Recently, the Kazakhstani blogosphere has suddenly become interested in what the blogs really are and what sort of impact they have. Bloggers produced series of posts on this topic approximately at the same time. It is difficult to say for sure what was the reason for such wave of self-reflection – maybe it is caused by rising attention of the international donors to development of the citizen journalism, maybe by a series of “best blog” contests (at least three contests are under way – a MediaNet’s, neweurasia’s competition and a Hivos-funded one, organized by CJ.kz; and some more are ahead), or maybe by the maturing of the blogosphere itself.

Mantrov says that, based on his own experience, citizen journalism – a sign of democratic pluralism – is when a cyber-activist or a journalist is analyzing a certain topic not because of the honorarium, but first of all, because he or she is imbued by an issue and tries to solve the problem.

Aftakep structures his interest in the blogs in three clauses Read the full story »

PartyZan.kz  is a weblog fully devoted to night life and booming clubbing culture in Almaty and some other cities of Kazakhstan. Here, enthusiasts of electronic music, prominent DJs and promoters – make their outreach efforts, post photographs, tracks and announcements of the upcoming events.

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This post is part of the crossblog survey “2007 in retrospect”. You can also vote on the most important event of 2007 in our online poll.

In 2007, the English blog of Uzbekistan in Neweurasia has covered a wide range of topics on the events that significantly affected the life in Uzbekistan. The topics include such hot topics as prolongation of sanctions imposed on Uzbekistan by EU after the Andijan uprisings in May 2005, murder of a young prominent Uzbek journalist Alisher Saipov, tightening of control on Uzbek media. All of these topics are worthy to be written about in the Retrospect cross-blog survey. However, there is another topic that deserves more attention than others – pre-election process in Uzbekistan.

As it is written in the Constitution of Uzbekistan (last amended in 2002), the president of Uzbekistan can serve only two terms and is no longer a president after his/her second term ends. However, the first president of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov, who actually came to power in 1989 first as a head of Communist Party in Uzbek SSR, did not leave his position after his second term ended early in 2007. According to the Constitution of the country, the presidential elections are held on the first Sunday of the third decade of December of the year when the presidential term ends. However, the Constitution does not say anything about the person who must substitute the president and rule the country until presidential elections. Normally, after the term of the president ends, the second highest person in the government takes his/her position and becomes acting president until the elections. Nonetheless, Islam Karimov stayed in his position.

Usually, in a democratic country, and Uzbekistan claims to be one in its Constitution, a year of the presidential elections is a year full of political activity. Different candidates compete with each other and struggle for votes traveling in the country and meeting with electorate. However, the situation in Uzbekistan resembled a dead calm. However, a great part of summer Islam Karimov spent traveling around Uzbekistan, especially to densely populated regions Namangan and Andijan, and meeting with citizen in remote areas. Though local media referred to them as “official visits�, it really resembled a candidate’s tour around the country to meet with electorate. As Jamiyat wrote in Neweurasia:

The Uzbek President started all his rallies by meeting with representatives of local populations and farmers, and spoke about the need of raising living standards and prosperity levels in rural areas, bringing infrastructure to the villages, and striving to help local youths. Considering the fact that more than 60% of the Uzbek population lives in rural areas, appeasing this demographic is of utmost importance for any politician seriously considering the presidency. Islam Karimov is one who realizes this fact… National broadcasting channels in their turn also made sure to show images of the Uzbek president giving practical advice on new construction sites, and meeting young students from academic lyceums as well as farmers and religious leaders (at Nakshbandi complex)… All of these developments directly indicate the sign of a starting pre-election campaign by the current president. In the next months to come we can only expect more propaganda on TV, and perhaps even some populist measures which could range from economic to social reforms and privileges.

It was only in September, when the Central Election Committee held a press conference and officially informed citizen about the coming presidential elections and that political parties were to nominate their candidates. Even by that time no one still knew about Islam Karimov’s plan, whether or not he was going to give his position to his successor. Bloggers in Neweurasia were discussing the question about successor as well. Libertad wrote in Neweurasia:

Gulnara Karimova has become an important person in the ruling circle of Uzbekistan in a very short time. She controls very large portion of business in Uzbekistan, especially in Tashkent, where she has many restaurants and night clubs. Her authority and influence, plus father’s patronage could play an essential role in inheriting the presidency. Whereas, Rustam Inoyatov is also a leading figure in the political life of Uzbekistan. Some people say that he is the next person after Karimov, who has almost limitless power in the country. Observers say that Inoyatov’s influence is getting more and more wide from day to day, which may be a signal to future changes.

Soon later, the Liberal Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (UzLiDeP) informed the Central Election Committee and citizen about the party’s will to nominate Islam Karimov as a candidate for presidency. To a surprise of international observers and political analysts, the Central Election Committee found this decision of the party to be legitimate and approved Karimov’s candidacy. It was just several weeks later when the party justified its decision stating that according to the new Constitution that was adopted in 2002 in national referendum, Islam Karimov could be a president of Uzbekistan for two more terms.

Initially, there were six candidates for presidency – five candidates from different political parties and one candidate slated by the initiative group of voters. However, two candidates out of six later were out of the competition, as they could not manage to collect 5% of voters signatures for the support of their candidacy. Therefore, at the moment just four candidates left. They are Dilorom Tashmuhamedova – “Adolat� (Justice) Social-Democratic Party, Asliddin Rustamov – Peoples Democratic Party, current president Islam Karimov- Liberal Democratic Party, and Akmal Saidov – slated by the initiative group of voter.

On coming Sunday, December 20, 2007, Uzbekistan will held presidential elections, in which Islam Karimov, a current president, who has been head of the country for 19 years, will again compete with other three candidates, all of whom, by the way, openly stated their support to Islam Karimov. Analysts already foresee success of Islam Karimov. This presidential election surely is the turning point in the history of Uzbekistan. However, it is too early to predict the course, where this turn will take the country to.

You can see them almost everywhere in Turkmenistan, majestically and unhurriedly traversing the country’s deserts and wastelands. Sometimes also walking in the middle of the road, completely undisturbed by cars which overtake them at a dizzying speed. Camels not only make Turkmenistan’s landscape look more exotic, but also bring in calmness and dignity, in which they resemble the country’s inhabitants.

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The name of the two-humped camels, also called bactrians, which used to live on the territory of contemporary Turkmenistan, comes from the ancient state of Bactria that once existed on the border of present Iran, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. Their images, the oldest of which date back to the 4th millennium B.C., can be seen on petroglyphs carved in the caves of the Kopet Dag mountains. For many centuries, bactrians were the primary means of transport used on the Silk Road. Following the Arabic conquest, they were replaced by much more resilient dromedaries or single-humped camels brought in from the Arabian Peninsula. It’s them that we can most often see on Turkmen deserts today.

Camels once played an enormous role in the life of Turkmen nomads, but they are no longer used as draught animals. Today, the only “use” of camels is their milk and hair. The very nourishing camel milk is used for making the chal – a kind of fermented fizzy kefir which is a marvellous thing when it comes to quenching thirst at the desert. But here comes a warning for people with delicate stomachs: it is better to start getting used to the chal slowly!

The camel hair is used for making blankets, hats, sweaters and other garment. Almost every Turkmen has a coloured camel-hair ribbon in his car. It is supposed to protect the driver and passengers from accidents and ensure a safe trip. The Turkmen’s belief in the power of the camel hair must be very strong, because they don’t seem to bother about such details as stopping at the red light or turning on the headlights after it gets dark.

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A camel meat is not commonly eaten in Turkmenistan. Camels are, so to say, sacred animals. They can walk around freely except for certain periods when they are milked and shaved. What a life!

Upon spotting a camel, foreign visitors usually immediately take out their cameras, which makes the Turkmen laugh. Local people find it funny. It is as if someone got excited at the sight of a dog and begged the driver to stop, because they want to take a picture of it.

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One of the Peace Corps volunteers who has been teaching English in Turkmenistan since September 2006 and started writing her own blog about this country (worth reading!) called it “Camel Spotting”. She must have been fascinated by those stately animals. Right after arriving in Turkmenistan, she decided to count every camel she sees, but she gave up after the 30th camel. Well, it looks like one gets used to everything…

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I made these pictures in Isfara last week. I’ve never seen so much non (round bread) in one place. This is only one part of the the bazaar which is located in the center of Isfara one of the oldest towns in Tajikistan. You will not be able find a place, even in Dushanbe, where you can see so many people selling non of different sorts at one time. My friend told me that there is some other town in the northern Tajikistan where the non bazaar is much bigger.

Isfara used to be one of the stop points on great Silk Road which connected Europe with Asia. Although there is a big non bazaar, Isfara is famous for its fruits and it is also a big industrial town of Tajikistan. When we drove from Isfara to Khujand we could observe a lot fruit gardens which seemed to me endless but I saw no factories or plants. This was also my first time to see so many fruit trees. After my trip to Isfara and Khujand I realized how important to have Sogd region with all its plants, factories and gardens as part of Tajiksitan.

The post below is part of the cross-blog survey covering developments in Central Asia in 2007. You can also vote for the most important event of 2007 in our online poll.

The passing year was rich in shaking news and political scandals in Kazakhstan, all of which have been finding reflection in the blogosphere’s reactions and online debates. Many of those events will find their place in the history textbooks of the future, and life may never remain the same after 2007.

POLICY MILESTONES
The poll shows that three major macro-political developments have been in the focus this year. Interestingly enough, the most discussed Kazakhstan-related topic on the West – the expected chairmanship of the first Central Asian, post-Soviet state with poor human rights record in the OSCE, the Europe’s most influential and solid pro-democracy and security institution – is less regarded by the Kazakhstanis with only 16 per cent of the vote. The Astana’s bid for this post was so aggressively advertised within the country that the citizens have simply got tired of the issue itself. Read the full story »

This post is part of neweurasia’s cross-blog survey “2007 in Retrospect”. For an introduction and links to all posts published under this heading, please go to the dedicated site on our homebase. You can also vote for the most important event of 2007 in our online poll.

2007 – the year of black gold. With oil prices soaring towards $100 per barrel, countries blessed with hydrocarbon resources see their coffers swell with petrodollars. Kazakhstan is among them, oil windfalls are growing with each year passing. But the Kazakh government thinks that it got a bad deal during the 1990s, when most of the production sharing agreements were negotiated. The big oil companies, wary of post-Soviet uncertainty and of course also smelling fat margins, factored huge risk premiums into their direct investment in the oil sector.

The Kazakh government would receive comparatively little of the oil profits, and only once most of the projects’ costs would have been redeemed. When Kazakhstan’s post-independence meltdown reverted into healthy economic growth from 1999 onwards and general economic and political stabilisation, the terms of the 1990s deals seemed increasingly unfavourable. Corruption scandals casted a shady light on earlier dealmaking on top of that. Apparently, some big oil companies had greased the wheels of the Kazakh political machine to get things moving in their favour. A new and young elite in Astana seemed increasingly unwilling to accept the terms of these contracts. Along came Russia’s increasingly assertive resource nationalism, with Sakhalin-II and Yukos being only colourful examples.

The tipping point was Eni’s announcement of further cost overruns and a much delayed start of production in Kashagan that made the Kazakhstani government suspend development on the offshore giant field. Now it wants more of the pie in two ways: First, the national oil company Kazmunaigaz is expected to receive a larger stake in the project. Second, the state should receive more of the profits by changing the terms of the PSA – maybe eventually turning it into a royalty scheme. Third, a hefty fine would be levied on the consortium. So far, it seems all consortium members bar Exxon seem willing to put up with this rather substantial revision.

2007 is an important year for Kazakhstan, and one will look back in a few years detecting the beginning of a trend: In line with many other countries in the world harshening their terms for oil companies operating on their territory, Kazakhstan is making sure it is benefitting more from its subsoil blessings. You may want to call this resource nationalism Kazakh style. This graph here gets it right I think – it puts Kazakhstan on par with Chile and Qatar, as a country that aims to maximise its economic benefits, yet does not seek geopolitical expediency like Russia. Kazakhstan not going to deter international investors in the forseeable future. Oil is increasingly becoming scarce, and Kazakhstan has a lot of it. But it needs Western know-how – as the country’s oil is extremely difficult to unearth.

Yet 2007 also marks the beginning of another trend: The growing realisation among the Kazakh elite that with growing participation in the country’s oil projects comes more responsibility. Kashagan is an extremely difficult field with potentially huge socio-economic impacts. By being a big consortium member, KMG will not be able to shy away from taking responsibility. In the current high-price environment and general cost inflation, KMG will also have to shoulder growing costs of the project. The unique chance for the Kazakh state company is that it can equip itself with vital know-how and technical expertise to tackle future challenging developments. And finally, with the government earning much more money in the future, societal pressures over how the oil riches are to be distributed will mount.

Kazakhstan struck back in 2007, but it will realise ever more over the next years that its story with oil is not merely a love affair, but a stressful and potentially dangerous obstacle path.

This is a translation of a Russian language news report on Kloop.kg written by Timur Rayimkulov.

The youth protest named “I don’t believe” was held on the 18th of December near the Central Election Committee building. It ended with all 20 participants being arrested by the police. Participants explained their protest as their will to “express distrust to the CEC’s work”.

The protest began at 13:00, participants initially planned to hold the action until 14:00. But the event lasted for around thirty minutes: all protesters were arrested by the police.

Mirsulzhan Namazaliev, co-chairman of the “Free Generation” youth liberal alliance, says that the “I don’t believe” action was organized by young people, “representatives of social organizations, students, and citizens”.

“We want to say here that we don’t believe the election results, because many of us were working as observers, and we witnessed gross violations: there was garbling, they falsified the results, – said Namazaliev during the protest. – We know how the people were beaten, how the government prevented all the parties from agitation and observation, except for the presidential one. We all got irritated”, – said Namazaliev.

Pre-term parliament elections were held in Kyrgyzstan two days before these protests. A number of organizations stated that the elections were held with massive violations of law. Particularly, OSCE Elections Observation Mission stated that “the way the results were calculated and summarized puts in doubt the transparency and accountability of the elections due to the facts of delays, presence of unauthorized persons, problems with the official reports, and intentional violations of procedures”.

“CEC is the governing body we don’t trust to, this body has proved several times that it cannot work properly”, – said Namazaliev.

Tolekan Ismailova, the director of “Citizens against corruption” organization, participated in the protest “to support the youth”, as she explained.

“I think it is their right to say that the elections results were falsified, and this action is being held in the form of peaceful protest, – Ismailova said during the protest. – But they are being frightened by the authorities”.

Lieutenant colonel Taalaybek Shatmanov, deputy chief of Pervomayskiy district police office, warned all the protesting participants and reminded them that “all the protests must be held in places specially designed for that”.

“Your actions violate the resolution of the city authorities, – said Shatmanov to the protesters, – I ask you to leave the place”. But the action participants said they would stay “till the end”.

Shatmanov referred to the resolution of Bishkek city administration that took effect on November 30, 2007. The resolution states that all the protests on the territory of Bishkek can be held only in fixed places determined by the government. They include the square in front of the Parliament building, the Gorky square, and the Youth park on the Western outskirts of Bishkek.

Human rights defenders disagreed with the city administration resolution’s legitimacy, they said that the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic prohibits any limits on peaceful protests.

Several minutes after warning the protesters, Taalaybek Shatmanov gave an order to the policemen to arrest the people. All 20 people were put inside the police car and delivered to the police office.

According to Mirsulzhan Namazaliev, protesters were kept in the police office till 18:20. The Pervomayskiy district court will hold a session on Friday, where judges will decide what kind of penalty must be applied to the protesters.

Translation of Marat’s post from the Russian-language version of our blog.  

There are very beautiful islands in the Carribean Sea – British Virgin Islands – a paradise corner, governed by a British governor. You can have a gorgeous vacation and start an offshore firm. 41 per cent of all offshore companies are registered on the BVI.

Interestingly, the British Virgin Islands are a large investor in Kazakhstan – starting from 1993 they have invested 1,7 billion dollars in our country. The extreme activity was registered in the last 6 months with 1,327 billion dollars invested in Kazakhstan (it has made up 19,1 per cent of all investments and placed the BVI as a major investor in Kazakhstan).

There are Bermuda Islands not far from the British Virgin ones. There is a so-called Bermuda Triangle, where not only airplanes, but also Kazakh exports disappear. And in large amounts: in 2002 it amounted to 2,0113 billion dollars (20,8 per cent of all exports), and in 2003 – 2,1926 billion dollars (17 per cent).

Such are those magical islands.

The oppositionist website called the Turkmenistan Chronicle has published a very interesting article, or rather a short note, about the problem of desertion among the Turkmen conscripts. The authors claim that this is becoming a mass-scale problem. Conscripts escape from military bases, sell their forms and sometimes also guns. Then they hide in their relatives’ homes.

This is why commanders refuse to give the recruits guns and forms even on the occasion of the swearing-in ceremony. Soldiers usually escape as soon as they receive a new form. Such cases are most frequent in military bases situated in the Akhal province (velayat).

Bullying by officers and senior servicemen, terrible sanitary conditions, poor food rations, sometimes even hunger, and exhausting work are the most common reasons of desertions.

Recruits are often forced to serve as road policemen (formerly called GAI), firemen or guards, they are also being used to clean hospitals and other public institution buildings. Soldiers are often made to work on farms, to help out with planting wheat and cotton or grazing sheep.

Another problem plaguing the army are conflicts between members of various Turkmen tribes. Unable to endure all this, many young men commit suicides or desert the army. Such cases are thoroughly concealed by the command.

By the way, it would be interesting to find out what is the punishment for desertion in Turkmenistan. Soldiers must fear it much less than they fear to remain in the army. Like in all post-Soviet countries, a man can buy himself out of the army by bribing the conscription board or with the help of connections.