DUSHANBE, July 1, 2013, Asia-Plus:
June 1 – Unidentified assailants killed all members of one family, including three minors, in the northern district of Bobojonghafurov and seized approximately $30,000 worth of gold jewelries. Entrepreneurs from Sughd have offered a $30,000 reward for any information leading to an arrest in connection with the murder of Ahmadkhouja Boboyev and his family.
June 4 – British Ambassador to Tajikistan Robin Ord-Smith and Chief of Mission of the Organization for Migration (IOM) in Tajikistan Tajma Kurt signed here an agreement for an integrated cooperation program along the Tajik Afghan border. The project, worth 1.8 million USD and designed to run until March 2015 follows a request from the Tajik and Afghan governments to help enhance the capacity of the their border services to improve cross-border cooperation, improve local livelihoods and to tackle the trafficking of people, drugs and movement of extremist groups. This project continues the British Government’s long running collaboration with the IOM and its commitment to providing the means by which security concerns in Central Asia, particularly along the Afghan border, can be effectively met.
June 5 – Tajik President Emomali Rahmon participated in an official ceremony of inaugurating the construction of a new rail link that will connect Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. The ceremony took place in Turkmenistan’s northeastern province of Lebap. Speaking at a groundbreaking ceremony for construction of the new railway, the presidents of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan reportedly noted that implementation of that project would promote development of the economies of the countries of the region and would improve significantly the flow of goods and services within the Central Asian region;
– Tajik Deputy Foreign Minister, Mr. Nizomiddin Zohidov, received a Polish delegation, led by Deputy Foreign Minister, Ms. Katarzyna Pelczynska-Nalecz. According to the Tajik MFA information department, the sides discussed a broad range of issues related to bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and Poland and expressed satisfaction with the progress of implementation of Poland-sponsored economic development projects in Tajikistan;
– Tajik Minister of Defense, Sherali Khairulloyev, attended a meeting of the CIS Council of Ministers of Defense in Minsk, Belarus. The CIS defense ministers reportedly discussed more than 20 issues related to further improvement of the system of multilateral military cooperation within the CIS area.
June 10 – Police in Tajikistan reportedly found two underground madrasahs near Dushanbe. The unregistered Islamic religious schools were discovered close to the capital after investigators interrogated the alleged kidnapper of a five-year-old boy. According to the Interior Ministry’s website, the 5-year-old Muhammadjon Toshev disappeared after he went outside in the Ispechak neighborhood on June 9. Parents of the boy reported his missing to the police station in Dushanbe’s Sino district on the same day. Police officers found out that unknown man took him away. The 48-year-old resident of the Shahrinav district, Abdusalom Rajabov, was detained on June 10 on suspicion of having committed that crime. Muhammadjon was returned to his parents on the same day. The Interior Ministry’s website says that medical examination established that Abdusalom Rajabov is mentally ill;
– INTERPOL Secretary General Ronald K. Noble was on his first official visit to Tajikistan. While in Dushanbe, he met the country’s Minister of Internal Affairs, Ramazon Rahimov, to review security challenges in Tajikistan and Central Asia and ascertain how INTERPOL’s global tools and network can further help address these. In addition to terrorism and border security, drug smuggling and human trafficking were key issues on the agenda during Mr. Noble’s visit.
June 12 – The first Credit Information Bureau of Tajikistan was officially launched in Dushanbe. The long-awaited establishment of the credit information sharing system has become possible thanks to the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Azerbaijan-Central Asia Financial Markets Infrastructure Advisory Services Project (ACAFI) with funding from the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).
June 13 – Tajik President Emomali Rahmon received Mr. Xiaoyu Zhao, Vice-President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). According to the Tajik president’s official website, the sides discussed a broad range of issues related to state and prospect of further expansion of cooperation between Tajikistan and the Bank;
– Members of Tajikistan’s lower house (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament unanimously voted for amendments proposed by the government to the country’s laws on local government and legal status of members of local councils. Under these amendments, parliamentary immunity of members of regional, city and district legislatures (Majlis) is canceled.
June 14 – Tajik President Emomali Rahmon received visiting World Bank Regional Director for Central Asia, Mr. Saroj Kumar Jha. According to the Tajik president’s official website, the sides discussed a broad range of issues related to support for socioeconomic reforms in the country, anti-crisis measures taken by the Tajik government, construction of the Roghun hydroelectric power plant (HPP), etc.
June 17 – The case of known Tajik businessman and former minister of industry Zayd Saidov was classified as “secret.” Zayd Saidov is now held at the pretrial detention facility of State Committee for National Security (SCNS). Zayd Saidov, who is the leader of Tajikistan”s unregistered New Tajikistan party, was detained on May 19 on charges of corruption. He has been stripped of his parliamentary immunity. On May 22, a court in Dushanbe’s Firdavsi district issued the arrest warrant for Zayd Saidov. He was ordered held in pretrial detention for up to two months. The court also ruled that Zayd Saidov cannot be released on bail. Saidov denies any wrongdoing and says his case is politically motivated.
June 17-20 – President Rahmon visited the northern province of Sughd.
June 18 – The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), in conjunction with the Aga Khan Foundation USA and the Pamir Energy Company, inaugurated newly-constructed power transmission lines. According to the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe, expanding cross-border distribution lines promotes regional energy cooperation, increases regional economic activity, and facilitates the development of small-scale commercial enterprises. The new power transmission lines will increase electricity distribution across the border from Tajikistan to Afghanistan and meet the energy needs of the Shugnan District in Afghanistan’s Badakhshan Province. USAID, through its Central Asia Regional Energy Security, Efficiency, and Trade project, is providing $785,000 to extend cross-border transmission lines to Viyod village in the Shugnan district, and to two Sarchashma sub-villages, Tizhmoy and Pidrud, in Afghanistan.
June 19 – New charge was officially brought – large-scale fraud — was officially brought against Zayd Saidov.
June 19-23 – A Chinese delegation, led by Mr. Liu Keqing, Mayor of Xiamen, was on a visit to Tajikistan. On June 20, Mr. Liu Keqing was received by Tajik President Emomali Rahmon. According to the Tajik president’s official website, the two discussed issues related to expansion of bilateral cooperation between Dushanbe and Xiamen. On the same day, Dushanbe Mayor Mahmadsaid Ubaidulloyev and Xiamen Mayor Liu Keqing signed a sister-city agreement here.
June 21 – Tajik President Emomali Rahmon met here with Mr. Sven Alkalaj, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). According to the Tajik president’s official website, the sides considered a broad range of issues related to state and prospects of further expansion of cooperation between Tajikistan and the United Nations, regional cooperation, and proposals on further strengthening of the UN Special Program for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA). The sides also discussed preparations for international high-level conference on water cooperation that is expected to take place in Dushanbe from August 20-21 this year;
– UNESCO added Tajikistan National Park (Mountains of the Pamirs) to the World Heritage List at its meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
June 21-22 – The European Union (EU) Special Representative for Central Asia, Ambassador Patricia Flor, paid a two-day visit to Tajikistan. On June 21, she met Foreign Minister Zarifi, Chairman of Lower House of Parliament Zuhurov, Chairman of the Central Commission for Elections and Referenda (CCER) Shermahmad Shohiyon and representatives of the political opposition. On 22 June, Ms. Flor visited Khorog and met with the governor of Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region and the mayor of Khorog. Ambassador Flor underlined that the EU supports the efforts of the government and the local communities to promote the socio-economic development of Gorno Badakhshan and good cross-border relations with Afghanistan.
June 23 – Gazprom International, an affiliate of Russia’s state-controlled company Gazprom, reportedly completed the drilling of the Shahrinva-1P wildcat well at the Sariqamish field, Shahrinav district in central Tajikistan, some 36 kilometers southwest of Dushanbe. They reportedly reached the target well depth of 6,300 meters. The Shahrinav-1P wildcat well is expected to allow getting parametric information that will be used for exploration of similar objects, for example at the Western Shohambari field. Gazprom now has licenses to explore two oil-and-gas reserves in Tajikistan: Sariqamish and the Western Shohambari.
June 23-25 – Tajik President Emomali Rahmon was on a state visit to Kuwait. Six cooperation documents were signed during this visit. The forum of Tajik and Kuwaiti entrepreneurs, which brought together more than 150 entrepreneurs from both nations, was held in Kuwait City on June 24. A ceremony of an official opening of Tajik Embassy in Kuwait City, the capital of the State of Kuwait took place on June 24.
June 24 – Former regional reporter for the Dushanbe-based independent weekly
Nouri Zindagi
(Light of Life) in Sughd province, Mahmadyusuf Ismoilov, was detained. According to the Tajik Interior Ministry, Ismoilov is accused of demanding bribes from two residents of the northern province of Sughd. Criminal proceedings were instituted against Mahmadyusuf Ismoilov under the provisions of Article 250 (1) of Tajikistan’s Penal Code – extortion; an investigation is under way. It is not the first time police have detained Mahmadyusuf Ismoilov. We will recall that Mahmadyusuf Ismoilov was arrested in November 2010 on separate counts of defamation, insult, and incitement to hatred over an article titled, “Asht Is Being Destroyed. Who Is Responsible for It?” In the article, published in the August 2010 issue of
Nouri Zindagi
, Ismoilov criticized government and law enforcement officials in the Asht district in the northern Sughd province of Tajikistan, and cited corruption, abuse of office, and mismanagement of funds. Ismoilov who was facing 16 years imprisonment on charges related to his professional activities was released on October 14, 2011. The Khujand court, however, barred Mahmadyusuf Ismoilov from journalistic work for three years, and ordered him to pay a fine in the amount of 35,000 somoni for causing moral damages.
June 25 – Tajik security officers reportedly discovered and liquidated the shelter for Afghan drug smugglers in the Dudara area, the Shouroobod district in Khatlon province. According to the State Committee for National Security (SCNS)’s press center, more than 24 kilograms of cannabis, food products, communications means and a large amount of mountain goat skins were found in the shelter;
June 26 – Tajik Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi met in Tehran with his Iranian counterpart Ali-Akbar Salehi. According to the Tajik MFA information department, the two discussed state and prospects of further expansion of bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and Iran. Zarifi and Salehi reportedly assessed positively the dynamic expansion of bilateral cooperation between their countries, traditionally based on principles of friendship and mutual understanding. While in Tehran, Tajik Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi also met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reportedly noted in the course of the talks that relations between Iran and Tajikistan are exemplary for other nations;
– Tajik Minister of Defense, Sherali Khairulloyev, attended a meeting of defense ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek. The sides reportedly discussed regional security issues. The ministers reportedly focused on strengthening military cooperation as international combat forces leave Afghanistan by the end of next year. The officials also reviewed a 2014-15 cooperation plan.
June 27 – Tajikistan celebrated the National Unity Day. In his televised speech to mark the 16th anniversary of the end of the 1992-97 civil war, President Rahmon has called on political parties and the media “not to forget their responsibility for social stability,” when assessing the current situation in Tajikistan.
