Turned out to be an eventful week, unfortunately.

Over and out for the time being, and don’t forget if you’ve got an opinion on something, add a comment or join the blog team here!

A quick round up of stories that have made the news over the last few days from Kyrgyzstan, so, in no particular order:

• President Kurmanbek Bakiev has spoken out against providing former presidents with immunity from prosecution and paying for thier upkeep, according to a report from RIA Novosti. There has also been debate over the last few days about whether deputies should have immunity and accommodation provided, as reported in the Vecherka.
• Scandal continues to surround the Akaevs and their associates in various ways. First off it looks like efforts are once again underway to pursuade Russia to extradite Aidar Akaev for trial, and then, to add to the family’s woes, their lawyer, Maksim Maksimovich, was apparently attacked over the weekend but was not seriously injured.
• Condoleezza Rice’s flying visit to the republic continues to generate print inches. US-based The Pentagram has a suitably patriotic article on Rice expressing her thanks to troops at the Ganci base for their support in “helping to safeguard fledgling democracies” – no doubt she meant Afghanistan first and foremost, in line with the official US version of why they’re in the region… PINR has a more open and full evaluation of Rice’s efforts to reassert the US’s position in the region. Meanwhile the thought-provoking site World War 4 Report has a brief post on the agreement between the Kyrgyzstani government and the US on further use of the Ganci airbase, pointing out that details of payment still need to be agreed.
• Kuwait News Agency reports that Uzbekistan closed its border with Kyrgyzstan in the Kara Suu region over the weekend in order to avoid the spread of an outbreak of anthrax. Radio reports today say that the border has been reopened and checkpoints are worknig as usual. Meanwhile efforts are underway to control the outbreak, including the vaccination of domestic animals in the affected regions.
• On a cultural note (excuse the pun), RFE/RL reports on the holding of a traditional music workshop on the shores of Issyk Kul last August to try and revive ancient oral music traditions amongst the Central Asian peoples. Well worth a read.
• KazInform notes that the Deputy Secretary General of the CSTO, Valery Semerikov, visited Bishkek yesterday to discuss Kyrgyz participation in the Organisation.

Over and out from Bishkek for today.

I’d usually post this roundup with the other country ones over on Mental Wanderlust, but until we’ve got a few bloggers posting here it’ll be here. So, a quick look at what’s been going on here in Kyrgyzstan over the last week or so.

The big story, at least from the media’s point of view, was Condoleeza Rice’s flying visit to Bishkek on Tuesday. The international media was already feverish with reports of Rice’s “tough mission”, as the Washington Times put it, even before Rice and her entourage touched down at the Ganci airbase. And it appears her flying visit was a success, at least if the offical US government press release is anything to go by, and the local media reported the visit quite favourably too. General consensus was that the most important result of the visit, beyond support for ever-ephemeral terms like “democracy” and possibly trying to reassert the US’s position in the region, was securing a guarantee from the Kyrgyzstani government that the Ganci airbase’s future was secure, at least until Afghanistan is completely stable (and how long is a piece of string?…)

AlertNet has a report on life in the Kyrgyz Barak enclave in Uzbekistan, looking at the difficulties the enclaves residents face, particularly at times of heightened security in both Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Kyrgyzstan Development Gateway reports that the International Business Council (IBC) and the Congress of Business Associations (CBA) is to open a regional office in Osh with support from the OSCE.

Stars and Stripes takes a look at life on the US’s Ganci Airbase at Manas from the point of view of the servicemen and women who are deployed there, concluding that if you’ve got to be deployed somewhere, Kyrgyzstan is not a bad place to be.

RFE/RL considers whether more people might come to the same conclusion as those based at the Ganci airbase with an article entitled “Tourism Waits for its Moment to Shine” that discusses what, beyond political stability, needs to be done to help develop tourism in the mountainous republic.

AlertNet has an interview with Edil Baisalov, chair of the Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society, looking at issues such as civil society and the legacy of March 24 for both NGOs and Kyrgyzstan more generally.

Development Gateway has posted an article from IWPR (can’t find the original but will post a link when/if I do) on discrimination against lesbians in the republic and the establishment of Labris to support lesbians, bisexuals and transsexuals – it is worth noting that Oasis, a similar organisation for gay men, has been working in Bishkek for several years now.

IWPR has also published a report on the way that women are being marginalised by the country’s new government, despite many of them having played a central role in events leading up to the March 24 ousting of Akaev.

Tehran’s Mehrnews follows a theme that is becoming increasingly common, asking whether Tulips are fading in Kyrgyzstan in light of the number of revolutionaries who have left the government and rise in crime since March 24.

Speaking of revolutionaries, both Azimbek Beknazarov, who was sacked a few weeks ago from his post as General Procurator, and former acting Foreign Minister Roza Otunbaeva will stand in forthcoming parliamentary elections in the Aksy and Bishkek’s Tunduk districts respectively, reports Interfax. ITAR-TASS also notes that former Prime Minister Nikolai Tanaev is planning to stand in the Tunduk district.

Eurasia Daily Monitor has an article by Erica Marat on Kyrgyz-Uzbek relations entitled ” Kyrgyz, Uzbek Leader Choose Cold Peace Over Open Confrontation” looking at the tensions that continue to exist between the two republics.

There may also be a bit of a cold peace between Bakiev and Kulov developing following the controversial appointmet of Daniyar Usenov as acting first deputy Prime Minister, according to Russia’s Kommersant:

Usenov is a determined opponent of Prime Minister Felix Kulov and his return to the cabinet is a blow to the president’s pride and a danger to the alliance between Bakiev and Kuov. When Bakiev introduced his list of ministerial candidates in the parliament two weeks ago, it was understood that Kulov had agreed to many of them in exchange for a guarantee that Usenov was not to receive an appointment

Think that about rounds things off here, so over and out for today from Bishkek.

Welcome to New Eurasia’s Kyrgyzstan Blog!

I’m in the process of recruiting bloggers here in Kyrgyzstan to contribute to this blog at the moment, so with a bit of luck there should be some interesting and diverse posts coming up soon, as well as the more routine stuff like news round ups.

If you have come across this page and would like to contribute, please email me at cxw@yandex.ru, or call/SMS me here in Bishkek on 0502 109851.

Articles and posts on virtually any theme related to Kyrgyzstan will be very welcome, so if you have an opinion and want to share it, get involved! The only real requirement at the moment is that posts be in English.

More soon and hope you enjoy the blog as it develops.

Claire, editor, New Eurasia Kyrgyzstan Blog.