DUSHANBE, August 1, 2013, Asia-Plus:
July 2 – The military exercise, involving servicemen of the Border Guard Department, the Ministry of Defense, the Interior Ministry and officers from the State Committee for National Security (SCNS)’s offices in Khatlon’s districts along with armored vehicles and combat helicopters, was conducted in the Panj district, Khatlon province. The purpose of the exercise was reportedly in rehearsing coordination and interaction in missions to repulse sudden enemy attacks. Commander of Tajik border troops, Lieutenant-General Sherali Mirzo, was in overall command of the war game;
-Tajik President Emomali Rahmon received Fatah Geidarov, Minister for Emergency Situations and Civil Defense of Azerbaijan. The sides discussed issues related to establishment of cooperation and exchange of experiences of the two nations in mitigating effects of anthropogenic disasters as well as training of personnel for Tajikistan’s Committee for Emergency Situations and Civil Defense (CES);
– Tajik opposition political parties and representatives of civil society held a meeting at headquarters of the Islamic Revival Party (IRP) in Dushanbe. They set up the Working Group (WG) for participation in the upcoming presidential election in the country. The WG members include IRP leader Muhiddin Kabiri, Social-Democratic Party (SDP) leader Rahmatillo Zoirov, SDP deputy head Shokirjon Hakimov, prominent Tajik religious figure Hoji Akbar Turajonzoda, as well as representatives of the Dushanbe Barristers’ Association and some other public figures.
July3 – Tajik President Emomali Rahmon today had a phone conversation with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev. The sides exchanged views on state and prospects of further expansion of bilateral cooperation between their countries;
– A Pakistani economic delegation visited Tajikistan. The delegation members reportedly included top managers of Pakistan’s largest cement producers. Issues related to Pakistani cement deliveries to Tajikistan were among major topics of a meeting of representatives of Tajik and Pakistani business communities. The sides discussed priorities of cooperation between entrepreneurs of the two countries as well as the signing of a trilateral cooperation agreement between the Chambers of Commerce of Tajikistan, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
July 4 – President Emomali Rahmon met with clerics in Dushanbe. Imam-khatibs (leaders of congregational prayer in mosque), sarkhatibs (incumbents of the mosque), members of the Shuroi Ulemo (A council that issues fatwas and religious guidance to Islamic religious organizations), senior representatives from the Committee on Religious Affairs as well as teachers and students from the Tajik Islamic Institute attended the meeting. Speaking at the meeting, Emomali Rahmon noted that he had ordered to provide official salaries for imam-khatibs and sarkhatibs.
July 5 – Six cases of anthrax were registered in Sughd province – four cases in Ayni district and two cases in Panjakent district. One of anthrax patients from Ayni district died.
July 5-6 – A delegation of the Communist party of China (CPC), led by Zhao Leji, the head of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, visited Tajikistan. The delegation members held talks with senior representatives of Tajik ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP). On July 5, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon received Zhao Leji, the head of the CPS delegation, in Qurghon Teppa, the capital of Khatlon province. The two reportedly discussed state and prospects of further expansion of bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and China.
July 5-7 – President Emomali Rahmon visited the southern province of Khatlon. The main purpose of the visit was for the president to get acquainted with the conditions of life in the province and inaugurate a number of new economic and social facilities.
July 8 – A large arms cache, which is a legacy of the country’s disastrous civil war in the Nineties, was discovered in the Romit Gorge. The arms cache containing one sub-machine gun, three assault rifles Kalashnikov, two pistols, three hand grenades and more than 2,000 bullets of different caliber has been discovered by police officers in the territory of the village Jires;
– Six persons were killed and at least five others were injured as two cars collided with each other in the northern province of Sughd;
– Tajik Prime Minister Oqil Oiqlov met here with Mr. Xin Zhang, Chairman of the Board of Directors of China’s Tebian Electric Apparatus Stock Company Limited (TBEA). The sides reportedly discussed issues related to construction of a new combined heat and power (CHP) plant in Dushanbe. The first 50 MW unit of the Dusahnbe-2 CHP plant is expected to be introduced into operation by the end of this year.
July 9 – The holy Muslim month of Ramadan started;
– An operation carried out by officers from the Interior Ministry’s office in the Qumsangir district, Khatlon province led to the arrest of two Afghan drug traffickers. More than 33 kilograms of hashish as well hunting gun K-16 with four bullets and the Kalashnikov assault rifle magazine containing four bullets were confiscated from them.
July 10 – Three young Tajik men were arrested in what is being called the first-ever online hacking case inside Tajikistan. The suspects are accused of hacking into the computer network of a subsidiary of Sweden”s TeliaSonera mobile-telephone operator. Authorities say they stole information from the company Indigo-Tajikistan in order to make fake subscriber identity module (SIM) cards for mobile phones. The suspects have been charged with illegal access to online information and the modification of online information that caused an estimated $150,000 in damages. If found guilty, the men could face up to two years in jail along with large fines and compensation.
July 13 – A meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) took place at the Cholpon-Ata resort town, Kyrgyzstan. In a statement released after the meeting, the participants reportedly noted that SCO members hold the same or similar positions on major global and regional issues, which is conducive to the development of their partnership.
July 15 – Tajik opposition journalist, Dodojon Atovulloyev, was denied entry at Moscow”s Sheremetyevo Airport. He was asked to buy a ticket to Prague, Czech Republic, the city he arrived from. The airport officials did not elaborate on why the journalist was not allowed to enter Russia. Tajik authorities say they have nothing to do with the situation. Atovulloyev is well-known for his reports criticizing Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and members of his family.
July 16 – A new case of anthrax registered in the Bobojonghafurov district brought the total number of anthrax–infected persons in the northern province of Sughd to seven.
July 17 – Tajik President Emomali Rahmon met here with Ms. Laura Frigenti, World Bank Chief of Staff, who will hold the position of Vice President for the World Bank”s Europe and Central Asia region in the fall. In the course of the talks, the sides reportedly discussed state and prospects of further expansion of cooperation between Tajikistan and the World Bank;
– A court in the Asht district, Sughd province sentenced 27-year-old Adham Abdulloyev and 20-year-old Sodiq Tourobov to 20 and 15 years in prison respectively. They were found guilty of being members of the Jundullah (Soldiers of God) Islamic group. It was the first time anyone in Tajikistan has been jailed for membership in Jundullah, which is a Pakistani extremist group. The two had first joined the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan but changed their allegiance and became members of the Pakistani group. Abdulloyev underwent training in Waziristan, Pakistan. Both men reportedly returned to Tajikistan at the start of 2013.
July 18 – Tajik officials say the body of the missing leader of ethnic Uzbeks in Khatlon province, Salim Shamsiddinov, may have been found in a river in neighboring Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan reportedly informed Tajik authorities that the body was found in April but did not explain the delay in passing along the information. The description of the body matches that of Shamsiddinov, who vanished in March. Amnesty International wrote on March 26 that Shamsiddinov’s disappearance “could have been a politically motivated.”
July 19 – The Dushanbe Economic Court that considered the case, pitting Tojiron Company against
Imrouz News
and Ms. Fayziniso Vohidova, a lawyer from Sughd province, ruled that Ms. Vohidova must pay 30,000 somoni compensation to Tojiron. Tojiron Company filed a libel lawsuit against
Imrouz News
and Ms. Fayziniso Vohidova in late February, asking for 1.00 somoni from the newspaper and 50,000 somoni from Ms. Fayziniso Vohidova as compensation for moral damage that was caused by an article published by the newspaper. The lawsuit stemmed from an article “Murdafurushi dar Shirkati Tojiron” that was published in the newspaper on January 17. The article was about a fatal traffic accident, involving one of Tojiron’s gasoline tankers, which took place on the Dushanbe-Khujand highway.
July 20 – A new oil refinery, which has a capacity to process some 100,000 tons of oil per year, was inaugurated in the Shahrinav district. Russia will reportedly supply the crude oil for the refinery;
– A delegation of Kyrgyzstan’s Interior Ministry, led by the First Deputy Interior Minister, Kursan Asanov, visited Dushanbe. The Kyrgyz delegation met here with Nourillo Oripov, the First Deputy Interior Minister of Tajikistan. The sides reportedly discussed issues related to cooperation between the interior ministries of the two countries in combating terrorism, drug trafficking, extremism and organized crime. In the course of the talks, the sides also exchanged views on the progress of implementation of the police reform programs in both countries.
July 24 – A march was held in Khorog, the capital of the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) at 4:00 am to honor the victims of last year’s events. 300 people participated in the march; they brought flowers to the places of tragedy in Khorog’s UPD and Khlebzavod neighborhoods and lit candles. According to Khorog residents, dozens of civilians were killed during the government military operation carried out in Khorog last summer.
July 30 – A government session, presided over by President Emomali Rahmon, was held in Dushanbe. The session approved the rules of issuance and registration of taxpayer identification numbers (TINs) and determination of registration marks. The session also considered and endorsed draft laws requiring amendments to the country’s laws on finance, banking activity, tourism, and electronic communications;
– Tajik President Emomali Rahmon received commander of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), General Lloyd Austin. The sides discussed a number of issues related to bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and the United States, in particular in the field of defense and providing regional security.
