China determined to settle in Kyrgyzstan

Some information from here in French, interesting but unsourced so I can't recommend where to go from here for more background.

China determined to settle in Kyrgyzstan

China, the second economic power in the world, has recognized the importance of soft power for some time...among its targets are found its neighbors in Central Asia, with Kyrgyzstan in the centre of them, which has a growing number of Confucius Institutes...The first was created in the country in 2007, quickly followed by a second the next year. With their success, these two institutes have developed and are looking now to give to their Kyrgyz students the academic support for a year of study in China, which represents a sum of around $9,000 per student...many cases have been reported of former students of the Confucius Institute who have learned Chinese on top of Russian, and today earn salaries up to five times higher than the national average.

Ties between the two countries seem to have been reinforced in recent years. China and Kyrgyzstan signed an agreement in April to promote peace and regional security in the fight against terrorism, drug traffic and organized crime...but more importantly, China has opened in Kyrgyzstan many commercial centres and mines, and has managed to make it irresistably dependant on its exports.

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Should the Iranian government be worried about the government overthrow in Kyrgyzstan?

That didn't take long. The anti-government protests in Kyrgyzstan only took slightly over a day to overthrow the government and the president has fled the country. And less than a year after the last election with its confident "Bakiyev of course" campaign. Here's a quick video from Russia Today with some background.



Doing a search on Twitter now for #Iranelection + Kyrgyzstan shows that many are already drawing parallels between Kyrgyzstan and Iran, and that Kyrgyzstan is "showing Iran how it's done" in overthrowing a repressive government. So is drawing parallels warranted? Here are some arguments for both sides.

The Iranian government doesn't need to be worried about Kyrgyzstan: Kyrgyzstan isn't located next to Iran (you have to cross two other countries in order to get there and the total distance between the two capitals is greater than 2000 km), and the two governments were never particularly close; Kyrgyzstan is next to China, is not an energy producer, and its main geopolitical value to its larger neighbors lies in being a host to bases from the US and Russia. Also, Kyrgyzstan speaks Kyrgyz, a Turkic language. Iran has much closer ties with Tajikistan, a country that speaks Persian (though written in the Cyrillic script), so a government overthrow in Tajikistan would have been a much bigger deal.


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The Iranian government does need to be worried about Kyrgyzstan: In spite of the above, the idea of a new government in a nearby country formed by protests more than half a year after a disputed election in the summer of 2009 does seem eerily similar, and if a new government is quickly set up that the rest of the world deems legitimate, Iran would effectively either have to deal with a government set up in more or less the same way many in its own opposition wanted to see carried out, or take a stand on its own that such governments are not to be recognized and be the odd man out. It's safe to say that given the option of the status quo until yesterday and a new government in Kyrgyzstan, the Iranian government would prefer the former. The safest route for the Iranian government would probably be the bland course - issue a few statements about being concerned about violence, then establish official relations with the new country but without any high-key statements, say that it's a Kyrgyz internal issue and Iran doesn't get involved with the internal affairs of other countries if questioned.

The Iranian government has already issued a statement which seems to be along these lines. Note though that apparently the interior minister has not been killed.

What will also be important will be how free and democratic the new government in Kyrgyzstan happens to be. If political freedom there is improved and Kyrgyzstan clearly looks better off after the previous government's overthrow then it will continue to be an example of dictatorship to democracy (a book that has been translated into Persian and is often read by opposition supporters) over the coming years; if not, then it will serve merely as an example that the new boss is often the same as the old one.

It will be interesting to see what Mohsen Sazegara says about the situation over the next few days in his daily video updates, and I'll keep an eye on anything that deserves to be mentioned there.

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Kyrgyz election poster - "Bakiev of course"

The presidential election in Kyrgyzstan is underway right now and the opposition candidate (and former president) isn't happy about alleged voting irregularities. I don't know enough about the election to add anything to the debate, but this election poster is interesting:

You can see on the poster that it says "Albette Bakiev" or "Bakiev of course", which is the same word used in Turkish and Persian and most (maybe even all) Turkic languages as well. In my opinion it's only a matter of time before all Turkic languages eventually switch over to the Latin alphabet, and the most recent countries to have done so have been Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The three largest languages still yet to switch over to the Latin alphabet are Kazakh, Kyrgyz and Uyghur, and Tatar would if they could but Russia has made this illegal so the only place where Tatar can be written in the Latin alphabet is online. Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan intend to switch over but as far as I know there is no exact date set as yet. The Kazakh Wikipedia can be read in both Latin and Arabic letters as well as Cyrillic.

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Kyrgyzstan: BBC Radio shut down, Russia increasing military strength in Kant, earthquake, AIDS on the increase

City centre in Kant, Kyrgyzstan.

A search for articles in the Turkish language media on Kyrgyzstan doesn't really show any good news. Here it is anyway:

• Lots of radio being shut down in Kyrgyzstan, and today (6 December) that includes BBC. A news agency called 24 KG said that BBC's four local radio frequencies that had been broadcasting in the Kyrgyz language have been shut down by the Kyrgyzstan State Radio and Television Institution. No statement was made by them on why, and BBC says that it will work towards solving the problem and talking with authorities. Other radio shut down this year includes broadcasts by Radio Free Europe, and Russian magazines such as Vecherniy Bishkek (Вечерний Бишкек).
• Russia is increasing its military strength in Kyrgyzstan (5 December) by doubling the budget for the air force base in the city of Kant. 1.7 billion rubles ($60 million) is going to the base for 2009-2010, which is double the rate for the past five years. Being added to the base are An-26 transport planes and Su-27 fighter planes, plus 400 extra soldiers in addition to the 500 already there.
• A bit more on the history of BBC in Kyrgyzstan: BBC broadcasting in Russian started there in 1994, and broadcasts in Kyrgyz began in 1996.
• On 3 December there was an earthquake in Kyrgyzstan around 10:26, 120 km from the capital of Bishkek in the Tanrı Mountains (Tanrı = God). At its centre the earthquake was a 6 on the Richter scale, 3-4 in the capital, and between 4 and 5 in the city/district of Kara Balta (= Black Axe).
• AIDS is on the increase in Kyrgyzstan, with 1931 people with the virus in 2008.

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65 dead in earthquake in Kyrgyzstan / Kırgızistan'da deprem: 65 ölü

The oblast/province of Osh, population 1.2 million or so.

Source: bbcturkish.com (Turkish)

65 dead in earthquake in Kyrgyzstan / Kırgızistan'da deprem: 65 ölü

Yetkililer güneydeki Oş eyaletinde meydana gelen 6,6 büyüklüğündeki depremde en az 65 kişinin öldüğünü 100 civarında binanın çöktüğünü bildiriyor. Ölü sayısının artmasından kaygı duyuluyor.

Authorities say that at least 65 people have been killed and around 100 buildings have collapsed in a 6.6 Richter scale earthquake in the centre of the southern province/oblast (Ош областы) of Osh. There are worries of an increase in the number of dead.

Dün gece yerel saatle 22.00 sularında meydana gelen depremde güneydeki Oş eyaletinde 100 kadar bina yerle bir olurken, kurtarma ekipleri çalışmalarını sürdürüyorlar.

The earthquake happened yesterday at around 10 p.m. local time, where 100 buildings were flattened in the oblast of Osh. Rescue teams are continuing to work.

Depremin en çok Çin sınırına yakın dağlık bölgede bulunan Nura adlı bir köyü etkilediği bildiriliyor.

The earthquake affected the village of Nura, in a mountainous region closest to the Chinese border.

Yetkililer köye ulaşmanın çok zor olması nedeniyle kurtarma çalışmalarının yavaş ilerlediğini söylüyorlar.

Authorities say that rescue efforts are progressing slowly due to difficulties in reaching the village.

Fransız Haber Ajansı AFP'ye demeç veren Olağanüstü Hal Bakanı Kamçibek Taşiyev, "Korkunç bir manzarayla karşılaştık. Nura köyü tamamen yerle bir olmuş, çok sayıda yaralı var" diye konuştu.

Minister of Emergencies Kamchibek Tashiyev gave a statement to the French News Agency AFP where he said that "We have encountered a dreadful spectacle. The village of Nura has been completely flattened, and many are injured."

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Turkey to modernize Kyrgyz army / Kırgızistan ordusunun modernizasyonunu Türkiye yapacak

Osh (Ош), Kyrgyzstan's second-largest city.

Today's news translated from Turkish is from sabah.com.tr. Sabah is one of the better news sites for those learning Turkish, as each article has an automatically-generated sound file as well using text-to-speech (TTS), which is always slightly awkward but certainly better than nothing for the language student.

It's not mentioned in the article but just in case you didn't know, Turkey and Kyrgyzstan speak a very similar language which makes this bilateral cooperation that much easier.

Kırgızistan ordusunun modernizasyonunu Türkiye yapacak

Turkey to modernize Kyrgyz army

Taşkent ile askeri alanda sıkı bir işbirliği içerisinde olan Türkiye, Kazakistan ordusunun modernizasyonunu da gerçekleştirecek.

Turkey, which has close cooperation with Tashkent, will also carry out modernization of the army of Kazakhstan.

Kırgızistan Dışişleri Bakanlığı'ndan yapılan açıklamada, Türkiye'nin Kırgızistan Silahlı Kuvvetleri'nin (KSK) modernizasyonu amacıyla bir milyon dolarlık hibe yardımında bulunacağı bildirildi.

A statement from the Foreign Ministry of Kyrgyzstan says that a one million dollar grant will be given for Turkey's modernization of Kyrgyzstan's Armed Forces (KSK).

Yeni askeri yardım paketine ilişkin anlaşmanın ise Temmuz ayı başında iki ülke ilgilileri arasında imzalandığı belirtildi. Anlaşma çerçevesinde Türkiye, KSK'ye bir milyon dolarlık hibe yardımı yapacak.

The agreement on the new military aid package was signed between the two nations in the beginning of July. In the agreement Turkey will give one million dollars of aid to the KSK.

Kırgızistan ile Türkiye arasında 1993 yılında imzalanan askeri işbirliği anlaşması çerçevesinde, Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri (TSK) tarafından Kırgız tarafına teknik ve levazım yardımı yapıyor ve ve askeri personele eğitim veriliyor. Bu çerçevede, Türkiye'de değişik askeri okullarda Kırgız öğrenciler eğitim görürken, Kırgızistan'da ise TSK mobil eğitim ekipleri tarafından başta terörle mücadele olmak üzere değişik branşlarda askeri eğitim veriliyor.

In the 1993 military cooperation agreement signed between Kyrgyzstan and Turkey, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) gives technical and material aid, and trains military personnel. In this framework Kyrgyz students are trained in various schools in Turkey, and in Kyrgyzstan military training is carried out by TSK's mobile training teams in various areas starting with combatting terrorism.

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By the way, here's an example of how a lot of Turkish words that begin with y are more like a Turkish c in Kyrgyz:

TÜRKİYE TÜRKÇESİ (Y)	KIRGIZ TÜRKÇESİ (C)
yıl	Cıl = жыл
yağmur	camğır=жамгыр
Yaka	caka= жака
yalamak	caloo= жалоо
Yaş	caş= жаш
yaşdaş	castaş= жашташ
Yat	cat= жат
yedi	ceti= жети
Yel	cel= жел
yeni	cañı= жаңы
Yeniden	cañıdan= жаңыдан
yer	cer= жер
Yumak (yıkamak)	cuu-= жуу
Yıldız	cıldız=жылдыз
Yirmi	cıyırma=жыйырма
Yok (hayır)	cok= жок
Yol	col= жол
Yumurta	cumurtka= жумуртка
Yumşak	cumşak= жумшак
Yüz	cüz=жүз

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Turkey parliamentary delegation has awesome time in Kyrgyzstan

That's not a direct translation of the title of course. It does look like a fun way to visit Kyrgyzstan, though as with all political visits I certainly don't envy the short time period. I generally consider any visit under a week to be mostly a waste of time, but then again I'm not an elected member of parliament.

Today's news is from Hurriyet.

TBMM heyeti Kırgızistan'da

Turkish parliament delegation in Kyrgyzstan

Türkiye-Kırgızistan Parlamentolararası Dostluk Grubu Başkanı İbrahim Hasgür, Kırgızistan'da en çok Türk iş adamlarının yatırım yaptığını, en çok eğitim yatırımı yapanların da yine Türk iş adamları ve Türkiye Devleti olduğunu söyledi.

İbrahim Hasgür, the head of the Turkey-Kyrgyzstan Interparliamentary Friendship Group said that Turkish businessmen made the most investments in Kyrgyzstan, and that Turkish businessmen and the Turkish state made the most investments into education in the country as well.

Kırgızistan'da bulunan Türkiye-Kırgızistan Parlamentolararası Dostluk Grubu heyeti, başkent Bişkek'te üçüncü günkü temasları çerçevesinde Dışişleri Bakanı Ednan Karabayev ile görüştü.

The delegation from the Turkey-Kyrgyzstan Interparliamentary Friendship Group met with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ednan Karabayev on their third day of meetings.

Bişkek Büyükelçisi Serpil Alpman ile Kırgızistan-Türkiye Parlamentolararası Dostluk Grubu Başkanı Jangoroz Kanimetov'un eşlik ettiği Türk heyetinin Karabayev ile görüşmesinde konuşan Hasgür, "Kırgızistan'da en çok yatırım yapan Türk iş adamlarıdır. Aynı zamanda en çok eğitim yatırımı yapan yine Türk iş adamları ve Türkiye Devletidir" dedi.

Serpil Alpan the ambassador in Bishkek and Jangoroz Kanimetov the head of the Kyrgyzstan-Turkey Interparliamentary Friendship Group were accompanied by the Turkish delegation. In the meeting with Karabayev Hasgür said that "Turkish businessmen are the ones that make the most investment in Kyrgyzstan. At the same time Turkish businessmen and the Turkish state are the ones that make the largest investment in education."

Karabayev de Kırgızistan'ın Türkiye ile her alanda başarılı işbirliği çalışmaları olduğunu belirtti. Kırgızistan'ın Türk yatırımcılarını beklediğini ve hükümet tarafından Türk yatırımcısına en elverişli koşulların sunulacağını belirten Karabayev, Hükümetlerarası Karma Ekonomik Komisyonu çalışmalarının canlandırılması gereğinin altını çizdi.

Karabayev also said that Kyrgyzstan and Turkey had successful cooperation in every field. Stating also that Kyrgyzstan expected Turkish investment and that the government would provide the most suitable terms to Turkish investors, Karabayev also noted that there was a need for activity of the Interadministrational Mixed Economic Commission.

Görüşme, daha sonra basına kapalı devam etti. Heyet bugün Ata-Beyit Anıt Mezarlığını ziyaret edecek, daha sonra Meclis Başkanı Aytibay Tagayev'in onuruna vereceği akşam yemeğine katılacak. Türk milletvekili heyeti bu gece Türkiye'ye dönecek.

The meeting thereafter continued closed to the press. The delegation will visit the Ata-Beyit Memorial Graveyard, and afterwards will participate in a dinner to be given in the honour of Parliament Speaker Aytibay Tagayev. The Turkish parliament delegation will return to Turkey this evening.

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By the way, want to know what the Kyrgyz language sounds like? Here you are! Listen to any one of the mp3s there to get a good listen. I think it's my favourite-sounding one besides standard Turkish.

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Turkish Gendarmerie to train soldiers in Kyrgyzstan

There's never usually that much news from Kyrgyzstan so this is fun. Here's the source.

TÜRK JANDARMASI KIRGIZİSTAN ASKERİNİ EĞİTECEK

Turkish Gendarmerie to train Kyrgyz soldiers

Türkiye Jandarma Genel Komutanlığı'na bağlı Jandarma Eğitim Komutanlığı'nın, Kırgızistan Silahlı Kuvvetlerine bağlı birliklere eğitim desteği vereceği bildirildi.

Turkey's Gendarmerie Training Commandership, connected to the Turkish Gendarmerie General Command, will be giving training support to Kyrgyzstan Armed Forces units.

Kırgızistan Sınır Koruma Birliği Basın Merkezi'nde yapılan açıklamada, Türkiye Jandarma Eğitim Komutanlığı'ndan bir heyetin başkent Bişkek'te temaslarda bulunduğu bildirildi. Jandarma Eğitim Komutanlığı'ndan Kurmay Albay Fahri Kara başkanlığındaki Türk askeri heyetinin, Kırgızistan Sınır Koruma Birliği Başkanı General Zamir Moldaşev ile bir görüştüğü belirtildi. Taraflar arasında yapılan görüşme sonrası Türk askerinin Kırgız silahlı kuvvetlerine eğitim vermesi konusunda anlaşma sağlandığı ifade edildi. Jandarma Eğitim Komutanlığı ekiplerince Kırgızistan'da verilecek eğitim kurslarının yaklaşık 7 hafta süreceği kaydedildi. Kurlarda asayiş, terörle mücadele ve toplumsal eylemlerle mücadele gibi çok maksatlı eğitimleri kapsayacağı açıklandı. Askeri eğitim kurslarına Kırgızistan Sınırı Koruma Birliği askerlerinin yanı sıra, İçişleri Bakanlığına bağlı bazı ekiplerinin de katılacağı belirtildi.

In a statement in the Kyrgyzstan Border Defence Unit Press Center, the Turkish Gendarmerie Training Commandership has a delegation in contact in Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek. The Turkish military delegation under Fahri Kara, the general staff colonel from the Gendarmerie Training Commandership, met with Kyrgyzstan's Border Defence Unit Chief General Zamir Moldaşev. After the meeting between the two sides there was a declaration that they had reached an agreement where the Turkish soldiers would train the Kyrgyz armed forces. The training courses given by the Gendarmerie Training Commandership to Kyrgyzstan will take about seven weeks. In the courses will be included such activities as purposeful training on public security, fighting against terrorism, and fighting with social operations. Participating along with soldiers from the Kyrgyzstan Border Defence in the military training courses will also be a few teams from the Ministry of the Interior.

(Cihan Haber Ajansı) 07.06.2008 15:25 [1390278]

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