Postcard from Bishkek

Today, back home, it’s a very big day in the world of sport … the FA Cup final.

To be honest, football  oh, sorry, Soccer for the Americans - is not really my game … I was already well into my teens when I got introduced to Rugby Union. but I have to admit that there is something appealing about the “big occasion”. 

When it came to PE lessons at school, I was always one of the last to be chosen to make up a team … and I never got to play in one of the “glory roles”, Center Forward, on the Wing or Midfield … I was always hidden in Defense … along with the other hopeless cases.   It’s probably a bit of an exaggeration, but I remember one occasion bursting into a fit of apoplexy as the opposing team managed to get possession of the ball at the far end of the pitch and came racing up towards us.

There were years when I settled down in front of the TV set and watched the event unroll … from lunchtime until evening – but I won’t be able to watch Arsenal and Hull battle it out this year.  If Arsenal win the trophy, they will equal Manchester United’s record of 11 wins, but it will be Hull’s first appearance in the final.

It’s one of the great things about the the competition … it brings together the minnows from the lower Divisions of the Football League – and even some who aren’t in the league – with the household names of the Premier League … even if they rarely ever do actually meet on the pitch.

Steeple Sinderby is the only one of those minnows ever to progress through the various rounds to the final, (as told by JL Carr in How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won the F.A. Cup), … what a pity it was just a fantasy comedy.

Although Carr drew from his own personal experience of playing for a small village side that went on to win a tournament … he could just as easily have based it on the true story of the West Aukland Football Club; an amateur team from a small mining community in County Durham in the North of England.  They actually went one better back in 1909, winning the Sir Tomas Lipton Trophy – sometimes referred to as the First World Cup), beating the some of the most prestigious European clubs from Italy, Germany and Switzerland in the process … and again in 1911 when they beat the mighty Juventus in the final: 6-1.  (You can see a BBC report here.)    

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I don’t think I’ll have much chance to watch this year’s game … although some of the cable channels do carry big games … and I am sure that one or two of the bars will be showing it.

There’s lots of other things to keep an eye on during the week … most of the stories are long running … such as border incidents with Tajikistan.  The investigations into the most recent incidents are underway and we are assured that those responsible are close to being identified.  Some of those who were injured are still in hospital and there was a protest with some of the residents of the Batken oblast trying to break into the building of the regional authority, but the police had it ringed and it all settled down.  There are signs of progress, however, in that the two sides are talking and the Tajik Prime Ministers seems confident that some settlement agreement is on the cards.  One of the big issues is land – the Tajiks, for example, are looking to gain access to some Kyrgyz pastures.  The two sides are apparently even mulling over the possibility of a land swap … to resolve the issues of the enclaves with movement of families from one plot to another.

Then there is the question of Kyrgyzstan’s admission to the Custom’s Union.  The road map has been agreed with the existing members and presented to the government who considered it behind closed doors … I wonder why they thought that was necessary, especially as the government won’t be taking the vital decision, although they have approved the basic outline … and, finally, published the document, sending it to the Parliament for consideration by the relevant committees.     Although it seems fairly clear that in the end the pro-Union lobby is likely to win the debate – not necessarily  by convincing everyone that it’s a good deal … but by pointing to the “disaster” that awaits if we don’t …  it’s by no means a forgone conclusion … The traders at the massive Dordoi market, for example, claim that trade is already basically idle because Kazakhstan, in particular, has tightened customs control.  ”If we don’t join the Customs Union”, their representatives said, “there will be no trade at all”.  As we import most of our petroleum products from Kazakhstan and Russia – if we don’t join the union we’ll face massive hikes in prices.  On the other hand … joining will also have costs associated with it … for example the budget will lose something like sixty million dollars … but on balance it seems that there may be more benefit than problems.  

Bearing in mind the previous debates over whether Kyrgyzstan should join the Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, (HIPC), operated by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the crucial issue may well be the question of sovereignty.  On that occasion, all the economic voices said “join” and gain the advantages … but the volume of the protests about the loss of sovereignty carried the day and the initiative was dropped.  The Minister for the Economy has gone on to the offensive on this topic in order to try and convince people that accession to the union with only affect customs duties and tariffs and will not amount to a loss of sovereignty.  We’ll have to see if his intervention manages to win the argument.      

It might be difficult to win the argument … as that implies that the complex issues can be stated in ways that people can understand … but the Prime Minister has been complaining that the attempt to draft a programme for the new government is failing … because the officials cannot write in a simple language that is accessible to the people … everything that has been written in the last month is written in a form of bureaucratese.

 The question of sovereignty has long been a critical issue.  The Kyrgyz are a very proud people and national pride (and the need to sponsor it) has frequently been in the news … from requiring people to remove their hats, and put their hands on their hearts whenever the National Anthem is played … or when it comes to discussions about civic duties and conscription … even extending to the question of promoting the State Language.

Talking about language … the issue of University Entrance examinations has reemerged as a hot topic.  Last year there were controversial moves to abandon the Uzbek version of the exam … keeping just the Russian and Kyrgyz versions.  The measure was defeated last year, but it’s gone ahead this year.

Although National Identity is important here, there was a  rally against Nationalism organized one of the international Students organizations, AIESEC, which involved an interesting collection of activities … including another “flashmob” announced well in advance – which sort of defeats the object of a flashmob.

Another long running issue is the question of international adoption … after the moratorium introduced under the Bakiev regime, it was hoped that  important issue could be resolved quickly so that 167 children currently in the system awaiting adoption might eventually be placed with families.  The bureaucracy, however, moves slowly and of the seventeen organizations that have applied to be allowed to work in this field, only seven have been accredited, another four are in the process of being reviewed and six had their applications rejected.

Still on the international stage, Syria has been in the news … with the revelation from the security services that something like 70 Kyrgyz citizens were involved in the fighting there … having been recruited by “extremists” and nurtured through social networking sites … six of them dying in the hostilities and and two being repatriated.  According to the reported accounts … the young girls, (aged between 16 and 20) were smuggled across the border from Turkey, trained as suicide bombers, being taught to fire machine guns and explode grenades, prepare video messages for relatives, and some of them suffering considerable abuse.

If we thought that the Americans were going to disappear after the closure of the Manas Transit Center … there was a little surprise in the news that they were organizing military exercises in Kyrgyzstan

The long running fight with corruption continues with several police officers being arrested – some for extortion, other for accepting bribes.

Amongst the surprising news was the amount of tax debts owed to the state – over one and a half billion som … with almost a third of that being designated as bad debts.  As it happens, there’s also been a shortfall in the budget during the first quarter of the year … by … another one and a half billion som.

Now, maybe it’s because I am a Brit but paying our tax bill is one of our top priorities – if only in order to avoid fines and other penalties that would follow if we make a late payment.

In addition,  I see that in the UK there is a debate about the Inland Revenue being given powers to raid bank accounts, without a court order.  As it happens, the tax authorities here already have that power …  although to be honest I don’t know of any cases where it has been used.

Another issue that brings back memories is a proposal from the Bishkek Commissioner of Police to prohibit the sale of alcohol between the hours of 10:00pm and 09:00am.  He cites the rising trend of incidents and criminal cases involving alcohol … To be honest, although I can see the reasons, I can’t see how that is going to work … it could be a death blow to the whole night club industry … and drive “partying” underground with all sorts of schemes being invented to disguise the fact that people are buying alcohol just as they were in the US under Prohibition.

At last the FA Cup Final should be over before Last Orders got called … but the World Cup matches in Brazil, starting next month, would certainly be caught if the proposal is adopted.  

 

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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:

• “It’s a disaster !!!” - When things go wrong on a tour … be prepared – 11/05/14
• Vasily Radlov - The scholar who brought us much or our knowledge of the ancient Turkic peoples – including the Kyrgyz – 12/05/14
• Bahadyr Kochkarov - The Kyrgyz World Cup Football Referee – 13/05/14
• Kaulbars - The General who “founded” Karakol – 14/05/14
• Leading the World - For what is Kyrgyzstan in First Place in the world – 15/05/14
• Azamat Sydykov – Concert Pianist - to mark a groundbreaking concert in New York’s Carnegie Hall, a brief look at the talented Kyrgyz Pianis Azamat Sydykov – 16/05/14

It is possible to follow me on Facebook, (where we also have specific pages for Celestial Mountains, the Silk Road Lodge, The Celestial Mountains Guesthouse in Naryn  and also links.kg, Kyrgyz Diary and Kyrgyzstan Visitki … and not forgetting ianbek), and also on twitter, (@Bishkekpostcard and @celestialM

 

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