Author: Carl Jose Austin

Hundreds of spectators stormed a sports field in Osh, Kyrgyzstan as a section of a crowd turned riotous at the annual President’s Cup match of the traditional horse and goat carcass game of kok-boru. With President Sadyr Japarov and Prosecutor-General Kurmankul Zulushev in attendance for the occasion, spectators chased match officials and smashed the windows of a Ford Transit vehicle operated by the local ambulance service. Stones and plastic bottles were thrown. More than two dozen people were being held for questioning on violations of public order by police in Kyrgyzstan, Radio Azattyk reported on September 1. Seven people, including a law enforcement officer,…

The Ukrainian military during the battles with the Russian invaders had some success in the Luhansk and Zaporozhye regions, advancing in these sectors of the front. On August 15, the Ukrainian Armed Forces carried out counter-offensive operations in at least three sectors of the front and reportedly advanced in the Luhansk region and the western part of the Zaporozhye region, the publication says. As the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine informed, the military continued counter-offensive operations in the Bakhmut, Melitopol (west of the Zaporozhye region) and Berdyansk (west of the Donetsk region – eastern part of the…

Budapest (12/8 – 33) Mahmadzohir will theoretically be eligible to run for president in 2027. In Tajikistan, only the president is permitted to enjoy an unfettered public profile. An intriguing exception to this norm is emerging, however, with another figure amassing huge levels of apparent popularity and prominence. This person too is a member of the ruling family. Ismoil Mahmadzohir, who turned 26 last month, is the grandson of President Emomali Rahmon. His mother, Firuza, is one of Rahmon’s seven daughters. He attended the Elite British Prep School Queen Ethelburga’s College and is the CEO of IM Group. Mahmadzohir – a visually…

22 fires were registered on the territory of Kyrgyzstan in a day. 25 fire brigades were involved in extinguishing them, the Ministry of Emergency Situations reported on August 17. 6 fires each occurred in Chui and Osh regions, 3 in Bishkek, 2 each in Jalal-Abad, Naryn and Batken regions, and 1 in Osh city. The roof of a warehouse covered with slate with a total area of 110 square meters burned down on Chatyr-Kul street in Bishkek. 190 square meters of dry grass burned out near the Soroka pond in the Molodezhny park at the intersection of Mahatma Gandhi and Uritsky streets. 50…

The US authorities are preparing to impose sanctions on Kyrgyzstan for helping Russia to circumvent the restrictions imposed on it by Western countries, writes The Washington Post, citing US presidential administration officials. According to the interlocutors of the publication, sanctions against Kyrgyzstan may be introduced before the end of July. WP writes that according to open documents, the volume of exports from Kyrgyzstan to Russia increased by 250 percent in 2022 compared to the previous year. The documents also show that companies from Kyrgyzstan are buying electronics, including specialized semiconductors and voltage amplifiers, from Chinese and South Korean companies and then transferring them…

Media organizations from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan signed a Memorandum on the creation of MediaNetwork CA in Bishkek. The document states that this organization will uphold journalistic standards and professional ethics in the profession, as well as contribute to the formation of competent media organizations. From Kyrgyzstan, the memorandum was signed by Tamara Valieva, Chairperson of the Commission on Media Complaints, from Mongolia — Executive Director of the Media Council Gunjidmaa Gongor, from Uzbekistan — Chairman of the Public Council of the Union of Journalists Karim Bakhriev, from Kazakhstan — Chairperson of the Public Committee for Media Self-Regulation Zhuldyz Abdilda, from Tajikistan — Chairperson of the Council on the Media Khurinniso Alizoda. Recall, the 24th Central Asia Media Conference was held in Bishkek…

The Kirgiz Respublikasi Asker-aba küçtörü (Kyrgyz Air Force) received two new helicopters from the Russian Federation in the third week of June 2023. The aircraft were officially handed over at Frunze-1 airport, north of Bishkek, which is the homebase of military unit 23565. The unit operates a handful of older Mi-8MT and Mi-8MTV-1 helicopters, which have seen some attrition in the past decade. The Russian Federation has delivered additional helicopters over the years. One of these, serial 108 black, was seen under maintenance in neighbouring Uzbekistan in August 2021. Thus, the new helicopters will enhance the capabilities of the Kyrgyz…

Kyrgyzstan’s Fund for State Property Management is set to auction off 100% of shares in the state-owned mobile operator MEGA. Local outlet Akipress reports that the auction will take place in October 2023, with a starting price of at KGS14.60 billion (US$167 million) per share with bidding increments of KGS200 million. Applications are now open, and will close on 2nd October 2023 with the auction set to commence later that day. Bidders are required to secure their entry with a ‘guarantee’ of 10% of the reserve price. Those that procure shares will be required to pay the Fund for State Property…

The Diplomat’s Managing Editor Catherine Putz had a recent conversation with U.S. Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Lesslie Viguerie about the state of relations. Back in 2015, the United States and Kyrgyzstan hit a serious bump in bilateral relations. Less than a year after U.S. and NATO forces vacated the air base at Manas (June 2014), the U.S. State Department decided to give Azimjan Askarov, an ethnic Uzbek Kyrgyz political prisoner, its 2014 Human Rights Defender Award (he died in a Kyrgyz prison in 2020). Bishkek expressed its frustration by denouncing a 1993 bilateral cooperation agreement (BCA). Cooperation continued, absent the BCA, but in the ensuing years the two sides…

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on Kyrgyz lawmakers to withdraw a controversial “foreign agents” bill, calling it “a highly repressive draft law” that is intended to “discredit and stigmatize” civil society groups that receive foreign funding similar to a law in Russia that has had a chilling effect on nongovernmental organizations. “The draft law is incompatible with international human rights obligations, restricting freedom of association and expression, as well as introducing in some cases criminal liability for nongovernmental organizations and their staff members,” HRW’s Central Asia researcher Syinat Sultanalieva said in the statement on June 9. According to the bill in…