With the Kyrgyz elections on Sunday, there was coverage of the poll on many sites, including the BBC, which included a Q&A on the Kyrgyz political situation. Reuters also posted a “factbox” on the election and elsewhere suggested it had been engineered to ensure the president had a “docile” parliament. AFP reported on the opposition’s claims of dirty tricks though OSCE observers, of whom there were around 250 in the country, have yet to issue an election report.
Uzbekistan has its own election just round the corner, but for this week reporting focused on other matters. Craig Murray, former UK ambassador to the country, is launching his book “Murder in Samarkand” in the US under the title “Dirty Diplomacy”. Meanwhile, the Asian development bank said it would provide the Uzbek authorities with a loan of $30m to invest in its educational infrastructure. Malaysian oil company Petronas has signed a deal with the Uzbek government allowing it to explore an area of 7200 square kilometres in the country.
Petronas also made an agreement with the Turkmen authorities which will allow it to begin building oil platforms and share in pipeline construction. USA Today reported on the Turkmen president’s speech at an investment forum, in which he suggested that investors were willing to plough as much as $4bn into his Caspian coast development project.
Russia, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan moved further towards realising the Caspian pipeline project this week, with Russia approving a cooperation agreement hammered out with leaders of the central Asian nations according to ITAR-TASS. The Financial Times reported Kazakhstan’s attempts to reassure investors after eight local banks were given poor ratings by an international agency.
Tajikistan made it into the news this week because of a bill to tackle fortune-telling and witchcraft. The BBC, USA Today and Reuters all covered the story.
Stay tuned to Central Asia Now for weekly news digests. Keep an eye out for analysis slots by regional experts.
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