Postcard from Bishkek

Today is the Feast of Michaelmas – The Feast of Saint Michael the Archangel.

To be honest, however, despite the fact that it used to be a fairly important Christian festival, (a Holy Day of Obligation; marking the end of summer and beginning of autumn with all that involved in the agricultural year – arable and especially pastoral), and my background in the Church … I can’t say that I have ever really paid that much attention to it.

In fact I always thought it was a bit much being both an angel, (and not just an angel – an Archangel, and according to tradition was the greatest of the Archangels – Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel – to boot), and a Saint, particularly as he seems to pre-date the Christian Church that has elevated him. He is particularly noted for defeating Lucifer in the War in Heaven, as recounted in the Book of Revelations, (with other references in the Books of Daniel, Isaiah and Ezekiel and even in the Dead Sea Scrolls), when the devil and his followers rebelled against God’s rule, but was defeated by Michael who cast him from Heaven.

He is one of the principal angelic warriors, seen as a protector against the dark of night, and the administrator of cosmic intelligence.

Religion and the never ending battle between Good and Evil have been in the news quite a bit this week.

The scandal over the “Innocence of Muslims” film, for instance, continues to rumble away.   Moves continue to have access to the video blocked.  Although last week’s threatened protests came to nothing, there were some this week.  The organizers promised that they would pass off peacefully and that is exactly what happened – although according to some of the early press reports the forty or so protesters taking part in the half hour rally were well and truly outnumbered by the police sent to supervise the event.

Actually, youtube had had a bad week of it … there was an odd moment during the week when another video was posted to the site.  This was a WNN report, (World News Network … No I had never heard of them before either), about a terror attack in Kyrgyzstan – terrorists from the Asian Unification Brigade, (AUB), had apparently contaminated food supplies, bombed municipal water facilities and perpetrated a chemical attack on public transport … the clip was ion English but over dubbed in Russian.  It was very odd.  Very, very odd.  When I saw the clip, I wondered why there was nothing else about it elsewhere in the news … and then the penny started to drop … WNN ??? … AUB ??? (it appears that AUB – as well as being a bank with some “family connections” – was also the name of an imaginary terrorist group invented a few years ago for some domestic American military manoeuvres) … the news clips in the reports seemed slightly wrong … some seemed strangely familiar … (later I realised that some came from Beslan and others from Tokyo) … not to mention some other things that didn’t seem quite right.

Yes … we had “been had”!  It just goes to reinforce the point that you shouldn’t believe everything that you see on the news – or the internet …

Meanwhile, the government have submitted proposals to the parliament for tougher penalties for those who block roads – a fairly common form of protests here in Kyrgyzstan by people who try to draw attention to their demands.  The inconvenience caused, they say, not only violates other peoples rights but could also have serious negative implications in a variety of ways.

Another Civil Society protest that is currently under way is aimed at the Financial Sector, the banks and Micro Credit organizations.  They have been complaining about the high rates of interest and highlighting several cases where people have lost their homes because they have not been able to keep up with the repayments.  They have set up a yurt in one of the local parks and are camping out.  Every time I pass them, it is all very quiet and sedate … but there is a poster declaring – “Kidney for Sale : to pay of credit” – with a telephone number in case anybody wants to take up the offer.  Even if it is not a serious advert and only a piece of dramatic positioning, it does make the point.

As it happens, some politicians and the National Bank seems to have some sympathy with the protesters.  It has been suggested, for example, that the law be amended to prevent someone pledging their “last apartment” as security for a loan and the National Bank wants financial institutions to publish fuller information about the effective interest rate and the full cost of any credit.

These are examples of why the Speaker felt able to say, in a meeting with American Congressman this week,  that he thinks Kyrgyzstan is progressing from a “Street Democracy”, (an “aggressive street democracy” according to some press reports), to a Parliamentary Democracy”.

 

Another story that is “rumbling on” concerns the future of the Manas transit base.  It now looks as if America has accepted the fact that the Kyrgyz are serious about ending the lease in 2014 and transforming the base into a civilian hub.  Some American officials have been quoted that in the impending drawdown they are having to look for “another way” of transferring goods and personnel around the region … and Uzbekistan looks like being a part of whatever plans they eventually draw up.

That all helps to make for a very interesting picture … because it looks as if agreement has been reached with the Russians for an extension to the long term lease for their base here – and it has been suggested that they might actually base some heavy bombers here.  Add to that the somewhat surprising revelation that Russia seems to have given a commitment to come to the aid of Kyrgyzstan in the event of aggression against the country – from terrorists, (like the AUB?), or any foreign power.

Curiouser and curiouser …  especially when seen in the light of Russia’s apparent wholehearted support for Kyrgyzstan in the question of the Hydroelectric Power Cascade on the Upper Naryn River.  This was a former Soviet plan that got relegated to the back shelf after the collapse of the Union but has recently been resurrected – after more than twenty years.  A feasibility study is under way and we are assured that the results should be available in February next year.  The Russians will put up the finance and have a significant, (if not controlling), voice in how it is to be run.

Well, the former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson once said that, “A week in politics is a long time“, and you may well recall that about a week ago President Karimov of Uzbekistan made comments that sounded like distinct “warning shots”, about the possibility that construction of hydroelectric power stations upstream could lead to potential conflict situations.  Indeed, control over water could be a serious issue.  A news report during the week drew attention that a lot of the cross border disputed between Batken, (in the South of the country), and our neighbours in Tajikistan, boil down to water.

Incidentally, a Russian analyst has suggested that all this could all be part of an American plan to create a “manageable regional crisis” in order to maintain influence … and the fact that Hilary Clinton has also made an intervention into the global debate on water supplies – highlighting the situation in Central Asia, starts to make this look a slightly more credible scenario than it might otherwise have appeared to be at first glance.

If the Uzbeks are getting a little anxious over water … then a news report on one of the more controversial local websites suggests that language might be another volatile topic – suggesting that  the Uzbek language appears to be disappearing from public life – especially in Education.

 

Another issue that seems to be raising temperatures down south is the sudden demise of over a thousand sheep following vaccination with some contaminated or counterfeit serum.   Tests and investigations are being carried out whilst the vaccination process has been halted, and I suspect that this is another of those stories that will continue to dominate the headlines for some time to come.

 

One of the main concerns affecting people, however, is that of rising prices.  We’ve been told that the price of coal won’t increase over the winter but virtually everything else seems to have gone up … even though seasonal fresh foods should be cheaper some people refer to the poor growing season.  The prices of staple items, like flour for example, have risen by 25 to 40%.  I am told one of the reasons behind the current inflation is a rise in customs duties because most goods are actually imported.  I have to be honest, however, and say that although I have noticed the rise in prices I don’t know anything changes in custom duties.

What I did find interesting, however, were some news items about foreign trade.  This has been in the headlines recently because of a major governmental project aimed at improving and promoting exports.  We learned, for example, although Kyrgyzstan exports to so0me 76 different countries, just ten of them form the main export market for the country.

The leading recipient of Kyrgyz exports is apparently Switzerland, which accounted for something like 40% (! which is over 20% more than its share five years ago), followed by Kazakhstan and Russia, (both just short of 13%).  China came in with just under 2%. Now that final point was especially interesting because other statistics issued during the week suggested that exports to Kazakhstan and Russia (about 26% of exports) was worth just over a billion dollars.  On the other hand exports with China (just under 2%) were apparently worth 2.2 billion dollars.  It just goes to underline what I always say – Statistics raise more questions than they answer.  It was even more interesting when it was pointed out that in the first six months of this year, trade with China was worth something like 900 million dollars according to Kyrgyz statistics, but 5 billion dollars according to the Chinese!

The most interesting thing to me, however, was the apparent recognition by the Kyrgyz Economics minister that the service sector offers tremendous potential for exports.  Many years ago I had a debate with a Professor of economics who was insistent that Manufacturing was the engine of any economy – especially when it comes to international trade.  Now, although I think there is a lot in this, some countries benefit extensively from the “invisible balance of trade” – that is: services.  Marketing, Banking, Legal Services, Accounting, Insurance, Communications … oh yes, and Tourism.  I well remember the news items when  I was growing up about the Balance of Payments and how Britain was running a deficit balance … until “earnings from invisible exports” were taken into account.  The service industries apparently account for something like 50% of the Kyrgyz GDP.

When it comes to the Service Industries, then one of our most important assets is … people.  A skilled workforce of educated people, willing and eager to work.  So far, this has been available, even though we have a relatively small population.  Of course, as the Minister pointed out, we have to do more to develop this.

Apparently the Public Association ”Kyrgyz e Jashtary Parliament” also want the authorities to consider the question of personal policy and the “future of Kyrgyz youth”.  That sounds OK, but the next sentence in the news report, a representative of the organization went on to say, “There should not be many foreigners – it threatens public safety.”  Now, I ask myself, just what did he mean by that?

A 59 minute documentary film called “I am gay and  Muslim”, which was supposed to be shown at the Sixth International Human Rights film festival, Bir Duino, (One World) here in Bishkek, was banned by a court as being “extremist” … Incidentally, the festival is ironically supported by the Ombudsman’s office.   According to some news reports, the case was brought by the Fund “Mutakallim” and public association “Akyl es Iyman ruh”, the think tank “Religion, Rights and Politics” and the Kyrgyz State Commission for Religious Affairs … and it seems that there was no-one at the hearing representing the festival or film makers.  At last year’s festival, a film about The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan was screened – without controversy, but this time the festival organizers had to cancel the showing and organize a debate.  There has already been contributions to the wider debate on the blogosphere and by the twittering classes.

Apparently the film follows five gay men from Morocco, (where homosexuality is still illegal) as they explore both their religious and their sexual identities, and has already been shown in 13 countries around the world and this is the first time it has caused such controversy.  It seems that the court decided the  the film “contains signs of incitement to religious hatred and humiliation of Muslims”.  I haven’t seen the film so I don’t know and I can’t comment except to say that a famous Kyrgyz Director, (who also hasn’t seen it), seems to think that including the word Muslim in the title was a mistake … as the Kyrgyz have an “adversity with religion” and the title is therefore provocative …  (I suppose a similar argument could just as easily have been made for using the word Gay in the title) …  I wasn’t at the the debate either, but reports suggest that the title was a major topic of discussion – after all, those taking part in the discussion hadn’t seen the film so apart from the general issues such as censorship, the role of religion in society or the application of Sharia, that is all they could have commented on.

I think it is going to be a case of  ”Watch this space” – I doubt if we’ve heard the end of this particular story.

 

As usual, I can only give a brief summary of the news events of the week – there seems to be an awful lot going on that I have had to miss out, including, for example:

• the Bishkek city authorities are planning to make the central square a wi-fi zone;
• in what seems to be an attempt to eliminate the distribution of pirate CD’s and DVD’s, their sale from a whole range of outlets is to be banned, so that only licensed copies will be available from specialized retail outlets, (supermarkets, hypermarkets, shopping malls, kiosks and pavilions);
• there are a couple of projects to develop garbage disposal facilities in the country;
• the government are restricting the use of the name Manas as a trademark;

My favourite story of the week, however, was not about Kyrgyzstan – but about Turkmenistan.  It seems that during the thirty  days in September, there were 49 official holidays and official events requiring the attendance of state employees, pupils, students and conscripts.  Apparently it has got so bad that some people “throw a sicky” in order to “skive off”.  Now, although we don’t have the crowds bussed in and to be line the streets and so forth, we do so to have an inordinate number of holidays, special professional holidays and commemorative days.  Thursday, for example was the Day if Tourism.  It’s difficult to track of them all.

Of course, today is another special day … Michaelmas … I did think of telling the staff they all had to come in, wave a flag and eat cake in honour of the occasion … but if I did, I think they might have well have chosen to throw a sicky … and as I am going up to Naryn, I decided to give them the day off.

 

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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:

• Toktogul Reservoir - The largest reservoir in Kyrgyzstan, important for the control of water resources on the Naryn River and for the generation of hydroelectric power.
• Polysyndeton - the importance of punctuation and some linguistic oddities.
• Kasym Bayalinov - one of the most influential of the early Kyrgyz authors.
• Underwater archaeologists at work … National Geographic currently have a team of archaeologists working on several underwater sites on Lake Issyk Kul;
• Who the Dickens …? the initials WDT can stand for several things, including “Who the Dickens” and “World Day of Tourism“
• Peak Lenin - A brief look at this 7134m peak, on the anniversary of the first ascent in 1928.

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

 

 

 

Tags: Expat, Life_in_Kyrgyzstan, Weekly_Postcards