Postcard from Bishkek

Whilst the attention of the rest of the world has been focused on Egypt, here in Kyrgyzstan we’ve been concentrating on Turkey.

There’s a reason for that, of course … this week’s visit to the Kyrgyz Republic of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Prime Minister of Turkey.

Over the years since Independence, Kyrgyzstan has enjoyed very good relationships with Turkey.  I suppose that one reason for this is that the Kyrgyz are basically one of the Turkic peoples.  It often surp[rises people to learn that the Turks, themselves, didn’t originate in what is now Turkey. The name Turk was first applied to a clan of nomadic tribes that roamed the Altai Mountains in northern Mongolia and on the steppes of Central Asia.  There is quite a sizeable community of Kyrgyz living in Turkey, many of them from the small communities of ethic Kyrgyz that live in Afghanistan’s Whakan Corridor.

The present regime, especially the Prime Minister, Almazbek Atambaev, have maintained good relationships with Turkey over many years and have been rewarded by this high level visit.  He went to the airport to personally greet his visiting counterpart.  The citizens of Bishkek knew someone important had arrived in town because, as usual, traffic police were posted on all the main crossroads in town, and some of the streets were closed resulting in traffic chaos.  There were meetings with the President, the Prime Minister and the Speaker as well as a Business Forum, an address to the staff and students of the Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University and the official opening of the new building of the Turkish Embassy.

We learned about the importance of the relationship between the two countries: Kyrgyzstan is apparently the fifth largest recipient of investment from Turkey and Turkey is the second largest investor in Kyrgyzstan, and there are over 250 Kyrgyz-Turkish Joint Ventures operating in the country, mainly in education, Banking, construction, trade and food processing. There was talk about new investment projects … amounting to something like 450 million dollars, more food processing, oil and gas, developments at Manas airport, and the establishment of a A number of cooperation agreements were signed.  One, a memorandum of understanding, was signed between the stock exchanges of the two countries – the funny thing that there has long been cooperation between those two bodies.  There was also an agreement for inter-parliamentary cooperation, and the establishment of a joint council for investments.

It’s not all commercial, there was also talk about Turkish aid being given to the hospitals in Osh and Djalal Abad.

Erdogan said many nice things about the new government in Kyrgyzstan and the possibilities before them, as well as some pointed comments about the situation in Egypt.   The new parliamentary regime should be able to secure peace, stability and prosperity.  The Prime Minister also pointed out that Kyrgyzstan needs to tackle corruption, which makes one wonder if he had any particular cases in mind when he said this.

There was an announcement of Days of Kyrgyz Culture to be held in Turkey in the second half of the year and steps to help perpetuate the name of the Kyrgyz author Chinghiz Aitmatov.

If Kyrgyzstan is planning to name a mountain after Vladimir Putin, (which is still not a “done deal” and is proving to be more controversial than Atambaev may have thought when he first mooted the idea), thenPrime Minister Erdogan was not to go home empty handed as he was awarded with one of Kyrgyzstan’s highest honours: The Danaker Order.

In turn, Atambaev has been granted an official visit to Turkey later in March, so I suppose we will can look forward to another week of concentrated news about Turkey when this happens.

One interesting piece of news arising out of the visit is that Turkey and Kyrgyzstan have agreed to institute a visa free regime for each other’s citizens.  It’s actually a liberalization of the existing arrangements extending the visa free period from one month to three.  I don’t think it will bring us that many tourists but it should help those Turkish businessmen coming here on some of those proposed new investment projects – and help the many Kyrgyz who travel to Turkey in search of employment opportunities.  I wonder if the Kyrgyz side have cleared the new arrangements with their partners in the CIS, as this is one the arguments the Ministry of Foreign Affairs often forward as a barrier or obstacle when tour companies ask the authorities to consider introducing a visa free regime for countries from Europe, North America and Australasia.

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As well as all the news coverage about possible and planned future Turkish investment into Kyrgyzstan, there has been some other news on this front as well.  There is, for example, yet more talk of the Chinese developing a high speed rail link which would extend their existing network from Xinjiang through Central Asia and into Europe.  There has been talk of this for some time, but it doesn’t seem to be actually any closer to realization.  There has also been a suggestion for a joint venture to work in producing pharmaceuticals.

Not all of the news, however, has been positive.  The troubled Mining industry seems be in for yet more worrying times, which is odd when you consider how important Gold is to the economy.  The Government, for example, apparently has plans to increase its stake in Centerra Gold, the company that operates the Kumtor Gold Mine, as well as announcing that they have plans for the development of the troubled Jerooy Gold Deposit and suspending the development of the Andash Gold Deposit whilst some environmental issues are addressed.

The situation surrounding the mobile telephone operator, Megacom, seems to be continue simmering away, with accusations of undue government interference and a court case about the shares which is holding the nationalization of the company.

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It hasn’t all been Turkey, however.  There have some other visitors, (with the obligatory corresponding “good news” associated with their visit), from: Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan and Korea, as well as the IMF and the Special Representative of the General Secretary of the United Nations.

What’s more, all the fuss over Prime Minister Erdogan’s visit hasn’t, however, drowned out the other news where there are many issues still simmering away.

If Prime Minister Erdogan took the opportunity to raise the question of corruption in Kyrgyzstan, for example, he wasn’t the only one.   Roza Otunbaeva has also raised it as an important issue which the authorities must address.  Two police officers in Osh were arrested for extortion, being caught red handed in the process of accepting a bribe.  Apparently they offered some resistance to arrest and some of their relatives have demanded their release.   The former Vice of Osh was also arrested on Bribery charges, over questions about the allocation of land rights.  Apparently 32 people have been indicted for corruption since the events in April, and 13 have been named by the Prosecutors office, and papers related to cases involving at least eleven countries have been sent to the courts.

The reports last week of Blakbekov’s arrest by Interpol in Ireland were slightly exaggerated, however, as he wasn’t actually arrested, just located.  The Ministry of Justice has now issued a request for his extradition, but it’s not clear how it will be received by the Irish authorities.  If he is extradited, then he can’t expect much sympathy from the authorities here.  Bakiev’s nephew has just had his sentence increased and will now serve 10 years for his role in the events of last year.

A new report from the International Crisis Group, (ICG), into the perilous state of the infrastructure of Central Asia also highlights the need to address the issue.  It points out that the problem is not just the state of buildings, roads and power plants which “are at risk of falling apart; teachers and doctors are woefully undertrained, underpaid, and neglected by donor-dependent leaders more interested in personal gain than in helping their people.”  As if to underline the point, it was reported that in Bishkek power cionsumption is currently about 50% above planned levels and this is one reason, it was claimed, that we are facing power cuts, (or “outages” for the Americans).  The one positive piece of news about thstate of the infrastructure was that in Kyrgyzstan, apparently, we have some of the highest internet speeds in the region, although, to be honest, it is sometimes hard to tell.

The ICG conclude that “the region is entering a period when systemic collapse of infrastructure for education, healthcare, transportation and energy is becoming increasingly likely” and that “the risk is particularly high in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan”.  They advice that “governments need to address pervasive corruption, stop using public resources as a means of personal enrichment for the ruling elites, undertake systematic reforms, and use donor assistance to complement (not substitute for) state goals.”

The report goes on to warn Western governments and international donor organizations that if they simply continue to support the status quo and don’t help to bring about a change in attitudes, then they risk the very thing that fear most, a collapse of the same system and an increase in instability.

The donors might well claim that they are trying to do something.  Some of the projects that have been announced during the week include assistance to the Border service, support for the Drug Control Service, rehabilitation of roads, (but mainly in the capital), and the renovation of schools.

As one of the international aid projects, it was announced that IMF is launching a project to help look at the economic strategy of the Kyrgyz Government.  I’m not sure that current government will be as responsive as Akaev’s was back in the early days of independence, but let’s hope that together they can bring about the changes that the ICG report says are necessary and it makes a real impact on the daily lives of the people.  As one of the political leaders has pointed out, if the current political leadership in government, parliament and so on, keep playing games then the people are not going to be satisfied and we run the risk of yet more instability and upheaval.

He’s gone so far as to announce that he is creating a “big party” with a view to participate in the Presidential elections which are slated for later in the year and many are interpreting this as him laying down a marker announcing his candidacy.

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All this talk of “instability”, of course, raises the question of security and this subject hasn’t disappeared off the agenda.  Only about 200 of the weapons lost in the disturbances last year have been recovered and a theft of materials for bomb making equipment from a special services base in the North of the country has added to the potential armoury out there, somewhere.  Raids for finding more have been authorized in the South.  On the other hand, proposals for increasing penalties for breaking the rules regarding the possession of weapons were not passed for technical reasons.

Roza Otunbaeva has declared that the fight against organized crime is a priority for the security services and has ordered their reorganization which would result in disbanding the Financial Police and the creation of an Interegional Department for the fight against Organized Crime.

She’s also not happy with the progress in investigating last year’s events.  Apparently, over 8000 criminal cases were launched but these have resulted in less than 200 actually reaching the courts.  What’s more it seems as if almost a third of the complaints registered were about the actions of members of the police and security services.

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The government looks as if it is facing more instability, no matter how recently it assumed power.  Not as much was made of the changes in the government was made as might have been expected.  After all, the resignation of two ministers, (Social Security and Finance), might be thought to as being particularly newsworthy, especially as they decided to resign at about the same time as they were supposed to be taking their oath of office.  The Minister of Finance did create a little controversy as he seemed to imply that he found it impossible to work with the Parliament, although officials from that body have denied that there were any specific disputes with him.  It looks to me from some of the various discussions in the press as if there are serious problems with the planned budget, (even the Speaker, for example, has pointed out that Kyrgyzstan is going to need help from the international community in order to tackle the problem), and the Minister was aware of this and not willing to pursue the policies the government was espousing … but I suppose that I may have got that wrong.

The Parliament has also being causing a certain amount of controversy in some other areas, like the time being allocated for Friday Prayers, which seems to be causing comments to simmer away.  Mind you, the deputies also approved some amendments to the law on the freedom of religion and religious organizations which would bar the state form interference in their activities including the organization of pilgrimages.

They also approved the draft agreement with the US concerning the provision of fuel supplies for the Manas air base, but I have the feeling that is another issue that is going to continuing simmering away.

It looks like they are going to be busy in February with something like 60 Bills tabled for consideration.  This is a greater workload than since they started sitting after the elections, when they have considered something like one and a half bills a day.  There is still a lot for them to do, however, as a large number of laws still need to be brought into line with the provisions of the new constitution.  The EU have apparently allocated over a million Euro for help in this work.  One of the discrepancies which has come to light concerns the election/appointment of the Mayor of Bishkek.  Roza Otunbaeva has issued the necessary legal instrument for the election to take place, but some say that under the new constitution she doesn’t have this right so anyone could challenge the result whoever wins.  Despite that the election took place and a new mayor is now in place.

There are also questions being raised about whether, under the terms of the new constitution, she can appoint ambassadors to represent the country abroad, or if this is a question for the Prime Minister, with the President simply signing the necessary order.

The deputies have apparently, however, sent back some bills and refused to consider some reports because they weren’t prepared in the State Language, Kyrgyz, and there have been complaints when Ministers and other officials have attempted to start giving their reports in Russian.  One deputy’s justification for the insistence on the supremacy of Kyrgyz was that: “The majority of population lives in rural areas. They ask that parliamentary sessions’ information to be presented in accessible language. They do not speak Russian.”  All this has led the Russian Ambassador to express concern about the fate of Russian as the country’s “official language”.

Under the previous regime, there were attempts to create new structures uniting government and political forces with members of the business and civil organizations and it seems as if this proposal has gained a new lease of life with some political parties resurrecting the idea.

And so it goes on …

In tourism, it’s been suggested that we need a new law On Tourism.  I am not convinced and we spent most of 2009 fighting a draft law which was quite intrusive and would have introduced far greater regulation – on the lines of the Turkish model.  Turkey is an interesting case, and one has to accept that they have a thriving tourism industry, but is the Turkish model suitable for Kyrgyzstan.  As I say, I am not convinced.  Why don’t we look at other models – New Zealand, for example.  The country is about the same size as Kyrgyzstan; both are mountainous, with agriculture, (especially sheep rearing), playing an important if not vital role in the economy; both have a history which includes a colonial past where the indigenous people and culture was under threat for some time, is far removed from its potential markets … and so on.

It seems that we have other problems that need to be tackled first: for example, it’s been reported that Kazakh tour operators do not want to cooperate with Kyrgyzstan over rumors about new revolution in spring 2011 and the Hotel and Restaurant’s Association have suggested a moratorium on the checks of cars with foreign plates, (i.e. Kazakh vehicles) by the traffic police during peak of tourist season.  (Personally, I am not convinced the last point is viable, but it does point to a real problem.

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On a more personal note, can I take this opportunity to thank everyone who has written to me, concerned about my health.  It seems that there is quite a bit of whatever I have had going the rounds.  The health ministry, for example, has reported that towards the end of January, they saw more than a doubling of cases of influenza compared to last year.   As it happens, I am feeling better, not 100%, but better.  The doctor has been everyday this week and I am taking a wide range of medicine.  I have been “working” short days, haven’t been out much and as a result have missed a few meetings but my temperature has gone down, and I can keep my food down having eaten it. I still have a problem with my digestion and with a cough but I am much, much better.

Tags: Expat, Life_in_Kyrgyzstan, Weekly_Postcards