Anyone who has been to Turkey knows that there's no shortage of meat dishes on offer in the country. Which might help explain why the government may be getting ready to intervene in what appears to be a growing meat crisis. While the price of red meat has been dropping in other countries in the region, in Turkey it's on the rise. That's bad new for any government. From a report in Today's Zaman:
A growing shortage of red meat is the reported cause of the extraordinary price increases in the market. Some parties have suggested that the government lift a ban on red meat imports, instituted eight years ago as a result of the mad cow disease scare, while others say the best solution to address the current shortage would be an increase in stockbreeding. Turkey currently does not allow imported meat into the country out of safety and health concerns.
Some papers reported on Saturday that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had ordered the “handling of the red meat issue,” which could mean that red meat dealers will face state intervention in the market. Soon after the news broke, the price of red meat saw a slight decline. Amid discussions over a prolonged “price crisis” in the domestic red meat market, Agriculture Minister Mehdi Eker signaled on Saturday that the government could finally intervene to re-establish balance in the markets.
Eker said his ministry has discovered that “some speculators played with the prices” and would intervene to re-establish balance in the market. He said the Ministry of Agriculture had granted red meat dealers one week to reduce the prices to “favorable levels,” adding: “We began a comprehensive market survey three days ago; this will be completed within a week. We will define what steps will be taken based on the results of the survey.”
If a Russian-backed revolution forces the president of a former Soviet state to flee, one of the last places you'd expect him to go is Belarus. But Minsk appears to be a surprisingly congenial place for Russia-bashing. Kyrgyzstan's deposed president Kurmanbek Bakiyev late last week openly suggested -- without providing much evidence -- that Russia pushed him out because of his refusal to kick the U.S. out of its air base there:
Asked about speculation that Moscow may have played a role in the uprising, Bakiyev said Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had been unhappy at his decision in 2009 to extend the lease on the U.S. base.
"They told me: 'Why are you holding on to this Manas base, this worries us, this does not suit us'," Bakiyev told reporters in Russian at a news conference.
"Russia's leadership was irritated, annoyed by the presence of the base and this factor also played a certain role."
And then on Sunday, Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko chimed in:
Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko on Sunday berated Russia for not paying for its military bases in his country and warned that he could snub the summit of a Moscow-dominated security pact next month over Kyrgyzstan....
"If someone has forgotten, Russia has two military bases on Belarussian land," Lukashenko said. "And Russia pays us zero rubles, zero kopeks and zero dollars for these bases....
Lukashenko also threatened to skip an informal summit of the Moscow-dominated Collective Security Treaty Organization, set for May 8 in Moscow, unless Kyrgyzstan's "coup d'etat" is included in the agenda....
Tajikistan's economy is growing again, but it is still hugely dependent on remittances, RIA Novosti reports.
The economy of Tajikistan grew 6.8% in the first three months of 2010 to over $890 million, with money transfers from abroad constituting one-third, Tajikistan's National Bank said on Monday.
Money transfers increased 5.6% in January-March 2010 from the same period last year, following improvements in the world economic situation and on migrant labor markets.
Some estimates say up to 50 percent of Tajikistan's workforce seeks employment abroad. Most are in Russia, giving Moscow leverage over Dushanbe.
The arrest of Vugar Khalilov, a UK national and former PR manager for ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiyev is generating some bad publicity for the new interim government. Khalilov was detained on April 12 in Bishkek and charged with money laundering. He has spent most of his detention in solitary confinement.
The case has many observers concerned that the interim government, which has promised to change Bakiyev's autocratic ways, may simply provide more of the same.
Friends say that, despite numerous requests to see a lawyer, Khalilov
was held in isolation in the headquarters of Kyrgyzstan's SNB security
service. His lawyer and Britain's consul to Kyrgyzstan were finally
allowed to see him on Wednesday. He is accused of money laundering, a
charge his supporters say is baseless and ridiculous.
A former correspondent and producer for the BBC's Russia service, Khalilov lived
in London from 2002 to 2009. He moved to Bishkek last year and set up a
western-style PR company. His clients included Kyrgyzstan's president,
Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who was overthrown on 7 April when thousands of
protesters stormed his presidential home.
...
Friends of the imprisoned journalist say he has been wrongly sucked in to the investigation into Bakiyev and his misdeeds. "He's done nothing wrong. Otherwise he would have fled the country," Khalilov's brother Azer, head of the BBC's Azerbaijani service, told the Observer.
Who's Who in Kyrgyzstan’s Interim Government Information garnered from local Russian-language media sources. List subject to rapid, unpredictable and confusing change.
Roza Otunbayeva – Head of Interim Government Born 1950 Social Democratic Party
Former vice prime minister in the first government of independent Kyrgyzstan, Roza Otunbayeva served as the country’s first ambassador to the United States. Later she was ambassador to the United Kingdom and also served as foreign minister under President Askar Akayev. She served as a UN special representative to regulate the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict during Akayev’s presidency.
In December 2004, she co-founded the Ata-Jurt (Father’s Nation) movement. For her leading role in the so-called Tulip Revolution, she became Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s first foreign minister, but the two soon fell out and she moved back into opposition politics. In 2007 she won a seat in parliament representing the Social Democratic Party and in 2009 became head of the party’s faction in parliament.
Almazbek Atambayev – Deputy for Economic Affairs Born 1956 Chairman, Social Democratic Party
A member of parliament between 1995 and 2007, Almazbek Atambayev ran for president unsuccessfully in 2000 and 2009. He took an active part in the 2005 protests that resulted in Akayev’s ouster and served as minister of economy, trade and tourism in Bakiyev’s new government. In April 2006, Atambayev resigned in protest at Bakiyev’s policies. Later, from March to November 2007, he was prime minister. Chairman of the Social Democratic Party, he ran for president in 2009.
Temir Sariev – Deputy for Finance Born 1963 Chairman, Ak-Shumkar (While Falcon) Party
An independent poll of 820 Kyrgyz finds that in the second week of post-Bakiyev Kyrgyzstan, most Kyrgyz are ready to abolish the office president.
Only 7.9 percent see having a presidential system of governance as appropriate to Kyrgyzstan. A relatively large number, 26.5 percent, do not like any existing political parties, suggesting the upcoming campaign season – parliamentary elections are tentatively scheduled for October 10 – will see an explosion in new parties.
The poll, released yesterday by Market Intelligence, a new Bishkek firm, finds that 51.8 percent of Kyrgyz feel the new government will be better than the old one.
Interim government head Roza Otunbayeva enjoys the highest popularity rating of a Kyrgyz leader at 57.6 percent, but asked to name a single leader for whom they hold positive feelings, over 13 percent choose interim government deputy for economic affairs, former Prime Minister Almazbek Atambayev. Otunbayeva, a former foreign minister, follows closely with 12.3 percent.
Former president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, now in exile in Belarus, receives a 68.3 percent negative rating.
Respondents are split on the reasons for their dissatisfaction with Bakiyev. Over 34 percent blame his “family and clan politics,” while 17 percent say they are dissatisfied with his lies and ignorance of public concerns. 8.2 percent blame corruption under his rule and 8.8 percent his increase in energy tariffs at the beginning of the year.
Over 63 percent of respondents describe the April 7 uprising as a "people's revolution"; 14.6 percent call it an "illegal coup d'etat."
Tajik authorities have begun selling vanity license plates - or admitting they are - to raise money for the country's Rogun hydropower project, Ferghana.ru reports.
The first auction in Tajikistan, selling "cool" license plates for cars, set the record: according to State Traffic Patrol Department Interior Ministry of Tajikistan, "0100" was sold for 40 000 somoni or $9100 ($1=4.36 somoni). "0707" was sold for 6500 somoni, while "0202" and "0808" were sold for 3600 somoni each.
Numbers are important in Tajikistan, where the right one can earn you a salute - rather than a phony infraction - from the country's covetous traffic cops.
In another embarrassing setback for OSCE-chair Kazakhstan, the Open Society Justice Initiative has brought Astana before the United Nations Committee Against Torture (CAT).
“Kazakhstan has failed to prevent, investigate, or punish torture by police,” a statement said, referring to the case of Alexander Gerasimov, tortured by five police officers in 2007.
Using a technique called "dry submarino," the police tied Gerasimov's hands and held him down on the floor as one officer repeatedly jammed a knee into Gerasimov's back while suffocating him with a plastic bag.
The statement continues:
"Torture is endemic in Central Asia. Police frequently rely on violence to extract confessions rather than conduct proper investigations," said James A. Goldston, executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative, which is co-counsel with the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and the Rule of Law in the complaint. "Failure to investigate or punish the perpetrators of abuse creates a vicious cycle of impunity and poisons the criminal justice system."
Gerasimov's case is the first individual complaint against Kazakhstan to be filed with the UN CAT since the country's ratification of the Convention Against Torture. It challenges Kazakhstan for torturing Gerasimov and failing to properly investigate his complaints, punish the perpetrators, or provide adequate reparations for his pain and suffering.
The alleged killer of Medet Sadyrkulov has been found dead in his prison cell, AKIpress reports. A former Bakiyev confidant and chief-of-staff, Sadyrkulov was killed in a fiery, late-night car accident last March. He was returning to Bishkek from Almaty, where he reportedly met with opposition members.
Police said Omurbek Osmonov crashed into Sadyrkulov’s car. The ensuing fire burned the bodies of Sadyrkulov, his driver, and policy adviser Sergei Slepchenko beyond recognition. Mysteriously, Sadyrkulov's driver was found in the passenger seat. Forensic investigators later confirmed their identities.
Further fueling rumor, the car was found on a road far from the Almaty-Bishkek route.
Osomonov, who was serving a 12-year sentence for the deaths, was found with 11 stab wounds on April 17, his lawyer said. At the time of his arrest and confession, many thought he was a pawn in an elaborate cover up.
Opposition politicians say the suspicious circumstances surrounding Sadyrkulov’s death suggest that he was likely the victim of a political assassination.
Sadyrkulov, who was known as "the gray cardinal" of Kyrgyz politics, resigned as chief-of-staff in January. Opposition leaders said he had been planning to support their campaign to remove Bakiyev from office.
Turkmen civil society activists are suffering for collaborating with foreign agent provocateur Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), says the World Alliance for Citizen Participation, CIVICUS. MSF closed its last Turkmenistan programs in December after ten years of frustrations and government obstructions. Earlier this month, MSF released a report criticizing “Turkmenistan's Opaque Health System” for refusing to confront the reality of tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.
During its ten years providing medical care in the country, MSF has witnessed how people’s lives are put at risk by everyday medical negligence and widespread hazardous medical practices, with blood transfusions frequently performed without screening for HIV or Hepatitis C. Healthcare workers are operating in a culture of fear with critically ill patients being turned away so as not to negatively impact sensitive statistics on maternal or infant mortality, or communicable disease. People in Turkmenistan are being failed by a healthcare system more concerned with its image abroad than with tackling the real threat to public health posed by infectious disease.
CIVICUS says that, since the report was released, authorities have begun interrogating anyone who may have helped MSF and has closed organizations – such as the Central Skin and Venereal Diseases Hospital, Center for Tuberculosis Prevention, National Center for prevention of AIDS – that were once linked to MSF.
