Kyrgyzstan
“People would prefer to have gold or silver or platinum, some tangible asset that can preserve their wealth. So, while we’re sitting out in this isolated part of Central Asia and it seems unconnected to much of the rest of the world, this is obviously very central issue to what’s going on economically and financially right now in Europe and North America.” — Dr. Robert Moran, hydrologist/geologist
This past September, Bankwatch and I made a documentary about the Kumtor mine. You can view the video via YouTube. Some weeks later I was invited to join a State Commission which was visiting the Kumtor goldmine to do an environmental monitoring and take water samples. While we were out there, though, I also took a long series of photographs, originally posted by Bankwatch on Flickr but which I’m now re-posting with permission here to help spread the word about what’s happening in Kyrgyzstan’s mountains.
View of the Davidov Glacier with waste rock on it at the Kumtor goldmine.
The School of Peacemaking and Media Technology announces the start of a new competition for a training session among local Kyrgyz- and Uzbek-speaking journalists, who represent print and online media in Osh, Jalalabat and Batken oblasts of south Kyrgyzstan.
In order to be eligible, participants must be younger than 35 years old.
The training is organized with an aim to encourage open discussions on peacemaking-related matters, teaching local journalists the tools of building ‘bridges’ between conflicting parties and important techniques of identifying activists that are ready for dialogue.
The five-day training is a unique initiative. We plan to invite international trainers from South Caucasus and Former Yugoslavia, who have solid experience in professional journalism in conflict societies and in conducting trainings on related topics.
One of the main prerequisites for the selection is readiness of the candidates to work in multi-ethnic groups and their motivation for team reporting.
Synchronized translation into a state-language will be organized during the event. The venue: Bishkek. Time: April, August and November of 2012. More details will be announced on the website: www.ca-mediators.net.
To participate, candidates need to send their resume or CV to peacemakingschool@gmail.com. Please enclose motivation letter with details on past work and training experience, as well as your motivation to work in a multi-ethnic team. We also need a writing sample (published or unpublished) in any of four languages (English, Kyrgyz, Uzbek or Russian).
Alternatively, you can submit an online application form on our website www.ca-mediators.net.
The School of Peacemaking and Media Technology is funded by Soros Foundation – Kyrgyzstan and the National Endowment for Democracy NED.
Continuing my themes of Bishkek’s general coolness factor (here and here) and dredging up photos from my laptop’s hard drive, these photographs of graffiti were taken by Shirin Aitmatova nearly a year ago in March 2011. I saw some of these still clinging to walls during my last trip to the city. [Cross-posted to our partners @ Demotix: here.]
The rather crappy photos above are of Kumtor tractor trailer convoys in the Issyk-Kul region of Kyrgyzstan. The close-up shows one convoy parked outside of Barksayn (Барскаун, a.k.a., Barskoon, Barkaun, etc.), the second shows a full convoy that had been blocked on the road in Barskayn for mechanical reasons (an engine overheated in the lead truck), and the third shows a convoy with a police escort in one of the hamlets that rest along the Lake’s South Shore, which is less populated than the more touristy North Shore. I remember the cops being rather dramatic: sirens wailing, driving way up ahead of the trucks, frantically waving at pedestrians to get out of the way. I was surprised by the frequency with which the convoys came and went. Since I’m not at all an expert on resource issues, I’ve no idea what’s contained in these trucks (if anything; they could have been empty).
I took these photos back in April 2011 but misplaced them in the wilderness of my hard drive. However, today’s report from Bankwatch.org concerning the mining industry in Kyrgyzstan (http://bankwatch.org/sites/default/files/Kumtor-MoranReport-31Jan2012.pdf) has prompted me to dig them up (pun intended). The report explores a lot of the difficulties that exist trying to get a technical and ecological audit on the mine and other related mining ventures. I recommend reading it.
Editor’s note: What was happening in Kyrgyzstan about a year ago from now? neweurasia’s Marat Sartpaev takes a look back. “Well, today we’ve passed through our first-ever peaceful transfer of power at the presidential level,” he writes. “Yes, it’s just the same old elite I suppose, but hey, at least this time there weren’t snipers on the roof.”
We’re now a month into 2012, so I thought might be a good time to review what was going on this time of year in 2011. And, uh, yeah, it wasn’t pretty. There were of course the consequences of the June 2010 events, which had “rolled over” into the new year un-investigated. However, the first and serious challenge was of a different breed — an alleged terrorist group eliminated near Bishkek on January 5, 201. An anti-terror operation resulted in the killing of the suspects and three special task force officers.
At first, the operation seemed like a success, and the public hotly debated the place of Islam in society. However, many questions later arose as to the identity of the alleged terrorists. Local human rights activists identified several people among those eliminated and captured as those who had distributed humanitarian assistance in southern Kyrgyzstan in the summer of 2010. Toktayim Umetaliyeva led the investigation, which was approved of the then-presidential administration chief. When asked why the government would declare humanitarian aid distributors “terrorists”, she indicated anti-terror funds promised by the United States.
With the presidential elections “fever” over and the president inaugurated, it is now time in Kyrgyzstan to appoint a new government. The incumbent president, Almazbek Atambayev, ascended to presidency from the post of the prime minister of Kyrgyzstan and triggered the government reshuffling.
On Monday, 19 December 2011, then candidate Prime Minister Omurbek Babanov initiated decreasing the number of ministries. He argued doing so would save some 1bn soms (about 22m USD), and decrease the salary burden on budget by firing over 3,000 state employees. A wise move indeed; however, there is room for further “shrinking”. For instance, the ministry of education and sciences can assume the “youth” component of the ministry for youth, labor and employment. Whereas the ministry for social security could intake the “labor and employment.” Further, the ministry of economy and antimonopoly policies can safely deal with “finances” of the ministry for finances. After all, they are of the same “nature.” Read the full story »
I have hard time understanding Speaker Akhmatbek Keldibekov’s desperate attempts to keep his position. As someone involved in politics for quite some time now, he must realize that election of a new president inevitable entails reshuffling of politicians. Moreover, the president-elect Almazbek Atambayev has views that sometimes contradict those of Keldibekov’s. When the 2010 elections got several known politicians back (!) into the parliament, they had to negotiate and make concessions and compromises: Atambayev (SDPK) got premiership, Omurbek Babanov (Respublika) was given vice-premiership and Keldibekov (Ata-Jurt) received the position of the Speaker. The latter now has to go, simple as is. Read the full story »
Corruption in Post-Soviet Central Asia is something very familiar to people living in the region. Without bribing, one is destined to see their case be delayed for a long time, very often beyond time limits defined by laws.
Be it application for a new passport, or registration at a new place of living, or even finding a day care for your kid — bribing is the easiest way to get it all done faster and without a hassle.
Transparency International (TI) has released its annual Corruption Perceptions Index 2011 (CPI) that ranks countries/territories based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be. According to TI, it is a composite index, a combination of polls, drawing on corruption-related data collected by a variety of reputable institutions. The CPI reflects the views of observers from around the world, including experts living and working in the countries/territories evaluated.
This year Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have proved that they can also have stablility in something — if not positive and progressive, then at least something not really desirable by leaders of developed countries. That something is the abuse of public power. Read the full story »
Today Kyrgyzstan is holding presidential elections. For the first time in the history of independent Kyrgyzstan, the presidency is shifting from one person to another in a peaceful way.
Current president of Kyrgyzstan Roza Otunbayeva is casting her vote.
Esquire-Russian analyzed UN’s World Population Prospects (2010 revision) and The Economist data and came up with a map that shows a forecast of the extinction of various nations based on the so-called net replacement rate – the average number of girls, delivered by an average woman in a lifetime in a particular country and survived until the end of the reproductive period at these levels.
According to the map, countries which has less than millennium to exist are marked in brown. “Light browned” nations will live in the 3000-3299 years period. “Milky” identifies those who live from 3300 to 3999 years more. “Orange” countries will exist from 4000 to 9999, and those countries colored in “gray” will live for 10,000 or more.
All green countries on the map are the luckiest — they will never disappear, the “immortals.” Read the full story »
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