Postcard from Bishkek

My brother, Tony, once took up photography as a hobby and I remember how he equipped the bathroom with plastic trays and bottles of chemicals so that he could develop and print his own films.  I was too young at the time to really appreciate all that was going on but I do remember the fascination that I felt when, in that strange orange-red glow of the special light bulb, we stood and watched as the pictures slowly formed on the surface of the paper as it lay submerged in the special developing solution.

That’s more or less how I felt at the end of last week as we witnessed events unfolding and a picture of what was going on began to emerge.

I finished the postcard last week with the sentence, “Once again, I could say more, but I think that will do for now …”.  It’s always difficult to judge what to put in and what to leave out.  Although, thanks to the internet and satellite TV, I have an idea of what is being reported in the rest of the world about the situation here in Kyrgyzstan, I don’t know what people have actually seen … and what I need to explain to help give a context to the myriad of events that are happening, their interpretation and their connotations.

That’s why these “postcards” are so long – sorry.

Well, one of the things I could have said last week was that the events I of the week looked very much like the first steps of an attempt to take over the country by “rent-a-mob” once more …

A couple of weeks ago I was in a meeting and heard someone from Europe make a comment about the Kyrgyz had “proved their democratic credentials once more” … I was astounded … and I said so!  As far as I can see, there is nothing democratic, (“Government of the people, by the people and for the people”, in the words of Abraham Lincoln), in “mob rule” … where a few thousand impose their will on the majority … and it could well be argued that this is what we saw in both March 2005 and April 2010 – even it if it could be said that these were examples of “direct democracy” where the “mob” was expressing the will of the people.  Unfortunately, the example has been set, the lesson learned, and so we have also seen several other, unsuccessful, attempts to replicate the experience.  This was just the latest.

According to the Interim Government, it was ordained, designed, financed and organized by the Bakiev camp, in an attempt to restore him to power.  I am not sure that Bakiev can ever return, indeed, after April 7th I heard of one comment from a Kyrgyz woman, that the death and disorder would be held against Bakiev and his clan for generations to come.  The Kyrgyz have long memories.  (A Kyrgyz is supposed to be able to recite his ancestry back for seven generations – I can now name my forebears for six generations … thanks to some relatives who have done some work tracing the family tree … but before I came here I could only really go back as far as my grandparents.)

(I once thought, however, that Akiev would never be able to return, but there is talk about him doing so.  Indeed, there are several “exiles” who have announced that they want to return to their motherland, and some have apparently expressed an interest in standing in the forthcoming elections.)

Anyway, the protestors not only took control of the administration buildings, for a time, but also seem to have attempted to get control of the airports in Osh and Djalal Abad.  One reason for this might have been to prevent the Interim government from flying in troops or whatever, but another might be that they were, themselves, expecting someone or something …

If they had succeeded in obtaining control of the Southern regions of Kyrgyzstan, that would have given impetus for the planned demonstrations in Bishkek on the following Monday, the 17th.  Either that, or they could call a meeting of the parliament and elect someone as Speaker who, according to the constitution – the old one that is … the one that is, technically, still in force – could assume the powers of the Presidency and could then dismiss and “deal” with the members of the Interim Government.

As it happens, the security forces acted effectively, efficiently and the Interim Government was able to “draw the sting” from these initial protests and so were better placed to face any upcoming confrontation.

There was little news over the weekend, itself.  The authorities had captured many of those involved in the mayhem in the South and were promising to bring the full weight of the law to bear upon them and anyone else found responsible for organizing the disturbances.

Monday began quietly, like any normal business day … although a sense of anxiety was in the air.  For example: The kids had received a phone call over the weekend telling them not to go to school on Monday … just in case, (many parents had already decided, anyway, to keep their kids at home … just in case);  We had taken the trouble to remove the computers and some important documents from the office, … just in case, and I had told the office staff that they didn’t have to come in unless something really urgent cropped up … just in case.  Something did, in fact, crop up – we had to spend time reorganizing a tour for some clients who had been planning to go through Osh and Djalal Abad … just in case.

However, despite the anxiety, life continued as normal.  There were workmen were busy repairing one the neighbouring shops which had suffered from last month’s riots, others were working on laying cables along Prospect Chui.  Some of the shops, those without steel shutters on the windows, had taken the precaution of emptying their shelves – one had plastered the word “Pusto” – Empty – on the windows … just in case.  There were more police than usual at the bank, but I was surprised at how clients there were … on April 7th, it had been really crowded.  Tatiana trotted off to the dentist.  Our workmen began work to finish off the decoration and work on the fence.  People went about their daily business, with, perhaps, slightly more concentration than they might normally, but the early morning had the atmosphere of just another busy day, the start of another busy week.

The crowds were supposed to gather at eleven o’clock, but by twelve there was no news so I decided to take a walk to try and see what was happening.  I know, I know … stupid!

The sun was shining but there were gusts of breeze to help keep cool.  There were quite a lot of people milling around … but not looking as if they were expecting trouble … some were well dressed … some had their kids with them.  Most, but not all, of the shops were open for business.  Several cafes were serving customers at their patio tables. The street side kiosks were operating, selling cigarettes, newspapers, ice cream, hamburgers, clothes and, my favourite, Maksim Shoro (but more of that another time).  The ‘Babushka’ had their wares of second hand and used goods for sale, (books, flower pots and assorted household goods), displayed.  There was even a Tajik beggar sitting at the roadside with her babe in arms.  In the main square, people sat around, posed for photographs in front of the fountains and the honour guard stood to attention under the massive (150 square meter) Kyrgyz Flag.  In short: No-one seemed to be expecting trouble.

It’s true that there were people with banners standing in the old square, overseen by the statue of Lenin which had been moved there in 2003, but I didn’t venture that far because I had a meeting to get back to in my office.   The press reports put the figure of protesters at about 1500, but it was a march in support of the Interim Government … not a protest in favour of Bakiev.

Reports came in from around the country to the effect that everything was calm and in order.

For once, I thought, it was true that: “No news is good news”.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that everything would now be sweet and rosy … there are a lot of questions still hanging in the air: The border question, ethnic disputes, the legitimacy of the interim Government … and so on. As it turns out, there was plenty of “news” soon enough.

It didn’t arrive on Tuesday, that was fairly quiet … once more, a case of “no news …” … and I began to feel a little bit more confident that things might well sort themselves out.  Wednesday morning, too, and I began to feel that, at last, I was beginning to make dent into the mountain of paper that has been gradually accumulating on my desk.  I even gave an interview to one of the local TV channels who were preparing an article on preparations for the Tourist Season, (assuming that any tourists are going to appear this year).

In the afternoon, however, a visit to the Bank brought me down to earth.

It was very quiet … I took my talon, giving my place in the queue, and the number was already displayed above one of the tellers, so I went up to her and told her what I needed.  Whilst I was waiting for her to deal with the transaction, the manager, who on a “walkabout”, wandered by and stopped to pass the time of day.  He asked how things were and all seemed normal.  Then he dropped into the conversation a comment about things “down south” … I thought he was talking about last week’s events, but it soon became clear there was something new …

On the Monday, when everything was “quiet”, there had been a meeting in Djalal Abad, and one of the leaders of the Uzbek community, the deputy (Member of Parliament) Kadyrjan Batyrov, had made a speech.  Many of the Kyrgyz felt that it had been “racist” and they also him and his supporters for setting fire to the homes of Bakiev and his family in the village of Teit.  So they began to gather.  The Uzbeks also began to gather.

The exchanges between the two groups were basically verbal, outside the hospital and then the Uzbek University … The “University of People’s Friendship”,  where it was thought Batyrov might be “hiding”, … but it then started to get serious.  The Acting Governor came to address them, but then left … stones were thrown and the security forces fired shots into the air.  Banks and shops closed their doors.  Injured started arriving at the hospital … and continued arriving as the afternoon and evening progressed, some with gunshot wounds, including a five year old girl.  Two people died.  Some of the Kyrgyz throng headed off for the Administrative building – apparently, with “spears” in hand.  Police reinforcements arrived from other parts of the country … and later troops and they strived to keep the two crowds – about 1500 Kyrgyz and at one time 4000 Uzbeks – apart.

Ethnic disputes between the different communities here in Kyrgyzstan have always been a potentially worrying issue.  Every since the days of the Great Silk Road, Kyrgyzstan has seen a wide variety of peoples passing through … some voluntary, others the result of forced migrations.  As a result, Kyrgyzstan is a melting pot of “nationalities” … in Soviet times it used to be said over eighty nationalities, but the census results suggest that far more are represented here.  Most of the time, the different communities live happily side by side … although each proudly hangs on to its own customs and traditions, cuisine and festivals, language and values.  The cultural diversity is one of the great attractions of the country – especially when it comes to cuisine.

From time to time, however, something sparks off a dispute.  Sometimes it seems to boil down to group envy, (such as when prosperous Dungan farmers were targeted by poor landless Kyrgyz peasants), sometimes to historical associations, sometimes to some specific incident, (such as, last year, when a little girl from one ethnic group was assaulted someone from another group … the whole of his community was stigmatized by the event).

Part of the problem lies in the fact that most ethnic groups live in communities – sort of informal ghettos.  Now, although this facilitates the preservation of national identity, it also means that each group lives in to a certain extent in isolation and differences between the different groups are more easily emphasized.

Perhaps the worst example of ethnic tension in living memory occurred in the dying days of the Soviet Union, in 1990, in a village on the outskirts of Osh.  Quarrels between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz over building land erupted into violence which led to many deaths – reports vary but early estimates of 116 were later revised to 300, and some unofficial figures put it as high as 1000 (48 people died in the first four days of rioting in Osh, itself).  The riots were sparked after local Kyrgyz had been granted building plots on an Uzbek dominated state-farm.  A crowd of Uzbeks attacked a police station and the situation deteriorated.  There was a wave of bloody revenge killings as inter ethnic rioting spread to other towns.  Troops were drafted in from Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan to restore order, the border with Uzbekistan was closed to prevent the unrest spreading and a curfew imposed in several cities – but the unrest lasted for several weeks and many residents fled to escape the violence: Uzbeks to Uzbekistan, Kyrgyz to the North.

There is no doubt in my mind that the Uzbeks would not allow a repeat, or similar, to occur.  Aware of the ethnic tension, the Uzbeks had already stepped up border security … bringing army reinforcements in armoured cars to patrol certain areas.  It might well be understandable, but if the Uzbeks were to intervene, to “protect their brothers” across the border in Kyrgyzstan, then the situation could become pretty difficult.

Several CIS countries, including Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, are keeping the current situation under review, and are already planning, if not actually assembling, “peace keeping forces” which could be quickly dispatched to Kyrgyzstan if needed and requested … one Russian newspaper refers to them as “blue helmets”.

There have been several attempts to allocate blame for the outbursts.  Apart from the suggestions that it is all down to some injudicious comments from Batyrov, official statements put the blame fairly and squarely on the Bakiev camp … they see it as a third wave of “attacks on the Kyrgyz people”, the first being in Bishkek on April 7th followed by the disturbances in Maevka, the second being the attempted “rebellion” in the South last week.  It might seem the easy option to use the Bakiev’s as a “scapegoat” to take the blame for any trouble that might befall the Interim Government or disturb the peace, but it is hard to tell.  There is speculation that “crime lords” are behind the events, attempting to destabilize the situation in order to take advantage of the ensuing chaos.  There have even, apparently, been reports that suggest that one of the leaders of the Interim Government, whipped up nationalistic fervor in the South.

That speculation has been further fuelled by unofficial release of more transcripts of telephone “wire taps” which, if genuine, would certainly give cause for concern on several different fronts.

Last week I reported that during the build up to the events in Djalal Abad on May 14th, the authorities released transcripts of some telephone conversations apparently held by Usen Sydykov, leader of the Jany Kyrgyzstan political party, with a number of different people, including: deputies from the parliament; the Acting Governor of the Djalal Abad oblast; Ishak Masaliev, (the leader of the Communist Party) and a number of unidentified individuals.

The conversations appeared to show how he was involved in the organization of “meetings and disorders” in Kyrgyzstan, with a plan to hold a meeting of the parliament, (as many members as could be mustered – it was stressed that it was important to try and obtain a proper quorum), that would appoint Masaliev as speaker.  According to the constitution, in the absence of the President, power is devolved to the Speakjer, so effectively, he could then claim to be the legitimate Acting President.  Although in public, there had been talk about the need to recall Parliament to legitimize the Interim Government, there were no details in the recordings about this … however, there were discussions on who would/could be appointed as governors of the Batken, Osh and Jalal-Abad oblasts … and taking as hostages, including Beknazarov, one of the members of the Interim Government, and two Acting Ministers.

The conversations were broadcast on national TV.  They were in Kyrgyz, but subtitles were provided in Russian.  Later they were released to news agencies and were published on the internet … in English as well.  The sound was a little indistinct, and although the voice sounded like that of Sydykov, there was sufficient room for doubt, at least legally, that the news agencies tended to use phrases like “with voice resembling that of Usen Sydykov”.  There was even talk about sending the tapes to Moscow for analysis as Kyrgyzstan doesn’t possess the technology that would allow it to determine the question definitively. Most people, however, seemed to accept that the recordings were, indeed, what they purported to be, and not a fabrication.

At first, members of the Interim Government were not available for comment, although a statement was promised in the near future.  Masaliev, however, did comment saying that he had indeed had a telephone conversation with Sydykov, it was a private conversation but he confirmed that they had talked about the situation at that time in Osh.

Both Sydykov and Masaliev were arrested, detained for questioning.

Now, in most circumstances, everywhere around the world, listening into and recording telephone conversations is illegal.  It’s an invasion of privacy.  At first there seemed to be little concern, however, that the authorities were apparently doing so … it seemed to be accepted.  After the first wave of revelations, however, the question did arise.  Usually law enforcement agencies can obtain permission to do so in cases where they consider it is important for some particular investigation.   That seems to have been the case here, and the General Procurator, (the public prosecutor’s office), issued a statement to say that the eavesdropping of certain individuals had been authorized, and so the wire taps were indeed legal.

That didn’t stop comment questioning whether the Interim Government were right to have published the transcripts, saying that it was “unethical”: “This is shaping the enemy image, which does not contribute to stability and feeling of safety of citizens, … ”

A week later saw yet further revelations.

Phone conversations involving members of the Interim Government were posted on the You Tube internet site which appeared to show members of the Interim Government in a discrediting light.

One was named “Beknazarov and Atambaev are bargaining posts”, a second file “Beknazarov and Sariev and million”.   They opened with text,. in Russian,  “Has the General Prosecutor’s Office sanctioned eavesdropping?”.  In the first the two participants are heard discussing the need to distribute USD1 million …  and adjusting  paper records accordingly.  In the second the two participants are heard apparently discussing the sale of posts. As well as photographs of the participants, there were subtitles, in Russian or Kyrgyz.

The press service of the Interim Government responded concerning the first, the conversation between Beknazarov and Sariev, saying that “the conversation was about the amount equivalent to US$1 million, which was requested by law enforcement agencies and allocated in accordance with the official decision of the Interim Government for the purpose of ensuring safety, law and order during political actions of destructive forces on May 12-14.”

It may well be that everything was above board and there was “nothing criminal” in it, as some people have commented, but others have pointed out that it does not show the individuals in a good light.  Ordinary people don’t like to reminded that their leaders and “heroes” are ordinary people.  I am reminded of the shock that many Americans felt when the Watergate tapes revealed the highest people in the land talking in everyday language uttering profanities and swear words … (“expletive deleted” became a common expletive in itself).

There was no response, however, about the second, the conversation between Beknazarov and Atambaev.

They also pointed out that the recordings were not authorized and were therefore illegal and the General Prosecutor’s Office was instructed to investigate who had made them.

There were three other postings which purported to be a conversation between Maxim and Janysh Bakiev.  Maxim Bakiev can be heard proposing  to organize an attack by 500 hired people who would seize the White House, declare themselves as an Interim Government and issue decrees … raising the question about why the sitting Interim Government is any more legitimate than them.

Someone then posted a note about the recordings on Twitter which gave a telephone number that belonged to an employee of the American Embassy and the embassy was forced to make a statement that they knew nothing about the postings.  Curioser and curioser.

The question of the legitimacy of the Interim Government has been, and continues to be, a very important issue.  The thought that we might have several months of uncertainty ahead of us has led to several suggestions to resolve the problem ….. one was to bring forward and hold special Presidential election, (the problem with this being that it would have to be in accordance with the existing constitution), another was that the Constitutional Referendum should also include a vote of confidence in the Interim Government.  In the end it was decided to appoint Roza Otunbaeva as Interim President with a limited term of office until the end of 2011, with the restriction that she could not stand for re-election. It may not be an ideal situation in many respects, but it does help to remove uncertainty.

There is, at last, some good news with regard to the border with Kazakhstan, which has finally opened after six weeks.  It was causing quite a problem both here and in Southern Kazakhstan.  For us it was a problem because we were unable to export any goods … in Kazakhstan it was a problem because they couldn’t import goods … effectively it amounted to an economic blockade, even if that wasn’t how it was intended.

The Kazakhs say the border had remained closed because they couldn’t be sure about the safety and security in their southern neighbour.  They were waiting for signs of stability and the appointment of Roza Otunbaeva as Interim President seems to have provided enough legitimacy for the regime for President Nazarbaev to listen to the numerous appeals to open the border, and so he gave the order.  Some of the Kazakh authorities, however, are still concerned about the situation here and the possibility of our exporting problems to them.

The Uzbek border remains closed for Kyrgyz citizens – and they have tightened up on security.  The Tajik and Chinese borders continue to operate normally.

One of my correspondents asked about food supplies here … but for us it hasn’t been a problem, in fact Kyrgyzstan usually sends a lot of produce over the border, North, to Kazakhstan and with that market closed that meant that producers had to find different outlets and we have had a surplus of early fruits and vegetables, at lower than usual prices which has been a boon.   Of course, the knock down prices mean that the farmers have received less for their produce, which could be a problem for them in the future.

We’ll have to wait and see what develops.  I suspect, however, that it will be a long time before the full picture is clear.

As an aside, in answer to the question about how I am: I am fine.  Well, almost.  On Thursday I went to an early morning meeting which was cancelled, and as I walked back to the office I tripped on the uneven pavement, stumbled and managed to pull a calf muscle.  I only had a hundred meters left to walk and I would have been back in the office … walking those hundred meters was slow and painful.  A sign of old age creeping up on me!

Tags: Expat, Interesting_Times, Kyrgyzstan, Life_in_Kyrgyzstan, Weekly_Postcards