Postcard from Bishkek

When I was a student, one of my friends introduced me to the Peanuts cartoons of Charles M. Schulz.

The comic strip is probably the most popular and influential in history, with 17,897 strips, TV shows, Theatrical productions, theme parks and so on … making it “arguably the longest story ever told by one human being”. At its peak, Peanuts ran in over 2,600 newspapers in 75 countries, (being translated into 21 languages), reaching a total readership of 355 million people.

The main character, Charlie Brown, is meek, nervous and lacks self-confidence; he is unable to fly a kite, win a baseball game or kick a football. His pet dog, Snoopy, began as a fairly conventional dog, but eventually evolved into perhaps the strip’s most dynamic character, and among the most recognizable comic characters in the world, adopting a variety of personalities.

One of Snoopy’s most famous alter-egos is as a World War I Flying Ace , often seen battling his archenemy, Manfred von Richthofen, (the Red Baron).  This provides one of the iconic images of Snoopy, (wearing goggles, a flying helmet and a scarf, and sitting on top of his doghouse, which doubles as his “Sopwith Camel”).  Like the other adult characters in the comic strip, The Red Baron never actually appears but his presence was indicated through the bullet holes that would riddle the doghouse, and Snoopy’s fist-shaking and cries of “Curse you, Red Baron!” while his “Sopwith Camel” doghouse plummets earthward trailing smoke.

Apparently, allied records are vague on these encounters and the official stance of the United States Department of Defense is that they can neither confirm nor deny Snoopy’s wartime service.  Why am I not surprised?

For the record: Richthofen is considered to have been the top air ace of the First World War … shooting down 80 allied planes, (or more, his first kill was not credited because if fell behind allied lines and could not be confirmed).

He was also known as the Red Battle Flyer, the Red Fighter Pilot, Red Devil, Little Red and the Red Knight, but the nickname that seems to have stuck was the Red Baron.  The appellation  was earned because

• he had his Fokker Dr.I 425/17, triplane aircraft painted red, and
• born into an aristocratic family, he was entitled to use the title Freiherr, (Free Lord), which although it is not an official title or rank, is often translated as the equivalent of Baron in the English peerage hierarchy.

On 20st April, 1918 he took off on what was to be his final sortie, claiming his 79th and 80th confirmed “kills”, but was mortally wounded while flying over Morlancourt Ridge, near the Somme.  He was pursuing one Sopwith Camel in a dogfight, only to have another dive at him and at the same time having troops on the ground fire at him.   He took a single bullet which entered his body near his armpit and exited through his chest, and although seriously wounded he managed to land the plane.  Allied troops flocked to the scene and reported that he was alive when they arrived, but died soon afterwards.  His plane was not seriously damaged was soon taken apart by souvenir hunters.

According to eyewitnesses, his final words were simply: “kaputt“.

We might be forgiven for thinking that the gold mining industry is “kaputt” given the current state of the controversy over Kumtor.  Over the last few weeks I have written quite a bit about the ongoing developing controversy but one ecological activist is now demanding that the company has to compensate for environmental damage caused by the mine over the last seventeen years.

The future of the company’s agreement with the government was ostensibly the subject of the rally, (one of several that have been held throughout the country), when three of the deputies climbed over the fence surrounding the White House which houses the parliament … and led to their trial,  subsequent conviction and imprisonment for trying to stage a coup.  Now, one of the leaders of the 2010 revolution has joined their ranks in that he has called for the 2009 agreement, called on the government to renounce it saying that if they don’t then his party will call another rally in the middle of next week – promising to gather 10000 protesters – and even threatening another “revolution”.

The proposed tender for the license to mine the second biggest gold deposit in the country has been announced – but there’s a USD400 million arbitration claim against it which detracts somewhat from it’s attractiveness.  This weeks dramatic fall in the price of gold hasn’t helped … and on top of all that, we have now learned that the Kyrgyz government’s shares in Centerra, the parent company, have fallen by almost three quarters of a billion in the course of the last year.

Mind you … it is not all “bad news”;  it was announced that the refineries that are being constructed are planned to come on stream later in the year – there’s been no suggestion of corruption in these cases – at last, so far, – which means I haven’t seen any.  Also, it was announced that Gazprom are preparing for the next stage of exploring the oil and gas fields in southern Kyrgyzstan.  As I understand it, there is no guarantee that the exploration will yield positive results – considerable seismic tests still have to be completed – but hopes are running high.

 

As if to emphasize the possible role of corruption, it was “kaputt” for the ex-Minister of Natural Resources, who has been arrested for abuse of power in issuing licenses for some other companies – for coal mines as I understand it -

He is not the only ex-minister to be in the news.  Another has resigned “temporarily” whilst another corruption allegation is investigated and another Deputy Minister has been dismissed.

On that point … last week I referred to the dismissal of the Deputy Minister for Social Protection.  Although it later emerged that the situation was far more complicated, with claim and counter claim emerging from both sides, the original announcement suggested that the reason for his dismissal was to do with maintaining a gender balance within the Ministry.   Well, gender balance is back in the news with one person saying that the post of State Secretary in each Ministry should be held by women and a deputy proposing a quota for the number of women deputies elected to Parliament and local authorities – to ensure equal representation.  According to the constitution, he says, women are guaranteed equal rights but this is not normally evident – with a vast majority of the deputies being male.  I am not sure if anyone has pointed out that the constitution also prohibits discrimination on the grounds of gender – and I presume that includes positive discrimination … which suggests that we are likely to see a quite heated debate on the subject.

If the ex-minister is being arrested for “abuse of power” as an example of the fight against corruption, then he has a lot of company … it was reported during the week that last year saw some 1180 investigations into allegations of corruption involving losses to the state totaling 1.3 billion soms, (that’s about two and three quarter million dollars).  Apparently some 10% has actually been recovered.

The energy sector is often cited as a major repository for corrupt practices – including straight forward theft.  Apparently electricity worth something like 400 million som is “stolen” by consumers every year, for example by diverting wiring to by pass their meters.  That’s about eight and a half million dollars – just ten percent of the USD85 million dollars that the Minister for the Economy claims is lost from the energy sector annually.

Corrupt practices surrounding the construction of the Kambar Ata hydroelectric is claimed to have caused losses of 110 million som, (about two and a third million dollars).  As it happens, some of those losses apparently occurred some time ago, (the project dates well back into the soviet period), so haven’t been pursued.

Following last week’s incident when shots were fired “into the air” as members of the security services  tried to tackle some policemen apparently extracting a bribe, the situation got more heated when officers went to a police station to conduct a search and got set upon.  There’s now a commission to investigate the circumstances surrounding what is being called “the cop war”.

Those weren’t the only shots in the news this week.  Apparently someone took a pot shot at a car from the Afghan embassy.  It turns out that it wasn’t a terrorist incident – but rather arose out of a “road rage” type of incident.  It seems that a driver from the embassy was driving the daughter of an embassy official was involved in an incident and attempted to drive off.  According to reports the shots were fired in an attempt to make him stop, but he claims that he was afraid that the people in the other vehicle were violent and he was confused for the girl in his charge.  Fortunately was not hurt.

Meanwhile, down South, some members of the Hizb ut Tahir movement have been detained.

And, on the theme of terrorism … I suppose I can’t let the moment pass … As you probably know already, the Boston Marathon on Monday came to an abrupt end when two bombs exploded near finishing line.  In the carnage three people died more or less straight away hundreds were treated for injuries – some of them horrific and, according to doctors, resembling battle injuries from a war zone.  Several had limbs amputated.  Shortly after the incident it was reported by the Kyrgyz embassy in Washington that there was no-one from Kyrgyzstan amongst the casualties.

Security cameras had picked up images of two people who were identified as suspects and news was breaking yesterday that they were brothers Tamerlan , 26, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19 – who had arrived in the states over two years ago – possibly as long as a decade ago.  Some early reports suggested that they had connections with Chechnya whilst others say the two may have arrived in the US from Turkey and have Turkish citizenship … but there is also mention that the Tsarnaev family moved to Dagestan from Kyrgyzstan.  The older brother was apparently killed during a shoot out with police and the younger brother was still at large but literally as I am typing this it has been reported that he has been apprehended in the Watertown suburb of Boston.

The news was breaking late last night and although there were brief reports by local news agencies, there was no little or no detail that wasn’t lifted from global agencies – although just before midnight the State National Security Committee confirmed the brothers used to live in Kyrgyzstan: “The Tsarnaevs lived in Tokmok and moved to Dagestan 12 years ago, from where they migrated to the United States,”   going on to say it is inappropriate to link the Tsarnaevs with Kyrgyzstan as the suspects left the country 8 and 5 years of age.

According to a report on the BBC the family to Central Asia from Chechnya in the early 1990′s – to escape from the conflict there – and it seems that the younger brother may have been born here, but as the National Security Committee says … they left Kyrgyzstan whilst still children.  They certainly don’t seem to have identified with Kyrgyzstan: the older brother seems to have said that he would have liked to box for America … if he could not do so for Chechnya.

Another deputy has been highlighting some of the connections between members of the police force and drug barons – either offering protection of actively involved in the trade.  He’s not alone … if you remember both the President and the Prime Minister have made similar comments in the past.

So, if we are going to say “kaputt” to corruption, it is being argued, we need a single anti corruption agency to organize and coordinate the battle.

 

Another fight that is ongoing is against “poverty” and although it is not, yet, a case of calling it “kaputt”, progress seems to being made.  According to statistics from the World Bank, the poverty level, (percentage of the population living below the “poverty line”), declined by a third from 2004 until 2009 – from 46% to 32% … but since then there has been a reversal as a result of the economic crisis, political instability and civil conflict.   Perhaps more interesting is the discrepancy between urban (especially here in the capital) and rural communities … in Bishkek the figure was 18% whereas in rural communities it was 40%.

Unemployment rates are only “slightly higher” in rural areas than in urban areas … partly because, it is argued, that many people in the rural community are classified as “self employed” – covering “informal” and low paying jobs in the agricultural sector.    Only 51% of the people in rural districts have full time jobs – compared to 96% in the capital … but, frankly, those two figures surprise me.

Another rate that has fallen is the crime rate – the number of registered crimes last year was down by 5.4% on the previous year – and that was almost uniform across the country … there was an increase of offences in the South.   Only 14% of the offences were classified as “serious” or “very serious” and the number of murders and “murderous assaults” fell by a fifth.  It probably won’t come as a surprise that the majority of offences occur here in the capital – just under 40% of the total.  Naryn recorded the lowest level of reported crimes.

Naryn holds another record … but not such a positive one … it has the highest shortage of medical workers in the country.  It seems that there is quite a marked shortage of medical workers in the country – especially in the regions as most of the graduates want to work in the cities; “young specialists are not interested in work in rural areas” said a representative of the Medical Academy.  The government are being urged to establish a program of additional stimulation for doctors working in remote regions, small towns and rural areas.

The education ministry wants to stimulate students by increasing their stipends – from 276 som a month (about USD6) to 800 … postgraduates would get 1500 and interns 1200.    Although almost quadrupling the figure sounds impressive – and there’s obviously a question of where the money is going to come from … I am not sure that it will be sufficient to be successful in its intended purpose.   The Ministry also suggested raising the scholarship for students in the country’s vocational schools.  That sounds good, but I am confused … the kids say that they have been told that they may have to pay to stay at school next year.

 

The National Bank seems to think that there will be ATM (Automatic Teller Machine – or cash dispenser) in most population centers in the country by 2017.  At the moment there are apparently 642 cash machines and 2453 terminals across the country – most of them in Bishkek, but the network will be extended to Osh this year and in the district centers and biggest rural centers by the end of 2015.

 

One of the ways of raising additional funds is raising taxes … and one of the deputies has proposed raising excise duties on alcohol – Vodka, for example, is very cheap ranging from 60 som to 200 som – and the excise tax is 40 som.  As it happens alcohol has been in the news quite a bit this week.   One report concerned a planned campaign to reduce the use of tobacco and alcohol  between now and 2020.  However, despite the fact that vodka is cheap … it seems that it is no longer the tipple of choice.   It seems that people in Kyrgyzstan are drinking less vodka and wine … and switching to Beer.  Beer sales not only outstripped those of vodka, they rose by 8% last year on the previous year whereas Vodka sales dropped by 4%.  I was a little surprised to see that wine sales came in third place – higher than those of cognac, and champagne – which, apparently, doesn’t count as a wine.

What was really surprising was the news that Kyrgyzstan ranked amongst the top 10 “non-drinking” countries in Europe and Central Asia … 41st place out of 48 countries in the ranking of alcohol consumption with an average figure of 5 liters per person a year.  Up at the top of the list was Moldova … with 21 liters … and at the bottom, Tajikistan with 0.5 liters a year.

 

It seems that it is almost kaputt fro the Manas Transit Base … One of Kyrgyzstan’s political party leaders made a bit of a stir by reminding everyone that if the President is serious about evicting the American military from the base in 2014, and he certainly seems to be … then time is running out – perhaps faster than most people think.  Under the international agreement between the two governments, if either side wants to terminate the agreements then they have to give other side notice … and he says that the crucial date for that is July 3rd – the day before America’s Independence Day.

 

It also looks as it it is kaputt for a newly endangered species here in Kyrgyzstan … right hand drive vehicles – well right hand drive passenger vehicles, taxis, buses, etc.  Here, as in most of the countries in the world, vehicles a driven on the right hand side of the road, so most vehicles are left-hand drive – that is, the steering wheel is located on the left hand side of the vehicle.  There are some countries in the world, however, where the rule of the road is “Keep Left” – Britain, of course, being one of them.  Some of the others have an historical connection with Britain, Australia and New Zealand, India and Pakistan, for example … but there is also Thailand and Japan.  As it happens, Japanese vehicles are very popular here and there are quite a large number of Japanese right-hand drive vehicles on Kyrgyzstan’s roads.  Not only are the efficient and reliable, they are often cheaper than the more traditional left-hand drive relatives.

There are many people who are concerned about the number of right-hand vehicles and who think that they are unsafe.  If one is involved in an accident, even if the fault lies with the other vehicle, the right-hand drive vehicle is usually blamed.  Over the years there have been several attempts to ban them but, so far, they have been overturned.  The latest attempt, however, is a draft law which would ban their use for carrying passengers – paying passengers I believe … taxis and buses, that is, at least that’s always the way it seems to be presented – has now received it’s third reading in the parliament and is being sent to the President for signature.

 

Another “institution” for which it may well be “kaputt” is the betting shop … Casinos have already been banned in Kyrgyzstan and the President has gone on record as being opposed to bookmaking activities … now the parliament seems to be lining up to support a ban.

 

As it happens, the President has said that he is not going to stand for a second term: “I won’t run for the second term. I will leave,” he said.

 

Amongst the strangest stories of the week were:

In a debate in the Russian Duma about the write off of some of Kyrgyzstan’s debts to the Russian Federation, Vladimir Zhirinovsky – the somewhat controversial nationalist politician who leads the “Liberal  Democrat” party – said that that the debt should not be “forgiven” and proposed that, instead, Russia demand Issyk Kul Lake in payment of them.  In his speech he actually said some very nice things about Kyrgyzstan, Issyk Kul, the wildlife, fruits etc … of, yes, he also mentioned gold, uranium, and water resources.

Then there was the strange case of the Sakura tree saplings which the President was presented with on his recent visit to Japan.  Last week he planted them in a ceremony in one of Bishkek’s parks.  Just a couple of days later there were photographs showing how they had already burst into bloom … President Atambaev is obviously endowed with “green fingers”.  This wasn’t quite so obvious a couple of days later, however, as the saplings had been stolen.

 

On a more personal note … well, about the cats.  Visitors to the office are often surprised to see the cats …To be fair, not everyone is delighted to see them – some people are allergic to cats and I obviously pick them up and take them away.  Most people, however, are intrigued and they, the cats that is, become a discussion point – some of them, the cats that is, have been photographed and appeared on both Twitter and Facebook.  I am often asked how many I have.  The number varies from time to time.  We manage to find homes for some, and some just wander off – at least one has been stolen, (the culprits were seen picking the cat up and getting into a taxi).  The number usually increases when a stray arrives … in a couple of cases they just walked in and made themselves at home … in other cases someone has brought one (or two) and asked me to look after them … but some have simply been abandoned.  The fewest I have ever had, (assuming we don’t count zero), is one – and the most was eleven – which included two separate litters of kittens.

Well, we recently acquired a new stray and she was fell ill so we took her off to the vet.  Whilst sitting in the waiting room, you know how it is, Lisa got chatting and swapping notes with the owner of another kitten.  Admiring each other’s animal the inevitable question, “what’s he called?”.  Lisa was somewhat taken aback by the answer she received – “Oh he hasn’t got a name … we just give them numbers – he’s number 12.”

Well, that’s one more than our particular record … but I couldn’t help wondering what Number 6, (Patrick McGoohan The Prisoner), would have to say about that.

Knowing Snoopy’s love-hate relationship with “the cat next door” I can imaging what he would say … but I doubt if it would have been Kaputt.

 

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Postcard from Bishkek: the weekly postcard that I send out as an email also gets posted on the website ianbek.kg each week – and there are other postcards which don’t get sent out.  This week, for example, there has been the following postcards:

• Shopping - Some people love it – others hate it, but shopping in Kyrgyzstan can be quite a varied experience – 14/04/13
• Accommodating figures - A “figure of the day” seemed to reveal some interesting statistics about the hotel industry in Bishkek – but how useful were they … really? – 15/04/13
• All that glistens … - it may well be true that “there’s gold in them there hills” – but the industry in Kyrgyzstan is going through difficult times – 16/04/13
• The Besh Aral State Reserve - one of Kyrgyzstan’s National Parks – 17/04/13
• Disappearing Glaciers - There are a lot of glaciers in Kyrgyzstan’s mountains – but less than when I first came here nearly 18 years ago … why’s that? – 18/04/13
• Kurmanbek Baatyr - one of the Kyrgyz “minor” epics – 19/04/13

It is possible to follow me on Facebook, (where I have specific pages for Celestial Mountains and ianbek … and also links.kg, Kyrgyz Diary and Kyrgyzstan Visitki), and also on twitter, (@Bishkekpostcard and @celestialMTC ).

 

 

 

Tags: Expat, Life_in_Kyrgyzstan, Weekly_Postcards