a new path for China’s economic rise at home and abroad that could force Beijing to adapt to new difficulties caused by the pandemic.

    The future direction came as the Chinese Communist Party’s legislature, the National People’s Congress, convened in Beijing on March 5 for a more-than-week-long gathering to unveil a new economic blueprint — known as the country’s 14th five-year plan — and chart a broad course for China to claim its place as a modern nation and true global power.

    The annual summit of Chinese lawmakers laid out broad guidelines that would shape the country’s growth model over the next 15 years.

    Preoccupied with growing China’s tech industry amid a deepening rivalry with the United States, it also provided a platform for Xi to tout the merits of his autocratic style and tightening grip on power at home.

    While the stagecraft of the conclave focused on China’s domestic goals, they remain deeply intertwined with Beijing’s global ambitions, particularly the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) — a blanket term for the multibillion-dollar centerpiece of Xi’s foreign policy that builds influence through infrastructure, investment, and closer political ties.

    “The message is a continuation and doubling-down of what we’ve been seeing for years, which is that China is growing stronger and it feels confident to elbow its way in even more around the world,” Raffaello Pantucci, a senior associate fellow at London’s Royal United Services Institute, told RFE/RL.

    A giant screen shows Chinese President Xi Jinping attending the closing session of the National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 11.

    A giant screen shows Chinese President Xi Jinping attending the closing session of the National People’s Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 11.

    Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi echoed this during an expansive March 8 press conference on the sidelines of the congress in Beijing, where he said there would be no pause for BRI and that it had and would continue to evolve amid the constraints and opportunities caused by the pandemic.

    “[BRI] isn’t so much a specific project as it is a broad vision,” Pantucci said, “and visions can be reshaped as needed, which is what we’re seeing now.”

    An Evolving Vision

    Despite the display of strength and unity coming out of Beijing over the country’s success in curbing the spread of COVID-19 and keeping its economy growing amid the pressures of the pandemic, Beijing finds itself facing new global pressure.

    The BRI has suffered setbacks recently due to concerns in host countries over mounting debts, with many governments — from Africa to Central Asia — asking China for debt forgiveness and restructuring. Beijing is also looking to rebuild its credibility, which was hurt over its early handling of COVID-19 in the central city of Wuhan, and navigate growing pressure from Western countries that have begun to push back against Chinese tech and political policies.

    In the face of this, Beijing has looked for new opportunities to demonstrate global leadership, providing vaccines and medical equipment to countries across the globe and raising climate-change concerns.

    This has also applied to the BRI.

    During his press conference, Wang focused on the initiative’s traditional infrastructure emphasis, but also pointed towards new horizons for the policy, such as medical diplomacy as well as a shifting focus on tech and foreign aid. China is the world’s largest emerging donor and a new white paper released in January by the Chinese government outlined its plans to play an ambitious leading role in the international aid system.

    Many experts also say Beijing will look to build off its growing “vaccine diplomacy” campaign and use China’s recent success in fighting poverty to find new ways to build ties and deepen cooperation around the world.

    “Fighting poverty and medical coordination linked to the pandemic and its aftermath will be a major focus of Chinese diplomacy moving forward,” Zhang Xin, a research fellow at Shanghai’s East China Normal University, told RFE/RL. “[BRI] is an umbrella initiative that can include everything and this will be one of the new fronts under that umbrella.”

    Realities On The Ground

    Despite the growing opportunities, China’s flagship project is also facing plenty of challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic on the ground.

    In addition to debt concerns, closed or partially open borders with China’s neighbors in South and Central Asia due to China’s strict COVID restrictions remain a point of tension, and have led to massive lines, trade bottlenecks, and ballooning transportation costs.

    China’s overseas energy lending has likewise dropped to its lowest level since 2008, after the pandemic severely hampered deal-making in developing states, according to Boston University’s Global Energy Finance Database, which saw financing for foreign energy projects fall by 43 percent to $4.6 billion in 2020.

    And while the pandemic provided an all-time high for freight-train traffic to Europe from China, it has slowed trade from Central Asia to China. Only limited traffic is allowed to pass through China’s border post with Kyrgyzstan, something the new government in Bishkek is trying to change as it deals with the economic blows of the pandemic.

    Kyrgyz Prime Minister Ulukbek Maripov met with Du Dewen, China’s ambassador to Bishkek, on March 3 to discuss speeding up border crossings and increasing trade, but progress remains uncertain as long as China stays wary of the spread of COVID-19 in Central Asia.

    Similarly, traders in Tajikistan are still grappling with border closures as they remain cut off from their main export destination. Many of the merchants complain they are being squeezed out by Chinese competitors.

    Preliminary Chinese trade data for 2020 shows that imports to China from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan fell by more than 45 percent compared to 2019.

    Tensions also continue to flare in Pakistan, where the $62 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), China’s flagship BRI project, is progressing slowly amid multiple setbacks and delays. While problems with the initiative are not new, Beijing has aired its frustrations and supported the Pakistani military taking greater control over CPEC, which it views as a more reliable partner than the country’s political class.

    Global Headwinds

    Trade and relations with neighboring Russia, however, appear to still be a bright spot for Beijing. Russian customs figures show that China continues to make up a growing share of its trade as Moscow increasingly finds itself sanctioned and cut off from the West.

    Political ties between Beijing and Moscow are also deepening. Wang spoke at length at his press conference about how the two governments were working closer together in a variety of fields, from plans to build a lunar space station to joint efforts in vaccine production.

    Wang also said that the two countries were working to combat “color revolutions” and to fight against a “political virus,” hinting at their shared animosity towards the United States.

    “The overall tone is quite clear, the partnership between China and Russia is being heavily valued,” Zhang said. “The Chinese state is emphasizing this relationship and how they can act together [with Russia] to face shared challenges around the world.”

    Chief among those challenges for Beijing is continuing to grow its economy at home and navigate its rivalry with the United States.

    U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national-security adviser Jake Sullivan will meet with their Chinese counterparts in Alaska on March 18 for the first meeting between Beijing and the administration of President Joe Biden.

    China is also looking to take successful policies at home and build upon them abroad under the banner of the BRI. China was the only major world economy to expand last year and many of its neighbors across Eurasia are hoping Chinese economic growth can help them with a post-pandemic recovery.

    But China’s own recovery remains fragile in some areas, including in consumer spending, and regulators are growing more worried about real-estate prices rising to unsustainable levels. The Chinese stock market began to recover on March 11 after a large rout that saw officials censor the word “stock market” from social media searches in the country, showcasing the sensitivity to anything that can derail Beijing’s ambitions at home or abroad.

    “There are many challenges ahead for the Chinese leadership to navigate and maintaining economic growth is the biggest one,” Ho-Fung Hung, a professor of political economy at Johns Hopkins University, told RFE/RL. “Xi cares about political power and boosting economic growth is the best way to hold on to political power.”

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Majlis Podcast: What Is Turkey Seeking In Central Asia?

    Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu visited three Central Asian countries from March 6 to 9.

    Boosting trade was a big part of Cavusoglu’s mission during his visit to Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan, but there were unique reasons for the Turkish minister’s visit to each country.

    On this week’s Majlis Podcast, RFE/RL media-relations manager Muhammad Tahir moderates a discussion on Turkish-Central Asian ties and what Cavusoglu was doing in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan.

    This week’s guests are: from the United Kingdom, Gul Berna Ozcan, reader in international business and entrepreneurship at the Royal Holloway University of London; from Bishkek, Medet Tiulegenov, assistant professor at the American University of Central Asia; and Bruce Pannier, the author of the Qishloq Ovozi blog.

    Listen to the podcast above or subscribe to the Majlis on iTunes or on Google Podcasts.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Bishkek Ballet Dancers Boycott Performance With Russians Over Pay

    BISHKEK — A ballet performance in Kyrgyzstan with the participation of two prominent Russian ballet dancers, Sergei Manuilov and Yekaterina Pervushina, was canceled after local dancers refused to take part.

    The Swan Lake performance was due to take place in Bishkek over the weekend, but a group of dancers from the Abdylas Maldybaev National Opera and Ballet Theater refused to perform at the last moment.

    A member of the Kyrgyz ballet troupe, Dosmat Sadyrkulov, told RFE/RL on March 8 that the dancers refused to participate because they hadn’t been paid.

    Sagida Jumabekova of the Rainbow Foundation, the organizer of the event, said that it had been agreed that the foundation would pay the Russian dancers while the local artists would receive money from the Bishkek ballet theater.

    “The local [dancers] started asking for money from us. We agreed to do so, although [we were not legally bound to do so], just to try to save the performance. But even when we brought the cash to pay them, they still refused to perform,” Jumabekova told RFE/RL.

    Sadyrkulov explained that the March 6 scheduled performance was “a commercial project with commercial ticket prices.”

    Ticket prices ranged from 1,000 to 2,000 soms (between $12 and $24) — a significant sum of money in the former Soviet republic.

    “The prices are very high for Bishkek, but our dancers do not receive anything for their performance. This is a long-standing issue. Our performers have asked both the theater’s administration and the Culture Ministry to solve the problem,” Sadyrkulov said.

    According to him, the theater received a double rental fee for the one-day Swan Lake performance, but refused to pay the Kyrgyz dancers, arguing that they already receive monthly salaries.

    “When [the Kyrgyz dancers] refused to put on the costumes 30 minutes before the performance, they started promising money…and then they threatened to fire them or sue them,” Sadyrkulov said.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Majlis Podcast: Working To Eradicate Gender Bias In Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan

    As Central Asian countries mark International Women’s Day on March 8 this year, it also marks roughly one year since the coronavirus became a global pandemic.

    The spread of the virus prompted a series of measures in countries throughout the world, including lockdowns that saw millions of people confined to their homes for periods of time.

    Incidents of domestic violence jumped in many places.

    Public events were prohibited in many countries, including rallies in Central Asia to raise awareness of gender violence and promote equal rights were restricted, so many advocacy groups for women’s rights shifted their message to social networks and other media to continue fighting for women’s rights in the patriarchal societies of Central Asia.

    On this week’s Majlis Podcast, RFE/RL media-relations manager Muhammad Tahir moderates a discussion on what has changed in the last year, the challenges that remain, and what is being done to bring gender equality to the region and end violence against women.

    This week’s guests are: from Bishkek, Natalia Nikitenko, a deputy in Kyrgyzstan’s parliament; from Tashkent, Irina Matvienko, journalist, rights defender, and founder of NeMolchi.uz, an organization fighting to end violence against women; from Washington, Jasmine Cameron, a senior staff attorney at the Human Rights Center of the American Bar Association, which published a recent report about violence against women in Kyrgyzstan, and Bruce Pannier, author of the Qishloq Ovozi blog.

    Listen to the podcast above or subscribe to the Majlis on iTunes or on Google Podcasts.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • HRW: Kyrgyz Draft Constitution Endangers Rights, Weakens Checks And Balances

    Human Rights Watch (HRW) is urging Kyrgyzstan to withdraw a draft constitution submitted to lawmakers last month, saying it undermines human rights norms and weakens the checks and balances necessary to prevent abuses of power.

    “The current draft constitution does not reflect the high human rights standards Kyrgyzstan says it aspires to,” Syinat Sultanalieva, Central Asia researcher at the New York-based human rights watchdog, said in a statement on March 5.

    Kyrgyzstan has been in political crisis since parliamentary elections in October led to protests that triggered the toppling of the government and the resignation of then-President Sooronbai Jeenbekov.

    President Sadyr Japarov was among several prominent politicians freed from prison by protesters during the unrest. He had been serving a 10-year prison sentence for hostage-taking during a protest against a mining operation in northeast Kyrgyzstan in October 2013. He has denied the charge.

    Since winning a presidential election in January, Japarov has advanced the draft constitution.

    Votes of at least 80 members of the caretaker parliament, or a two-thirds majority, are required to adopt the proposed constitution before it is put to a national referendum.

    HRW said the legislature should postpone consideration of the text until after a new parliament has been elected to “allow for a full deliberative and consultative constitutional reform process.”

    The government should also refer the draft to the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission of constitutional experts.

    “President Japarov has pledged to uphold and respect human rights,” Sultanalieva said, adding: “A new constitution lays the foundation for these actions, so it is vitally important for this document, and the process of preparing it, to uphold beyond all doubt the highest standards of human rights and the rule of law.”

    In its annual report released earlier this week, the Washington-based human rights watchdog Freedom House said the draft constitution “could reshape Kyrgyzstan’s political system in the mold of its authoritarian neighbors.”

    HRW said provisions in the draft regarding the role of the executive and parliament “erode the constitution’s current system of checks and balances.” It cited a proposed article providing the president with powers previously exclusive to the parliament, such as initiating new laws and referendums, in addition to the existing power of veto.

    The group said two other articles would allow the president to indirectly recall the mandates of members of parliament. If the president obtains the support of a majority of lawmakers, the head of state can strip a parliament member’s immunity from criminal prosecution, which HRW said would create “the conditions for political pressure on members who are critical of the ruling party or the president.”

    Other “problematic” provisions would transfer power from the parliament to the president to appoint members of the cabinet, and appoint and dismiss judges, the prosecutor-general, the chairman of the central bank, as well as nominate and dismiss half of the Central Election Committee.

    HRW noted that several proposed articles “directly violate” international human rights standards, including one that would prohibit activities, public events, and dissemination of information contrary to the “moral values and the public consciousness of the people of Kyrgyzstan.”

    The draft constitution also excludes an article guaranteeing freedom of identification of ethnic identity, a move that would create “a dangerous potential for ethnic profiling and discrimination against ethnic minorities.”

    The draft also includes a provision imposing “unnecessary, burdensome” financial reporting requirements on nongovernmental organizations, trade unions, and political parties.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • U.S. ‘Deeply Concerned’ After Kyrgyz ‘Crime Boss’ Released From Detention

    The United States says it is “deeply concerned” over the release from pretrial detention of a Kyrgyz organized-crime figure for whom Washington has offered a $1 million reward.

    In a statement on March 3, the U.S. Embassy in Bishkek described Kamchy Kolbaev as a “transnational organized-crime boss” and a “convicted murderer whose criminal network engages in drug trafficking, human trafficking, arms trafficking, and other dangerous criminal activity.”

    Kolbaev’s drug trafficking network “poisons children across Central Asia, Russia, and Europe,” it quoted Ambassador Donald Lu as saying.

    Kolbaev was detained in October 2020 on suspicion of organizing a criminal group and participating in the activities of an organized criminal group.

    A spokeswoman at the Bishkek City Court told RFE/RL that the decision to change Kolbaev’s pretrial restrictions was made on March 2. She did not say why the decision was made.

    The next day, the State National Security Committee (UKMK) said Kolbaev would be unable to leave the city of Cholpon-Ata.

    The committee also announced a new criminal case had been opened against him on money-laundering charges.

    Kolbaev’s relatives transferred around 20 percent of the total amount of money allegedly laundered — more than 250 million soms ($2,950,000)– to the state, it said, adding that the rest should be paid by the end of April, which marks the end of the investigation period.

    In 2014, the U.S. State Department offered a reward of up to $1 million for information leading to the disruption of the financial mechanisms of Kolbaev’s criminal network.

    “In a recent meeting with the leadership of the State Committee for National Security, Ambassador Lu repeated the U.S. commitment to support the efforts of Kyrgyz law enforcement to investigate and prosecute Kolbaev,” the U.S. Embassy said in its statement.

    The U.S. envoy “also conveyed Washington’s intention to increase the award offered for the disruption of Kolbaev’s criminal network, and to create an improved mechanism to allow Kyrgyz citizens to collect this reward in order to assist the Kyrgyz government to rid the country of the threat posed by Kolbaev’s crime syndicate.”

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Notorious Kyrgyz Crime Boss Released From Pretrial Detention

    BISHKEK — Kyrgyz organized-crime figure Kamchy Kolbaev, who was added by Washington to a list of major global drug-trafficking suspects in 2011, has been released from pretrial detention and ordered not to leave Bishkek.

    Aisulu Jaasynova, spokeswoman at the Bishkek City Court, told RFE/RL that the decision to change Kolbaev’s pretrial restrictions was made on March 2. She did not say why the decision was made.

    Kolbaev, who is known as a “thief-in-law,” a title traditionally given to kingpins among criminal groups in former Soviet republics, was detained on suspicion of organizing a criminal group and participating in the activities of an organized criminal group on October 22, 2020.

    The U.S. Embassy in Bishkek welcomed Kolbaev’s detention at the time it was announced and expressed hope that Kyrgyz authorities would “prosecute and continue to detain this dangerous criminal leader in the interest of public safety.”

    In late 2012, Kolbaev was extradited to Kyrgyzstan from the United Arab Emirates at Bishkek’s request and sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison on extortion charges. His prison term was later shortened to three years without explanation.

    In June 2014, Kolbaev was granted an early release, which Kyrgyz officials explained by saying that each day spent by an inmate in a detention center is equal to two days in a penal colony.

    Weeks before his early release, the U.S. State Department offered a reward of up to $1 million for information leading to the disruption of the financial mechanisms of Kolbaev’s criminal network, which it described as being “part of the broader Brothers’ Circle transnational criminal organization composed of leaders and members of several Eurasian criminal groups.”

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • How Will Kyrgyzstan Repay Its Huge Debts To China?

    Faced with a struggling economy and few financial lifelines, Kyrgyzstan is feeling the weight of its swelling state debt — a significant proportion of which is owed to China — and considering some drastic measures to meet its obligations.

    Kyrgyzstan’s foreign debt is reportedly as much as $5 billion and more than 40 percent of that ($1.8 billion) is owed to the Export-Import Bank of China for a series of infrastructure projects over the last decade under the guise of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s signature foreign policy project.

    Bishkek, however, is grappling with a contracting economy whose gross domestic product dropped 8.6 percent in 2020, prompting fears the country will be unable to pay off its loans or even meet interest payments, especially on the Central Asian country’s commitments owed to Beijing.

    With deadlines approaching, there has been discussion by Kyrgyz officials of potentially forfeiting assets as a form of repayment.

    “If we do not pay some of [the debt] on time we will lose many of our properties,” new Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov told the state Kabar news agency during an interview on February 13. “Agreements with such conditions were signed by [President Almazbek] Atambaev. But, God willing, we will get rid of all debts in time. There are plans.”

    What exactly those plans are remains to be seen.

    While Japarov’s comments refrained from mentioning China directly, the national conversation has since shifted to how the country of 6.4 million people can repay its loans to Beijing, its largest creditor and a major political force in Central Asia.

    This debt impasse highlights the difficult bind that many countries — including Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Pakistan — have with Chinese-owed debts from large BRI infrastructure projects as they deal with the economic crunch caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Beijing has so far shown a willingness to defer some loans, but not offer outright relief, pointing toward a difficult negotiating environment for countries like Kyrgyzstan that are under such difficult financial strain.

    “China has shown many times in Latin America and Africa that it is not a charity and that it is a very pragmatic partner in terms of getting back its debts,” Temur Umarov, an expert on China-Central Asia relations at the Carnegie Moscow Center, told RFE/RL. “For Kyrgyzstan, it’s a challenging situation with no clear way out.”

    Kyrgyzstan has been considering options for the development of its Jetim-Too iron-ore mine in recent months, and some government critics have raised the prospect that the authorities might sell off or surrender mining rights to the lucrative deposit to pay off its loans to Beijing.

    As a presidential candidate, Japarov himself floated the idea of using Jetim-Too to pay down state debt owed to China, although Kyrgyzstan’s National Bank has said the government planned to retain ownership.

    Beyond mineral and mining concessions, some lawmakers have also mentioned the possibility of the government surrendering partial management of the country’s energy sector.

    A protest outside the Chinese Embassy in Bishkek over the treatment of the Uyghur minority in China.

    A protest outside the Chinese Embassy in Bishkek over the treatment of the Uyghur minority in China.

    This outcome to resolve the country’s debts was raised by parliamentarian Akyl Japarov (no relation to the president) on February 22, if Kyrgyzstan could not meet its interest payments on the controversial, Chinese-financed reconstruction of Bishkek’s main power plant, the cost of which was grossly inflated before breaking down and continues to have shortfalls in production.

    “Kyrgyzstan has no leverage and few ways to manage this crisis,” Niva Yau, a researcher at the OSCE Academy in Bishkek, told RFE/RL. “A lot will depend if Japarov is able to follow through on his reforms for the economy and bring in anti-corruption measures.”

    In Search Of Goodwill

    Japarov and Xi had their first phone call on February 22, during which the Kyrgyz president voiced support for more Chinese projects in the country and praised Xi’s handling of a range of international issues.

    The phone call comes after strained relations between Bishkek and Beijing around the events that brought Japarov to power and plunged Kyrgyzstan into a political crisis in October.

    The nationalist Japarov rode into power on protests triggered over parliamentary elections that toppled the government and saw the resignation of President Sooronbai Jeenbekov.

    But in the wake of those events, Chinese businesses and citizens in Kyrgyzstan reportedly faced attacks and shakedowns, which led to Kyrgyz Ambassador to China Kanayym Baktygulova being summoned in Beijing as Chinese officials expressed their displeasure and concern for the safety of its citizens.

    WATCH: Countries On China’s ‘New Silk Road’ Face Coronavirus Fears

    “Beijing has lots of concerns over a populist leader like Japarov,” said Yau. “China has been waiting for the domestic political situation to stabilize and there is still lots of hesitancy.”

    Anti-China protests have grown across Central Asia in recent years, with many such demonstrations taking place in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.

    Concerns about land ownership, state debt, Chinese labor practices, and the internment camps in the neighboring Chinese province of Xinjiang — which have also held ethnic Kyrgyz and Kazakhs in addition to Uyghurs — have been rallying calls in the country. Vandalism and several attacks on Chinese workers have also occurred in recent years in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.

    Japarov — whose parents lived for many years in China — must now persuade Beijing that he can be a reliable partner without alienating himself from the nationalist, anti-corruption rhetoric that helped bring him to power.

    On both fronts, the Kyrgyz leader faces tremendous obstacles.

    Popular anger over corruption remains high in Kyrgyzstan and many details over past loan contracts signed with Chinese entities are unknown, sparking further speculation among the public about how the government will settle its debt with Beijing.

    Moreover, Japarov is also dealing with the fallout of revelations around Raimbek Matraimov, the former deputy customs chief and influential power broker, who was arrested for a second time on February 18 over suspicion of money-laundering following public backlash over a lenient fine. The allegations against Matraimov were first revealed by a joint RFE/RL investigation.

    With limited international experience, Japarov is also looking to shore up Russian support to help navigate his problems, with a visit to Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin and other top officials taking place on February 24-25.

    Playing The Long Game

    Even before the political upheaval that brought Japarov into office, Bishkek had been asking China for debt forgiveness.

    Prior to the pandemic, Kyrgyzstan was making progress in paying down its outstanding loans, but the financial problems caused by COVID-19 broke down the country’s economy, which remains reliant on cross-border shuttle trade with China, and derailed Bishkek’s schedule.

    In November 2020, some relief did come from Beijing in the form of debt deferment, allowing $35 million owed for that year to be delayed until 2022-2024, at 2 percent interest.

    Kyrgyzstan also secured help from international creditors through a Paris Club agreement in June, suspending $11 million worth of debt until the end of the year. Bishkek collectively owes more than $300 million to Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, and South Korea.

    But those deals only offer temporary relief and do not address wider structural issues over Kyrgyzstan’s inability to service its debt obligations. With Bishkek exploring various drastic options to repay its Chinese loans, what sort of concessions Beijing is willing to offer could be the deciding factor.

    “The pattern is that China is willing to defer debt, but only in a handful of cases has it actually written it down,” Jonathan Hillman, the director of the Reconnecting Asia Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told RFE/RL. “Examples of asset seizures have been extremely rare.”

    China holds many of the cards in debt talks, with contracts signed with Kyrgyzstan stipulating that any disputes over repayment are to be settled in Chinese arbitration courts, rather than international ones, and could contain other clauses to Beijing’s advantage.

    “A lot of the issues facing Kyrgyzstan stem from a lack of due diligence and mismanagement from Kyrgyz officials over the years,” said Hillman. “But I think this is a lesson on the risks of doing business with China. This is what happens when you have a lack of transparency around lending.”

    Still, China remains concerned about its reputation in Kyrgyzstan, and the wider region as a whole, and will likely be mindful of the optics and sensitivities in taking control of any assets in the Central Asian country.

    “Taking an asset is not a good political move,” said Hillman. “It will confirm everyone’s worst fears about China and Belt and Road.”

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • ‘Prisoners Of Conscience’: A Look At Some Of The Biggest Names On The List

    Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny’s time as an Amnesty International “prisoner of conscience” was short-lived — but not because he was released from detention.

    Navalny received the designation on January 17 following his arrest at a Moscow airport by Russian authorities who said he had violated the terms of a suspended sentence stemming from a 2014 embezzlement conviction. Navalny and his supporters say that both the conviction and the alleged violation are unfounded, politically motivated, and absurd.

    The subsequent conversion of the suspended sentence into more than 30 months of real prison time promised to keep the ardent Kremlin critic away from street protests for the near-term, even as he stayed in the focus of anti-government demonstrators and human rights groups such as Amnesty.

    But on February 23, Amnesty withdrew the designation, citing what it said were past comments by the 44-year old anti-corruption activist that “reach the threshold of advocacy of hatred.”

    The term “prisoner of conscience” is widely attributed to the founder of Amnesty International, Peter Benenson, who used it in 1961 to describe two Portuguese students who had each been sentenced to seven years in prison simply for making a toast to freedom under a dictatorial government.

    The label initially came to apply mainly to dissidents in the Soviet Union and its Eastern Bloc satellites, but over the years expanded to include hundreds of religious, political opposition, and media figures around the world, including countries of the former Soviet Union and others in RFE/RL’s immediate coverage region.

    According to Amnesty’s current criteria for the designation, prisoners of conscience are people who have “not used or advocated violence but are imprisoned because of who they are (sexual orientation, ethnic, national, or social origin, language, birth, color, sex or economic status) or what they believe (religious, political or other conscientiously held beliefs).”

    Navalny’s delisting has been tied by Amnesty to comments he made in the mid-2000s, as his star as a challenger to President Vladimir Putin and as an anti-corruption crusader in Russia was on the rise, but also as he came under criticism for his association with ethnic Russian nationalists and for statements seen as racist and dangerously inflammatory.

    And while the rights watchdog acknowledged that the flood of requests it received to review Navalny’s past statements appeared to originate from pro-Kremlin critics of Navalny, Amnesty ultimately determined that he no longer fit the bill for the designation, even as the organization continued to call for his immediate release from prison as he was being “persecuted for purely political reasons.”

    The “prisoner of conscience” designation is a powerful tool in advocating for the humane treatment of people who hold different religious, political, and sexual views than the powers that be — in some cases helping to lead to the release of prisoners.

    Here’s a look at some of the biggest names who have been or remain on the list.

    In Russia

    Russia is a virtual cornucopia of prisoners of conscience, with formidable political opposition figures, journalists, LGBT rights activists, and advocates for ethno-national rights gracing the list.

    Political Opposition

    Boris Nemtsov

    Boris Nemtsov

    Boris Nemtsov, the opposition politician who was shot dead in 2015, received the designation in 2011, along with activists Ilya Yashin and Eduard Limonov, after they attended a rally in Moscow in support of free assembly.

    Big Business

    Former Yukos owners Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s and Platon Lebedev’s listing the same year relating to what Amnesty called “deeply flawed and politically motivated” charges that led to their imprisonment years earlier drew sharp condemnation from the Russian Foreign Ministry.

    ‘Terror Network’

    In February 2020, Amnesty applied the designation to seven men standing trial in central Russia on what it called “absurd” charges relating to membership in a “nonexistent ‘terrorist’ organization.”

    Days later, all seven members were convicted and sentenced to prison for belonging to a “terrorist cell” labeled by authorities as “Network” that the authorities claimed planned to carry out a series of explosions in Russia during the 2018 presidential election and World Cup soccer tournament.

    Religious Persecution

    Aleksandr Gabyshev — a shaman in the Siberian region of Yakutia who has made several attempts to march on foot to Moscow “to drive President Vladimir Putin out of the Kremlin” — was briefly placed in a psychiatric hospital in September 2019 after he called Putin “evil” and marched for 2,000 kilometers in an attempt to reach the capital.

    “The Russian authorities’ response to the shaman’s actions is grotesque,” Amnesty said. “Gabyshev should be free to express his political views and exercise his religion and beliefs just like anyone else.”

    In May 2020, riot police raided Gabyshev’s home and took him to a psychiatric hospital because he allegedly refused to be tested for COVID-19. Amnesty called for his immediate release.

    But in January, Gabyshev was again forcibly taken to a psychiatric clinic after announcing he planned to resume his trek to Moscow to oust Putin.

    In Ukraine

    Prominent Ukrainian filmmaker and activist Oleh Sentsov made the list after he was arrested in Crimea in May 2014 after the peninsula was illegally annexed by Russia.

    Oleh Sentsov

    Oleh Sentsov

    Amnesty repeatedly called for the release of Sentsov after he was sentenced to 20 years in prison on a “terrorism” conviction in what the rights watchdog declared was an “unfair trial on politically motivated charges.”

    After five years in prison in Russia, Sentsov was released in a prisoner swap between Kyiv and pro-Russia separatists fighting in eastern Ukraine.

    Sentsov was far from the only Ukrainian to be taken down for criticizing Russia’s seizure of Crimea, prompting Amnesty to call for the release of all “all Ukrainian political prisoners” being held in Russia.

    Among them is the first Jehovah’s Witness to be sentenced by Russian authorities in the annexed territory, Sergei Filatov. The father of four was handed a sentence of six years in prison last year for being a member of an extremist group in what Amesty called “the latest example of the wholesale export of Russia’s brutally repressive policies.”

    In Belarus

    In Belarus, some of the biggest names to be declared “prisoners of conscience” are in the opposition to Alyaksandr Lukashenka, the authoritarian leader whose claim to have won a sixth-straight presidential term in August has led to months of anti-government protests.

    Viktar Babaryka

    Viktar Babaryka

    Viktar Babaryka, a former banker whose bid to challenge Lukashenka was halted by his arrest as part of what Amnesty called a “full-scale attack on human rights” ahead of the vote, went on trial on February 17 on charges of money laundering, bribery, and tax evasion.

    Fellow opposition member Paval Sevyarynets, who has been in custody since June, was charged with taking part in mass disorder related to his participation in rallies during which demonstrators attempted to collect signatures necessary to register presidential candidates other than Lukashenka.

    Syarhey Tsikhanouski

    Syarhey Tsikhanouski

    The popular blogger Syarhey Tsikhanouski was jailed after expressing interest in running against Lukashenka and remains in prison. Three of his associates went on trial in January on charges of organizing mass disorder in relation to the mass protests that broke out after the election.

    Tsikhanouski’s wife, Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, took his place as a candidate and considers herself the rightful winner of the election.

    In Kazakhstan

    Aigul Otepova

    Aigul Otepova

    Aigul Otepova, a Kazakh blogger and journalist accused of involvement in a banned organization, was forcibly placed by a court in a psychiatric clinic in November, prompting Amnesty to declare her a “a prisoner of conscience who is being prosecuted solely for the peaceful expression of her views.”

    Otepova has denied any affiliation with the Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) opposition movement, which has been labeled an extremist group by the Kazkakh authorities, and Otepova’s daughter told RFE/RL that the authorities were trying to silence her ahead of Kazakhstan’s parliamentary elections in January.

    Otepova was released from the facility in December.

    In Iran

    Nasrin Sotoudeh

    Nasrin Sotoudeh

    Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, who has represented opposition activists including women prosecuted for removing their mandatory head scarves, was arrested in 2018 and charged with spying, spreading propaganda, and insulting Iran’s supreme leader.

    She found herself back in prison in December, less than a month after she was granted a temporary release from her sentence to a total of 38 1/2 years in prison and 148 lashes.

    Amnesty has called Sotoudeh’s case “shocking” and considers her a “prisoner of conscience.” In its most recent action regarding Sotoudeh, the rights watchdog called for her to be released “immediately and unconditionally.”

    In Kyrgyzstan

    Amnesty International in August 2019 called the life sentence handed down to Kyrgyz rights defender Azimjan Askarov a “triumph of injustice.”

    Azimjan Askarov

    Azimjan Askarov

    The ethnic Uzbek Askarov was convicted of creating a mass disturbance and of involvement in the murder of a police officer during deadly interethnic clashes between local Uzbeks and Kyrgyz in June 2010 when more than 450 people, mainly Uzbeks, were killed and tens of thousands more were displaced.

    Askarov has said the charges against him are politically motivated, and the UN Human Rights Committed has determined that he was not given a fair trial and was tortured in detention.

    In May, after the Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s decision to not review Askarov’s sentence, Amnesty said the ruling “compounds 10 years of deep injustice inflicted on a brave human rights defender who should never have been jailed.”

    In Pakistan

    Junaid Hafeez

    Junaid Hafeez

    Amnesty has called the case of Junaid Hafeez “a travesty” and in 2019 called on Pakistan’s authorities to “immediately and unconditionally” release the university lecturer charged with blasphemy over Facebook uploads.

    Hafeez was charged under the country’s controversial blasphemy laws, which Amnesty has called on the country to repeal, describing them as “overly broad, vague, and coercive” and saying they were “used to target religious minorities, pursue personal vendettas, and carry out vigilante violence.”

    Hafeez has been in solitary confinement since June 2014.

    In Azerbaijan

    Leyla and Arif Yunus

    Leyla and Arif Yunus

    Human rights activists Leyla Yunus and Arif Yunus were arrested separately in 2014 and convicted of economic crimes in August 2015 after a trial Amnesty denounced as “shockingly unjust.”

    After Leyla Yunus was sentenced to 8 1/2 years in prison, and her husband to seven years, Amnesty said that the rulings showed the “continuous criminalization of human rights defenders in Azerbaijan.”

    After the two were released on health grounds in late 2015 and their prison sentences reduced to suspended sentences, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered Azerbaijan to pay them approximately $45,660 for violating their basic rights.

    In April 2016, they were allowed to leave the country and settled in the Netherlands.

    In Uzbekistan

    Azam Farmonov

    Azam Farmonov

    In 2009, Amnesty called for the immediate release of rights activists Azam Farmonov and Alisher Karamatov, who were detained in 2006 while defending the rights of farmers in Uzbekistan who had accused local officials of extortion and corruption.

    Amnesty said the two men had allegedly been tortured and declared them “prisoners of conscience.”

    In 2012, Karamatov was released after serving nearly two-thirds of a nine-year prison sentence.

    Farmonov served 10 years before his release in 2017, but reemerged in March when his U.S.-based NGO representing prisoners’ rights in Uzbekistan, Huquiqiy Tayanch, was successfully registered by the country’s Justice Ministry.

    Written by Michael Scollon, with additional reporting by Golnaz Esfandiari

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • New U.S. Award Names Kyrgyz, Ukrainian Anti-Corruption Figures Among Its 12 Recipients

    The editor in chief of a Kyrgyz investigative website and a former Ukrainian prosecutor-general are among 12 people who have been recognized by the U.S. State Department as anti-corruption champions.

    The winners of the new International Anti-Corruption Champions Award were announced on February 23 by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who said in a statement that the award recognizes people who have worked tirelessly, often in the face of adversity, to combat corruption in their own countries.

    Bolot Temirov, editor in chief of the Kyrgyz investigative website FactCheck, and Ruslan Ryaboshapka, who was forced out of his job as Ukraine’s prosecutor-general last year in a parliamentary no-confidence vote, were among the recipients.

    FactCheck and open-source investigative organization Bellingcat probed Raimbek Matraimov, the controversial former deputy chief of the Customs Service, and his relatives, who are at the center of an alleged corruption scandal involving the funneling of close to a billion dollars out of Kyrgyzstan.

    Matraimov was rearrested this month on corruption charges and is currently in pretrial detention.

    Temirov was attacked near his website’s office in Bishkek in January 2020 after the investigation was published, prompting the United States and several media freedom watchdogs to call on Kyrgyz authorities to conduct a swift and thorough investigation.

    Then-Ukrainian Prosecutor-General Ruslan Ryaboshapka speaks to lawmakers during an extraordinary session of the Ukrainian parliament in Kyiv to consider his dismissal on March 5, 2020.

    Then-Ukrainian Prosecutor-General Ruslan Ryaboshapka speaks to lawmakers during an extraordinary session of the Ukrainian parliament in Kyiv to consider his dismissal on March 5, 2020.

    Ryaboshapka was well-regarded by anti-corruption activists for his efforts to streamline and professionalize the scandal-ridden Prosecutor-General’s Office in Ukraine. He served as prosecutor-general from August 29, 2019, until he left the post on March 5, 2020.

    Blinken said in the statement announcing the awards that corruption threatens security, hinders economic growth, undermines democracy and human rights, destroys trust in public institutions, facilitates transnational crime, and siphons away public and private resources.

    “The Biden administration recognizes that we will only be successful in combating these issues by working in concert with committed partners, including courageous individuals who champion anti-corruption efforts and countries working to fulfill their commitments to international anti-corruption standards,” Blinken said.

    The other honorees are Ardian Dvorani of Albania; Diana Salazar of Ecuador; Sophia Pretrick of Micronesia; Juan Francisco Sandoval Alfaro of Guatemala; Ibrahima Kalil Gueye of Guinea; Anjali Bhardwaj of India; Dhuha Mohammed of Iraq; Mustafa Abdullah Sanalla of Libya; Victor Sotto of the Philippines; and Francis Ben Kaifala of Sierra Leone.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Kyrgyz Villagers Losing Patience With State’s Failure To Resolve Border Problems With Tajikistan, Uzbekistan

    Fresh from medical treatment in Germany, Kyrgyz national security head Kamchybek Tashiev urgently flew from Bishkek to the southern Batken region on February 18 to deal with people’s growing anger over the failure by officials to resolve pressing border issues.

    Tashiev, chief of Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security (UKMK), hoped to reduce tensions along Kyrgyzstan’s long southern borders with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Since the border guard service was put under UKMK control in November, the problems are Tashiev’s responsibility.

    Grumbling by residents along the border resulted in people from Batken and districts in Jalal-Abad Province demonstrating earlier this month in the capital for a resolution to the long-standing problem of demarcation.

    Villagers living along the borders claim neighboring states are encroaching on Kyrgyz territory and want it stopped.

    New Kyrgyz Prime Minister Ulukbek Maripov spoke about the disputed Torkul reservoir and canal in the Kyrgyz-Tajik border area on February 8.

    “Unfortunately, it seems we (Kyrgyzstan) have ceded the upper reaches of the Tokgul reservoir channel,” Maripov explained.

    Maripov’s comment is precisely what residents of Kyrgyzstan’s border areas do not want to hear from government officials.

    In Bishkek on February 15, Gulzhigit Isakov, the leader of a group from Batken that calls itself Chek Ara (Border), criticized new populist President Sadyr Japarov.

    “It is upsetting that while someone is taking over our border, Sadyr [Japarov] has not raised the issue once in any of his interviews,” Isakov said.

    The Kyrgyz-Tajik Border

    Isakov was referring to the situation in the area around the Kyrgyz villages of Ak-Sai and Kok-Tash that over the last decade have seen many clashes between residents from both sides of the border.

    And while once those clashes were limited to the two parties throwing sticks and stones at each other, they have increasingly involved gunfire and deaths.

    On February 11, a group of Tajik villagers planted trees in a field by the Kyrgyz village of Chek-Dobo, which is near Kok-Tash.

    The field was in an area that has not yet been demarcated.

    The next day, all the trees had been dug up and were left lying on the ground. So the Tajik villagers returned to try and replant them.

    But Kyrgyz border guards arrived and ordered them to stop, with harsh words exchanged. Then Tajik border guards arrived and the “border guards of the two countries took up positions.”

    The villagers of Ak-Sai are fed up by the failure of officials to resolve pressing border issues.

    The villagers of Ak-Sai are fed up by the failure of officials to resolve pressing border issues.

    In Bishkek, Isakov claimed “the Tajik side brought soldiers and equipment to the Ak-Sai area…because our border guards removed their post [there].”

    Officials from both countries eventually arrived and negotiations cooled tempers — for a while at least — with each side pledging not to do any work of any kind on disputed land.

    But the incident points out how sensitive the situation is and how high emotions there are, that a simple act such as planting trees nearly set off violent clashes.

    The Kyrgyz-Uzbek Border

    On February 14, workers from Uzbekistan’s electricity company started setting up electricity poles near the Kyrgyz villages of Suu-Bash and Boz-Adyr in Batken Province.

    The village is near Uzbekistan’s Soh exclave, one of the most interesting places in the Ferghana Valley. It belongs to Uzbekistan, is surrounded by Kyrgyzstan, and is inhabited overwhelmingly by ethnic Tajiks.

    Ethnic Kyrgyz residents alerted border guards to the action and, after a meeting with their Uzbek counterparts, the poles were removed.

    But more problems are almost surely coming as Uzbekistan has already started building an airport at Soh — scheduled to be completed in May — to better connect the exclave with Uzbekistan proper.

    No Kyrgyz territory is endangered by the airport, but symbolically it certainly reinforces Uzbekistan’s claim to the exclave and is a reminder to local Kyrgyz that its larger neighbor is paying attention to an area many in Kyrgyzstan believe is neglected by their government.

    On the same day Tajik villagers attempted to plant trees near Chek-Dobo, Uzbek border guards accompanied by others in plainclothes began setting up border markers near the Kyrgyz village of Kosh-Bolot, in the Ala-Buka district of Jalal-Abad Province.

    Kosh-Bolot residents say the Uzbeks were on Kyrgyz territory.

    “The Uzbek military came close to the house of one of our residents and put their pillars there, thereby marking it as their territory. Our border guards arrived at the scene but did not say anything,” one local resident said.

    The Kyrgyz website Kaktus.media reported that “sources in the government” said that the area where the Uzbek border guards were setting up markers belongs to Uzbekistan under the terms of a September 2017 agreement, “but local residents, not understanding the situation, expressed their dissatisfaction.”

    The Ala-Buka district has been the scene of high tension between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan before.

    A reservoir is located there that is claimed by both countries: by Uzbekistan because they say they paid for its construction during the Soviet era, and by Kyrgyzstan because it is located well inside Kyrgyzstan.

    Water from the reservoir has always been mainly used for fields in Uzbekistan.

    Uzbek troops crossed into the area twice in 2016 and, in August of that year, occupied a nearby mountain called Ungar-Too, holding captive several Kyrgyz employees there who were operating a telecommunications relay station.

    No Easy Solutions

    The Kyrgyz-Tajik border is some 976 kilometers long, of which about 520 kilometers has been demarcated.

    The Kyrgyz-Uzbek border is some 1,378 kilometers long, with about 1,100 kilometers of it demarcated.

    Nazirbek Borubaev is Kyrgyzstan's special representative for border issues.

    Nazirbek Borubaev is Kyrgyzstan’s special representative for border issues.

    Kyrgyz Special Representative for Border Issues Nazirbek Borubaev said at a February 15 press conference that “many of our citizens are making statements that ‘our land is being given to the neighbors,’ based on unconfirmed information.”

    But some people in Kyrgyzstan doubts this.

    Tashiev said border talks with Tajik officials would take place in the first half of March and with Uzbek officials in the second part of that month.

    Tashiev also said the budget for border security would be increased, and he repeated to residents of border villages in Batken Province a promise he has made several times over the years, long before he was UKMK chief, that “not one square centimeter” of Kyrgyz territory would be given to the country’s neighbors.

    That undoubtedly suits people in Kyrgyzstan, but it is a hard bargaining point for neighbors who are also seeking concessions.

    Borubaev said that “if necessary, we can find something in the archives in Moscow.” Generally, maps drawn after Russian colonization of Central Asia have been the basis for contemporary border demarcation work for the current Central Asian states that didn’t exist at the time.

    Meetings of officials poring over Russian-Soviet maps to determine the borders of their countries is possibly the only way to make progress in reaching final agreements on the remaining frontiers of the five Central Asian states.

    But for the people living in these areas, the issue of where the borders should be depends on where arable fields and pasturelands are located and where the water sources are.

    And as long as the border talks continue, there are tracts of land in disputed areas that could be used for orchards or grazing but are left unused.

    Meanwhile, many Kyrgyz residents seem to be poorly informed about the deals that have been made by previous governments about what is and what is not Kyrgyz territory.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Blogger Says She Fled Kyrgyzstan Fearing For Her Safety

    A well-known blogger, who left Kyrgyzstan for an unspecified country after her apartment in Bishkek was searched, says she was “pushed out of the country.”

    Yulia Barabina and three members of the election team of presidential candidate Abdil Segizbaev were questioned by officers of the State Committee for National Security (UKMK) after their homes were searched on February 3 and their electronic devices confiscated.

    Segizbaev, a former chief of the UKMK who strongly criticized incumbent President Sadyr Japarov during the recent election, was arrested and placed in pretrial detention on corruption charges two weeks after Japarov was declared the winner on January 10.

    Barabina told the Kaktus news agency on February 15 that UKMK officers had explained to her and members of Segizbaev’s team that the searches and the questioning were linked to a complaint filed by unknown individuals about the content of Barabina’s Facebook blog, Pravdorub, where she and her colleagues publish their journalistic materials.

    According to the UKMK, Barabina said, the complaint alleged that some of the materials in the blog were “inciting ethnic and religious hatred.”

    However, Barabina said the complaint appeared to be politically motivated, as the investigators’ questions were not about her blog’s materials but about comments by unknown individuals posted under them.

    Barabina’s blog was critical of former presidents of the Central Asian state, as well as Japarov.

    The blog’s investigative materials also targeted corruption among officials, including former Customs Service official Raimbek Matraimov, who was placed on the U.S. Magnitsky sanctions list for his involvement in the illegal funneling of hundreds of millions of dollars abroad.

    Barabina said she intended to return to Kyrgyzstan as soon as “it is safe for me to come back.”

    Kyrgyzstan has been in crisis since parliamentary elections in October led to protests that triggered the toppling of the government and the resignation of then-President Sooronbai Jeenbekov.

    Japarov was among several prominent politicians freed from prison by protesters during the unrest.

    He had been serving a 10-year sentence for hostage taking during a protest against a mining operation in northeast Kyrgyzstan in October 2013. He has steadfastly denied the charge.

    The 52-year-old’s landslide victory came in an election that international observers said “generally respected” fundamental freedoms even though the vote was not “fully fair.”

    With reporting by Kaktus

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Homophobic Hate Speech On The Rise In Europe, Says New Report

    An advocacy group says that homophobic language and hate speech against transgender people is on the rise among European politicians and has warned about a backlash against the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people across the continent.

    The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association said in its annual report published on February 16 that politicians in 17 countries in Europe and Central Asia have verbally attacked LGBT people over the past year.

    The report highlighted Poland, where nationalist politicians from the ruling right-wing PiS party have criticized “LGBT ideology” during election campaigns. It also singled out Hungary, where transgender people last year were banned from legally changing gender.

    The situation for LGBT people in Bulgaria and Romania could worsen this year, while in Turkey, ruling-party politicians have repeatedly attacked LGBT people, Evelyne Paradis, the association’s executive director, warned.

    The trend of politicians verbally attacking LGBT people has also been on the rise in countries such as Albania, Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Moldova, North Macedonia, and Russia, the report said.

    In Belarus and Ukraine, some religious leaders have blamed LGBT people for the coronavirus pandemic. Hate speech on social media has grown in Montenegro, Russia, and Turkey, in traditional media in Ukraine, and is an ongoing issue in Georgia, North Macedonia, and Romania, the group said.

    “There’s growing hate speech specifically targeting trans people and that is being reported more and more across the region….We have grave concerns that it’s going to get worse before it gets better,” Paradis said.

    In Central Asia, LGBT rights are stagnating or backsliding in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, the report said, adding that in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, “we see windows of opportunity for advancing LGBT rights.”

    The group said the pandemic has caused difficulties for some young LGBT people at home with homophobic families during lockdowns and given openings to politicians who attack gay and trans people as a way to shift attention from economic problems.

    “LGBT communities are amongst the groups that get scapegoated in particular,” said Paradis.

    With reporting by Reuters

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Kyrgyz Activists Rally Against Corruption

    BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — Hundreds of people have attended a rally in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, to demand that authorities take measures against widespread corruption in the Central Asian country.

    The protesters gathered at midday on February 14 near the main Bishkek railway station, before marching towards the central Ala-Too Square. They were holding slogans that read “We demand the rule of law” and “We are for a bright future” among others.

    Rally participants also condemned a recent ruling by a Bishkek court that ordered a mitigated punishment and no jail time for former customs official Raimbek Matraimov, who was placed on the U.S. Magnitsky sanctions list for his involvement in the illegal funneling of hundreds of millions of dollars abroad.

    Matraimov, the former deputy chief of Kyrgyzstan’s Customs Service, was fined just over $3,000 after pleading guilty to corruption charges. The court said on February 11 that Matraimov had paid back around $24 million to the state in damages lost through corruption schemes that he oversaw.

    In June 2019, an investigation by RFE/RL, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, and Kloop implicate Matraimov in a corruption scheme involving the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars out of Kyrgyzstan by Chinese-born Uyghur businessman Aierken Saimaiti, who was assassinated in Istanbul in November 2019.

    Also Read: Plunder And Patronage In The Heart Of Central Asia

    The $700 million scheme involved a company controlled by Matraimov bribing officials to skirt customs fees and regulations, as well as engaging in money laundering, “allowing for maximum profits,” the Treasury Department said.

    The participants of the protest in Bishkek condemned the court ruling and chanted: “Arrest Raim” and “Raim must be held responsible.”

    The protest was initiated by the Bashtan Bashta movement, which has been organizing similar peaceful rallies in central Bishkek every Sunday since October 2020 when anti-government protests over official results of parliamentary elections toppled the government and led to President Sooronbai Jeenbekov’s resignation.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Kyrgyzstan’s Grand Mufti Detained Amid Corruption Scandal

    BISHKEK — Kyrgyzstan’s top Muslim cleric, Grand Mufti Maksatbek Hajji Toktomushev, has been detained by police amid a corruption scandal.

    Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security (UKMK) said late on February 10 that Toktomushev is suspected of being involved in the alleged misuse of funds raised by worshippers for a Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca later this year.

    Dozens of Toktomushev’s supporters rallied in front of the UKMK headquarters in Bishkek on February 11 to demand his release.

    Earlier on February 10, Toktomushev, who in his capacity was also head of Kyrgyzstan’s Religious Directorate — the state agency in charge of Islamic affairs — had handed in his resignation.

    The directorate’s press office told RFE/RL that Toktomushev’s place will be taken by his deputy until a replacement is elected.

    The UKMK announced on February 10 that the directorate’s chief accountant, whose identity was not disclosed, had been arrested on suspicion of misusing the equivalent of almost $2 million raised by worshippers.

    According to the UKMK, the accountant’s arrest occurred on February 9 during an alleged attempt to bribe a UKMK officer.

    The directorate’s press office told RFE/RL that it won’t publicly comment on the case until after the trial.

    The majority of the Central Asian nation’s 6 million population are Sunni Muslims.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Kyrgyzstan’s Grand Mufti Detained Amid Corruption Scandal

    BISHKEK — Kyrgyzstan’s top Muslim cleric, Grand Mufti Maksatbek Hajji Toktomushev, has been detained by police amid a corruption scandal.

    Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security (UKMK) said late on February 10 that Toktomushev is suspected of being involved in the alleged misuse of funds raised by worshippers for a Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca later this year.

    Dozens of Toktomushev’s supporters rallied in front of the UKMK headquarters in Bishkek on February 11 to demand his release.

    Earlier on February 10, Toktomushev, who in his capacity was also head of Kyrgyzstan’s Religious Directorate — the state agency in charge of Islamic affairs — had handed in his resignation.

    The directorate’s press office told RFE/RL that Toktomushev’s place will be taken by his deputy until a replacement is elected.

    The UKMK announced on February 10 that the directorate’s chief accountant, whose identity was not disclosed, had been arrested on suspicion of misusing the equivalent of almost $2 million raised by worshippers.

    According to the UKMK, the accountant’s arrest occurred on February 9 during an alleged attempt to bribe a UKMK officer.

    The directorate’s press office told RFE/RL that it won’t publicly comment on the case until after the trial.

    The majority of the Central Asian nation’s 6 million population are Sunni Muslims.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Majlis Podcast: The Japarov Era Opens In Kyrgyzstan

    In January, Sadyr Japarov completed his amazing rise from a prison cell in early October to being elected Kyrgyz president.

    In between, Japarov promised changes and a new way of governing the country, and changes have been coming fast, to be sure.

    On this week’s Majlis Podcast, RFE/RL media-relations manager Muhammad Tahir moderates a discussion on what has been changing in Kyrgyzstan now that Japarov is president.

    This week’s guests are: from Bishkek, Saniia Toktagazieva, an expert in constitutional law; from Columbia University in New York City, where she is a PhD candidate, Colleen Wood, who lived in Kyrgyzstan and is a noted author of many articles on the country’s politics; and from Prague, Bruce Pannier, the author of the Qishloq Ovozi blog.

    Listen to the podcast above or subscribe to the Majlis on iTunes or on Google Podcasts.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Majlis Podcast: Lawyers In Central Asia — Defending Clients And Themselves

    January 24 was the Day of the Endangered Lawyer and an opportunity to remember the many problems some Central Asian attorneys have to face.

    In Central Asia, defendants have a right to an attorney, but state-appointed defenders have a reputation for half-hearted work or, in some cases, even supporting the prosecution in convicting their clients.

    Being an independent lawyer willing to defend people who for some reason or another are looked upon as a nuisance or threat by the governments of the region is a hazardous occupation.

    Some of these attorneys are intimidated or threatened, some are attacked, and some are imprisoned.

    On this week’s Majlis podcast, RFE/RL media-relations manager Muhammad Tahir moderates a discussion on the plight of lawyers in Central Asia.

    This week’s guests are: Madina Akhmetova, the director of the Dignity public association based in the Kazakh capital, Nur-Sultan; Jasmine Cameron, who is originally from Kyrgyzstan but is now a senior staff attorney at the Human Rights Center of the American Bar Association; from California, Steve Swerdlow, a longtime Central Asia watcher, recently returned from Uzbekistan, and human rights lawyer who is currently an associate professor of human rights at the University of Southern California; and from Prague, Bruce Pannier, the author of the Qishloq Ovozi blog.

    Listen to the podcast above or subscribe to the Majlis on iTunes or on Google Podcasts.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Majlis Podcast: Lawyers In Central Asia — Defending Clients And Themselves

    January 24 was the Day of the Endangered Lawyer and an opportunity to remember the many problems some Central Asian attorneys have to face.

    In Central Asia, defendants have a right to an attorney, but state-appointed defenders have a reputation for half-hearted work or, in some cases, even supporting the prosecution in convicting their clients.

    Being an independent lawyer willing to defend people who for some reason or another are looked upon as a nuisance or threat by the governments of the region is a hazardous occupation.

    Some of these attorneys are intimidated or threatened, some are attacked, and some are imprisoned.

    On this week’s Majlis podcast, RFE/RL media-relations manager Muhammad Tahir moderates a discussion on the plight of lawyers in Central Asia.

    This week’s guests are: Madina Akhmetova, the director of the Dignity public association based in the Kazakh capital, Nur-Sultan; Jasmine Cameron, who is originally from Kyrgyzstan but is now a senior staff attorney at the Human Rights Center of the American Bar Association; from California, Steve Swerdlow, a longtime Central Asia watcher, recently returned from Uzbekistan, and human rights lawyer who is currently an associate professor of human rights at the University of Southern California; and from Prague, Bruce Pannier, the author of the Qishloq Ovozi blog.

    Listen to the podcast above or subscribe to the Majlis on iTunes or on Google Podcasts.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Date Set For Trial Of Kyrgyz Tycoon Placed Under U.S. Magnitsky Sanctions

    BISHKEK — The trial of the former deputy chief of Kyrgyzstan’s Customs Service, Raimbek Matraimov, who was placed on the U.S. Magnitsky sanctions list for his alleged involvement in the illegal funneling of hundreds of millions of dollars abroad, will start on February 3.

    The Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan said on January 27 that the case will be tried in the Bishkek Birinchi Mai district court.

    Matraimov was detained on corruption charges in October 2020 and placed under house arrest.

    Kyrgyz authorities said at the time that he had agreed to pay about 2 billion soms ($23.5 million) in preliminary damages to the state through an economic-amnesty bill that allows individuals who obtained financial assets through illegal means to avoid prosecution by turning the assets over to the State Treasury. If the court decides not to pursue jail time, it can assess full damages at trial.

    In June 2019, an investigation by RFE/RL, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, and Kloop implicated Matraimov in a corruption scheme involving the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars out of Kyrgyzstan by Chinese-born Uyghur businessman Aierken Saimaiti, who was assassinated in Istanbul in November 2019.

    In early December 2020, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that it had slapped sanctions on Matraimov for his role in a vast corruption and money-laundering scheme.

    The $700 million scheme involved a company controlled by Matraimov bribing officials to skirt around customs fees and regulations, as well as engaging in money laundering, “allowing for maximum profits,” the Treasury Department said.

    The sanctions fell under the Magnitsky Act, a piece of legislation passed by the United States in 2012 that penalizes individuals responsible for committing human rights violations or acts of significant corruption.

    Last week, a spokesperson for Kyrgyzstan’s state registration service, Damira Azimbaeva, confirmed to RFE/RL that both Matraimov and his wife, Uulkan Turgunova, had changed their surnames.

    Earlier reports said that Raimbek Matraimov had changed his last name into Ismailov, and his wife had changed her surname into Sulaimanova, which many considered as a move to evade the U.S.-imposed sanctions.

    There have been no official statements from the lawyers of Matraimov’s family to explain the decision to change surnames.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Kyrgyzstan Seeks To Stop Wives From Staying In Abusive Marriages At All Costs  

    BISHKEK — In the space of a single month, three Kyrgyz women from different walks of life killed themselves in the northeastern Issyk-Kul region in separate cases linked to domestic violence.

    Among them was Aruuzat, a 33-year-old schoolteacher from the city of Karakol who died in the hospital on December 29 after consuming a fatal dose of vinegar.

    In a WhatsApp message sent from her deathbed, Aruuzat told her colleagues that she had decided to end her life because her family wanted her to reconcile with her abusive husband despite being beaten by him.

    Aruuzat, a mother of three, also sent photos of what she said was her bruised body after the latest abuse at the hands of her spouse.

    They don’t get any support from their relatives, and they also fear disgrace in society. Therefore, most of them go back to their abusive husbands in the end.”

    Her colleagues told RFE/RL they had been aware of her situation but that she didn’t want them to report her husband to the police.

    “She had told us about the beatings. She said if she ran away, her husband would find her using the phone geolocation and torture her even more,” Aruuzat’s colleague and friend, Nazira, told RFE/RL. “She was terrified of her husband.”

    It was only after Aruuzat’s death that her colleagues reported to police about the domestic abuse she had suffered. Despite that, Aruuzat’s mother, siblings, and other relatives still remain silent on the subject.

    It’s a long-standing tradition for abuse to be quietly accepted in Kyrgyzstan — a country where divorce is shunned and women are encouraged to keep their marriages intact at almost any cost.

    Impunity often remains a norm for domestic violence in the Central Asian country, where some women — like Aruuzat — end up paying the ultimate price.

    But the Kyrgyz parliament is finally taking a decisive step to prevent families from putting pressure on the victims of domestic violence and to reconcile with their abusive spouses.

    In an unprecedented move, the parliament passed a bill that bans such reconciliation if one of the parties in the marriage subjects his or her spouse to physical or mental abuse.

    The bill also calls for harsher punishments for domestic violence.

    Lawmaker Ishak Pirmatov, who initiated the bill: “Criminal behavior will continue if there is no punishment.” (file photo)

    Lawmaker Ishak Pirmatov, who initiated the bill: “Criminal behavior will continue if there is no punishment.” (file photo)

    Initiated by lawmaker Ishak Pirmatov, the amendments to the law on domestic violence were approved by parliament on the second reading on January 20.

    Domestic violence has always been a hot topic in Kyrgyzstan, where police record thousands of cases every year. Thousands of other incidents of abuse go unreported.

    In 2020, Kyrgyz police recorded 9,025 cases of domestic violence, a 65 percent rise compared to previous years.

    But only about 940 of the cases were sent to courts, authorities say. In all other cases, the victims — the majority of them women — withdrew their complaints, telling police they had changed their minds.

    ‘Crime Shouldn’t Go Unpunished’

    “There are many cases in which the victim opts for reconciliation under the pressure of the family. As a result, the case doesn’t go to court, while the victim still remains unprotected,” lawmaker Natalia Nikitenko said during the parliamentary debate.

    “Now, the bill introduces new standards that prohibit the reconciliation of the parties if it puts one of the parties in harm’s way, or in cases in which one of the parties has already been subjected to violence,” Nikitenko said.

    Lawmaker Natalia Nikitenko: “It will no longer be possible to hide [the crime] in the name of reconciliation.” (file photo)

    Lawmaker Natalia Nikitenko: “It will no longer be possible to hide [the crime] in the name of reconciliation.” (file photo)

    Current law states that if the victim withdraws a complaint, the police can drop the case. Under the new bill, however, police are required to launch a probe into suspected domestic violence even if the alleged victim takes back his or her initial complaint.

    According to Nikitenko, “It will no longer be possible to hide [the crime] in the name of reconciliation.”

    Some lawmakers spoke against the bill, arguing that marriage is a complex and delicate issue and that the best option for all sides is to save the union.

    “Anything can happen in a family,” said lawmaker Kamchybek Zholdoshbaev, who advocated reconciliation at all costs. “Maybe we need to look for other solutions? For example, the [couple’s] elders should be consulted, or a representative of the local councils should get involved.”

    But parliamentarian Pirmatov insisted the victims cannot be protected if the perpetrators know they can get away with a crime under the pretext of reconciliation.

    “Criminal behavior will continue if there is no punishment,” Pirmatov said.

    The bill must pass a third reading and be signed by President Sadyr Japarov for the bill to become law.

    Helping The Victims Isn’t Always Easy

    Just days after Aruuzat’s death in Karakol, another woman’s life was cut short by domestic violence in the nearby Tyup district.

    Issyk-Kul regional police confirmed that 40-year-old housewife Gulmairam Taktasheva was strangled to death by her husband at home in the village of Dolon on January 9.

    Gulmairam Taktasheva

    Gulmairam Taktasheva

    “Her husband, Aibek, had been drinking a lot lately,” Taktasheva’s sister told RFE/RL. “When Gulmairam got upset and moved to our parents’ home, Aibek begged her to come back. They reconciled, but soon after he killed her.”

    Taktasheva’s husband subsequently committed suicide, leaving the couple’s four children without parents.

    On January 12, another woman in Karakol killed herself amid allegations of domestic abuse. The 29-year-old mother of three worked at a local television station. Police said they were unable to open a criminal probe as there were no witnesses, no reports of a crime, and no complaints.

    Women’s rights advocates in Kyrgyzstan have welcomed the latest legislation, but they say more is needed to protect domestic violence victims. They are urging the government to set up special crisis centers where abuse victims can seek help with counseling and rehabilitation to recover from the abuse and rebuild their lives. Some of the victims are in desperate need of shelter and employment.

    There are only 17 crisis centers for women in a country of some 6.5 million people.

    In reality, helping the victims is not always as straightforward as it might seem, said Marina Lichanyu, the coordinator of Karakol’s Center for Rehabilitation and Support, who has extensive experience working with domestic violence victims.

    “About 80 percent of the women who approached our center for help don’t have adequate education,” Lichanyu told RFE/RL. “Most of them were married young or ended up in marriage through the bride-kidnapping tradition.”

    “It’s difficult to find them jobs and create favorable conditions in which they could independently support themselves and raise their children. They don’t get any support from their relatives, and they also fear disgrace in society. Therefore, most of them go back to their abusive husbands in the end,” she added.

    There have also been several dozen cases of men reporting abuse and cruel treatment at the hands of their wives.

    Kyrgyz authorities say they are committed to helping the victims. This week, the government launched a hotline — free phone line 117 — for victims of domestic abuse to report a crime and seek help.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Former Kyrgyz Prime Minister Abylgaziev Arrested On Corruption Charges

    BISHKEK — Former Kyrgyz Prime Minister Mukhammedkalyi Abylgaziev has been arrested on corruption charges.

    The State Committee for National Security (UKMK) said on January 27 that Abylgaziev is also suspected of illegal enrichment.

    According to the UKMK, Abylgaziev allegedly helped the Kumtor Gold Company illegally obtain additional lands for geological works and mining while in office.

    Abylgaziev is also suspected of illegally obtaining unspecified amounts of cash while in office and investing that money into property in Bishkek and nearby districts.

    The 53-year-old Abylgaziev served as prime minister from 2018 to 2020. He left the post last June amid an abrupt rise of coronavirus cases in the Central Asian nation.

    Financial police said in October 2020 that Abylgaziev was ordered to remain in the country.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Majlis Podcast: Biden And Central Asia — Three Former Ambassadors Weigh In

    On January 20, Joe Biden was inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States. How might the new U.S. leadership change policy toward Central Asia? What might the Central Asian states be looking for from the Biden administration? And what aspects of U.S.-Central Asian relations are likely to remain the same?

    On this week’s Majlis podcast, RFE/RL media-relations manager Muhammad Tahir moderates a discussion on those questions and more.

    This week’s guests are: from Bishkek, the former Kyrgyz ambassador to the United States, Kadyr Toktogulov; from Washington, the former U.S ambassador to Kyrgyzstan and later Uzbekistan, Pamela Spratlen; also from Washington, the former U.S. ambassador to Kazakhstan and later Georgia, William Courtney; and from Prague, Bruce Pannier, the author of the Qishloq Ovozi blog.

    Listen to the podcast above or subscribe to the Majlis on iTunes or on Google Podcasts.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Majlis Podcast: Biden And Central Asia — Three Former Ambassadors Weigh In

    On January 20, Joe Biden was inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States. How might the new U.S. leadership change policy toward Central Asia? What might the Central Asian states be looking for from the Biden administration? And what aspects of U.S.-Central Asian relations are likely to remain the same?

    On this week’s Majlis podcast, RFE/RL media-relations manager Muhammad Tahir moderates a discussion on those questions and more.

    This week’s guests are: from Bishkek, the former Kyrgyz ambassador to the United States, Kadyr Toktogulov; from Washington, the former U.S ambassador to Kyrgyzstan and later Uzbekistan, Pamela Spratlen; also from Washington, the former U.S. ambassador to Kazakhstan and later Georgia, William Courtney; and from Prague, Bruce Pannier, the author of the Qishloq Ovozi blog.

    Listen to the podcast above or subscribe to the Majlis on iTunes or on Google Podcasts.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Majlis Podcast: Kazakhstan Has A New Parliament, Kyrgyzstan Has A New President. So What Comes Next?

    On January 10, voters in Kazakhstan went to the polls and elected a new parliament that looks very much like the old parliament.

    The same day, voters in Kyrgyzstan went to the polls and elected a new president and voted to change the system of government to a presidential form of rule.

    On this week’s Majlis podcast, RFE/RL’s Media-Relations Manager Muhammad Tahir moderates a discussion looking at what happened — and what might come next for both countries.

    This week’s guests are: speaking from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Gulnara Iskakova, a former Kyrgyz ambassador to the U.K. and Switzerland; from Washington, Paul Stronski, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment For International Peace and author of numerous reports about Central Asia; and Bruce Pannier, the author of RFE/RL’s Qishloq Ovozi blog.

    Listen to the podcast above or subscribe to the Majlis on iTunes or on Google Podcasts.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Majlis Podcast: Kazakhstan Has A New Parliament, Kyrgyzstan Has A New President. So What Comes Next?

    On January 10, voters in Kazakhstan went to the polls and elected a new parliament that looks very much like the old parliament.

    The same day, voters in Kyrgyzstan went to the polls and elected a new president and voted to change the system of government to a presidential form of rule.

    On this week’s Majlis podcast, RFE/RL’s Media-Relations Manager Muhammad Tahir moderates a discussion looking at what happened — and what might come next for both countries.

    This week’s guests are: speaking from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Gulnara Iskakova, a former Kyrgyz ambassador to the U.K. and Switzerland; from Washington, Paul Stronski, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment For International Peace and author of numerous reports about Central Asia; and Bruce Pannier, the author of RFE/RL’s Qishloq Ovozi blog.

    Listen to the podcast above or subscribe to the Majlis on iTunes or on Google Podcasts.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • OSCE Mission Head Cites Lack Of Public Discussion, ‘Strong Links’ In Kyrgyz Votes

    The head of the OSCE’s observer mission for the recent Kyrgyz elections has cited “a number of problems” resulting from Bishkek’s hurried choice to conduct a presidential election and a major referendum on the Central Asian state’s political system simultaneously.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.