Postcard from Bishkek

Some people ask me how I find the time to write these weekly postcards, and others ask where I get my inspiration.  The answer to both questions is quite simple and, I suppose, go back to my days and training as a teacher.

It is a matter of habit, instilled in me over seventeen years in the classroom, to spend some time reviewing the events that had taken place during the day before it came to a close.  Lesson reports had to be written up, not that anyone apart from me was ever likely to look at them, and it was useful to briefly mull over some of the incidents that had occurred and consider what had gone well, and what could have gone better … if only spotted the warning signs beforehand … if only I had done this or that … instead of handling the situation as I had …

There is, of course a temptation to dwell on the former and glass over the latter but, in fact, even if it is more difficult and potentially more stressful, it was more useful to spend time analyzing those difficult moments so that if anything similar cropped up in the future, I would be better prepared to handle it.  As a result, I often found that taking a second look at a situation after the emotions and stresses in the heat of the moment I saw them afresh and evaluated them differently.

I have to admit that the results of my deliberations weren’t always written down.

Of course, it wasn’t all done from memory, I usually had some notes which had been written on little scraps of paper, (sometimes comprising of just one or two words, or a name, or something in note form that must have looked like some strange hieroglyphics or ancient runes), which helped to jog the memory … or not, as the case may be.  (I would sometimes ask myself questions like: “Why on earth did I write that?” or “What does that mean?” especially if I happened to come across those notes after some period of time had elapsed.)

I still go through the process every day, but these postcards give me the chance to review the week’s events as a whole, to ponder on the trivia that turned out to be an important moment or the significant event which turned out to be nothing more than a passing whim of history.  To put things into a wider context and ask myself questions like “How did I miss that early warning sign on Monday?” or “Why did I think was important on Tuesday?” or “Who would have thought that this was going to be so important?”

Take the “little” news item, for example, that “United Russia”, (the party of Medvedev and Putin), might consider the removal of Lenin’s body from its mausoleum in Red Square.  Who would have thought it possible?  What does this tell us? and what does it signify?  At face value it looks like a small, insignificant story, but if the proposal doesn’t signify some shift in attitudes and policy in Moscow, then what does it mean?  And, of special interest to us, how will this shift affect the relationships of the largest country in the world with other countries … like Kyrgyzstan?

Russia is often quoted as Kyrgyzstan’s greatest ally and trading partner, (although there are those who say that the latter role is taken by China), so changes in Russia’s attitudes and policies do have an impact here.  Indeed, the general impression is that such a sea change helped to foster the revolution back in April.

Many ethnic Russians have already emigrated back to the motherland, some 2,400 last year, and there signs that more still want to do so.  There are also a lot of Kyrgyz citizens, (ethnic Kyrgyz, that is), there also … as migrant workers.  According to an official spokesman, such migrant workers represent something like 90% of the people leaving the country. Their remittances back to relatives in Kyrgyzstan have been an important source of foreign exchange for some time, and this week more figures were released revealing just how important.

Who would have thought, therefore, that a number of seemingly unimportant stories would break during the week which reflected the strange interrelationship between the peoples of these two countries?

Apart from the on-going stories of racist attacks directed against migrant workers from Central Asia, there are stories circulating about problems they face when registering for school places, health care and other services.  It’s claimed that some of the authorities are refusing the registrations if the applicant has Kyrgyz names with the traditional “uluu”, (“son of”) and “Kyzy”, (daughter of”) instead of a Russian form of patronymic. I find that hard to understand, but it said that more than a thousand people in Bishkek alone are so concerned about it that they have changed the names in their passports in order to avoid potential problems.  That, in a country where there is a resurgence in interest and pride in the traditional nomadic culture, language and national identity of the Kyrgyz people.

Then, there was an analysis of a new history textbook for use in schools and, in particular, how it treated the Russian involvement and influence in what is now Kyrgyzstan.  Scathing comments about Russia’s colonial heritage in the far flung corner of its vast empire, and what looks like a “slanted” view of the Urkun events of 1916 when something like 300,000 Kyrgyz died in an uprising sparked of by a Royal decree, to something approaching “grudging” acknowledgment of social advances that were made under the Soviets.  There may well be some justice in this view of history, but as the author pointed out, it is “a very unflattering assessment” and it is from such an account that today’s youth with form an opinion of Kyrgyzstan’s “main strategic partner.”

Then again, there are reports that the government, on the one hand eager for assistance from Russia, are, on the other, seeking to squeeze more in terms of payments for the military bases that Russia has in Kyrgyzstan.  Apparently there are five Russian military facilities in the country, some of which are hangovers from the Soviet period.  As well as the airbase in Kant, near Bishkek, established after the American were permitted to establish theirs at Manas airport, there is a torpedo development enterprise on Lake Issyk-Kul, and two seismic facilities in the Issyk-Kul and Jalalabad regions which are used for monitoring nuclear tests in the world.

Take another seemingly insignificant news story, about the residents of a Kyrgyz village writing a letter to the President of the United States to ask for his assistance in solving the problems of their relationships with their larger neighbour, Uzbekistan.  Who would have thought it possible a few years ago that the citizens of one of the republics of the former Soviet Union would appeal to an American President for help what in looks like purely domestic, local, issues, (settling land disputes and funding for a hospital and a school), half way around the world from Washington? … and why would he apparently agree to do so?   The village comprises an enclave surrounded on all sides by Uzbek territory and its inhabitants face difficulties almost every day because they now have to cross an international border if they leave home.  So why call on the American President?  Because they share a common name: the village is called Barak and the President is Barack Obama.   (OK, the spelling is slightly different, but that’s just a question of transliteration from one alphabet to another.  After all, the words come from different languages.  In Kyrgyz, the village name means “leaf”, and the President’s first name comes from Swahili and apparently means “blessed”.)  But, could this turn out to be an important story?  After all, what does it say about Kyrgyzstan?  At least one Kyrgyz politician is not impressed, saying: “Kyrgyzstan should be ashamed that its citizens appeal to the presidents of other countries for help.”

Everyone seems to agree, however, that Kyrgyzstan does need help.  Indeed, the Finance Ministry announced during the week that last year the country received a hundred and three million dollars from international donors, including $30 million of aid from Russia, $33 million from the International Monetary Fund , almost another $30 million from the World Bank, $10 million from Turkey for $10 and one million from China.  They should have received another $70 million from the Asian Development Bank, (ADB), but that was put on hold whilst some “internal matters” are sorted out.  I’m not sure about the figures, they seem light to me and don’t seem to include a number of countries and organizations that I would have expected to see in such a list.

Some of the funding from the donor community isn’t funneled through government channels but is given to a wide variety of NGO’s, (Non-Government Organizations).  There was quite a stir during the week when one parliamentarian made a speech branding them as “grant eaters and spies”.  Who would have thought that a politician would make such a charge?  Of course, such an accusation was defiantly, hotly and indignantly denied, but the fact that he felt able to make such an allegation suggests that there may well be some antipathy towards such organizations.  Could this be a warning sign of yet be more to come? and what might that signify?

However, not everyone seems to be in agreement.  The Toroga, (the Speaker in Parliament), met with members of Civil Society, (those same NGOs and a variety of activists), to discuss how the two sides could cooperate in discussing proposed legislation and developing measures to help improve the standards of living of the general population.  The even agreed to establish a monthly forum to continue the dialogue.

He wasn’t so well received by the press, however, who basically told their elected leaders in another meeting: “Don’t tell us how to do our job”.  (Those are my words. I paraphrased the report, which said” Media representatives have asked (the) Speaker … not to tell them how they should work …”).  In reply to appeals from politicians for the Media not to “vilify (the) work of the Parliament (but)  to write good things about its efforts while talking about the complex events that happened in Kyrgyzstan,” they “asked the Parliament to work well instead so that media reports about the Parliament are nice.”  Who would have thought, just a short while ago, that such an exchange take place?  Anyway, the result of such a frank and open discussion was the decision to establish a working group including MPs, representatives of NGO’s and the media to revise the laws related to the Mass Media.

The media are certainly going to have a lot to report in the weeks and months ahead as the government and parliament are certainly going to be busy.  As well as reviewing the existing legislation and attempting to bring it into line with the new constitution, there are proposals for restructuring the government.  One of the opposition parties has said that it needs to be done, and the government, itself, seems to be in agreement, because they’ve announced that they will be tabling such a measure.

There are also going to be busy examining the ongoing issues concerning security.  Straight back from her holiday, Roza Otunbaeva called a meeting of the Security Council to consider the various issues that have arisen.  They seem to have a lot to consider.  An Islamic group, for example, has been accused of seven terror crimes and of plotting more atrocities directed against diplomatic missions and other places, although there seems to be some doubt about the details due to the timing of the announcement and the variety of claims that have already emitted from one official source or another.  Another group of alleged terrorists, this time from Kazakhstan, have been detained and the Kazakh authorities have confirmed that the arrest has indeed taken place.  If it looks as if the security services seem to on top of things, then it has to be remembered that they have almost thirteen hundred registered terrorists to keep an eye on.  Who would have thought that there would be so many in such a small country with a population of just five million?  I’m not sure how you register someone as a terrorist, but it seems that it includes people who were found with extremist materials, (leaflets, magazines, books, booklets, newspapers and video films).  Most of them, apparently, are supporters of Hizb ut Tahrir but there are some other groups represented as well.

They will also, presumably, have to consider the implications of developments in the various investigations and trials relating to the April events and other incidents that occurred over the summer.  I am not sure what has happened to the trials but a report has been issued about the events in Osh and Djalal Abad during the summer, and the blame for them seems to be spread wide with one of the commission disowning the final report, one those criticized promised legal action and a member of the interim government facing investigation over the disbursement of funds during the crisis – including the confiscation of funds held in safe deposit boxes in banks.  Another trial, this time relating to the events in Aksu in 2002, although there isn’t much news about that because the press were cleared from the room following complaints from the lawyers on both sides.

Security, of course, is just one aspect of law and order.  The fight against another, Corruption, has also been receiving attention.  One of the political parties has issued a fairly long document listing different corrupt schemes that they have identified and invited public comment.  They seem to center around getting official documentation such as licenses, permissions and customs clearances, inspections and fixing contracts for purchases and “kickbacks”.  Then, of course, there is the good old fashioned bribe, (both giving and taking), which has also been in the news.  One report suggested that the average bribe in the country is about 10,000 som, (about 250 dollars).  It divided bribes into three categories:– small, (say 250-500 som.  Apparently, according to the law anything under 300 som doesn’t count as a bribe!), average (about 10-20,000 som) and large, (anything above that, they said the maximum was about a million som, but who knows).  Most people seem confident that the authorities can wipe out corruption if they take a firm and transparent approach – although, personally, I am bit dubious about that.

One of the measures that the parliamentarians have floated to help eliminate one form of corruption is to increase the salaries of the traffic police by allocating them a percentage of the fines that they collect.  Once again, although I can see some merit in the suggestion, I am not wholly convinced that this will work, (why settle for 5% of a fine when someone is willing to pay more, say 20%, in order to him to turn a blind eye and overlook the matter), and the measure could have other risks.

The question of public sector salaries, generally, is bubbling away.  The teachers suspended their threat of industrial action in order to give the government time to consider how to resolve the problem.  Apparently more money has been promised, but not enough for some of the teachers … and not soon enough.  There are some who threatening to resurrect their threat of industrial action, and the medical workers look as if they might join them.

The big story of the week, however, might well be another one of those little, easy to miss, news items.  It’s to do with the question of electricity supply.  If you remember, it was sharp hikes in tariffs for utilities that was the “last straw” which finally spurred the normally docile population of Naryn into taking to the streets in protest just before the April revolution.   There is still some discussion over tariffs but there seems to be a much bigger threat in the offering … Kazakhstan is threatening to leave the Central Asian Grid.  The Kazakhs are concerned that, apart from their not being enough of it to meet the demands of Southern Kazakhstan, the electricity supply from Kyrgyzstan is unstable and unreliable.  They have been building their facilities in order to become more self sufficient in which case they wouldn’t need their smaller southern cousins, but Kyrgyzstan would need the facilities of their part of the grid for the transmission of power between the North and South of the country.  If there is insufficient supply, no matter what tariff is used to calculate the cost, then that will have considerable implications for the economy, (manufacturing and services), the quality and standard of living of the population.

I am going to have to draw to a close now.  I am already well over my target word limit for a postcard and I haven’t yet considered some of the other stories of the week.

For example, if last week saw the publication of the International Survey on Economic Freedom, then this week saw two more interesting surveys, including Freedom House’s annual assessment of “Freedom in the World” which saw Kyrgyzstan promoted from a rating as a country that was “Not Free” to one that is “Partly Free” as the result of the new constitution and successful parliamentary elections.  I have, however, written about that particular survey in a postcard on ianbek.kg.  Maybe in the coming week I will get around to considering Gallup’s survey about “Civic Engagement” which concluded that people were less likely to volunteer time than donate money or help stranger and that charity was highest in Developed Countries.

On the site, you can also find a postcard about a birthday toast that I gave during the week and sea-buckthorn fruit juice, another about Russian Orthodox Christians dunking themselves in icy waters to re-enact the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan by John the Baptist, (and, No, I didn’t join them!) as well as some other topics.

Tags: Expat, Life_in_Kyrgyzstan, Weekly_Postcards