Eurasia News Digest, August 1-15, 2023

Russia and Central Asia

Kyrgyzstan Declares an Energy Emergency and Looks to China for Support

On August 1, amid a hot summer and the looming shadow of another winter to come, a decree signed by Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov last week declaring a three-year energy emergency went into effect. The government deemed urgent measures necessary to “bring the Kyrgyz Republic out of the energy crisis associated with climate challenges, low water inflow in the Naryn River basin, [and a] lack of generating capacity in the face of rapidly outstripping growth in energy consumption.” Click here to read... [2]

First China-Central Asia Freight Train Leaves Guiyang to Almaty

A cargo train left Dulaying International land-sea logistics port in Guiyang, southwest China’s Guizhou Province, on July 28 to Almaty, marking the launch of the first direct China-Central Asia rail-road intermodal freight train service from Guiyang. The train loaded with more than 1,500 tons of goods, including mattresses, children’s products, and ceramic tiles, will pass through the Khorgos International Center for Border Cooperation in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and eventually arrive in Almaty. It will take nearly 11 days to travel one way. Click here to read... [3]

Kyrgyzstan’s Path to Peak Repayments to China: Context and Dilemmas

Over the past 30 years, Central Asia’s geopolitical landscape has been characterized by an increasingly stable and modified Chinese presence. Alongside investments and grants, China has been generous in issuing credits and loans, accumulating into what some see as a possible “debt trap” for regional governments. The debt trap issue has become sensitive and politicized for almost every country in Central Asia. However, the nuances and intricacies of external debt differ for each country. While for Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, this topic still remains within acceptable risk boundaries, for Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, it falls under the category of state importance and significantly impacts domestic policies. Click here to read... [4]

Kazakhstan, Afghanistan Pledge to Bolster Trade, Investment Partnership

Business executives from Kazakhstan and Afghanistan signed 15 agreements, including nine for the supply of oil, worth $190.8 million at the Kazakh – Afghan business forum on Aug. 3. The dialogue platform laid the ground for new projects, trade and economic cooperation, bringing together over 300 participants, including officials, business leaders, and manufacturers from both countries. Welcoming the participants, Serik Zhumangarin, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade and Integration, reaffirmed that Kazakhstan stands for the development of Afghanistan as an independent, neutral, united, peaceful, democratic, and prosperous state and is interested in maintaining the existing trade, economic, transport, logistics and energy ties with the country. Click here to read... [5]

Islamic State terror group confirms death of its leader, names successor

Media reports said yesterday that the Islamic State (IS) terror group has confirmed the death of its leader Abu Hussein al-Husseini al-Quraishi and named Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Quraishi as his replacement. The group's spokesperson reportedly said that in an undated recording published on its Telegram channel. It appeared to be the militant group's first official announcement on his fate since Türkiye’s President Tayyip Erdogan said in April that Turkish intelligence forces had killed him in Syria. Click here to read... [6]

Rahmon heads to Turkmenistan to participate in a tripartite summit

The Tajik president’s official website emphasizes that the leaders of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are expected to discuss a number of topical issues related to collaboration and development of the region as well as ways to strengthen security and stability in Central Asia. They will also exchange views on a number of international and regional issues being of mutual interest. While in Ashgabat, Emomali Rahmon is also scheduled to hold a number of bilateral meetings. Meanwhile, BNN reports that the forthcoming summit is a historic event, marking the first time leaders of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan will gather in a trilateral format. This meeting reportedly signifies an important step towards increasing dialogue and enhancing collaboration among these nations. Click here to read... [7]

Kyrgyzstan: 60 mosques, madrasas shuttered in Osh region

The security services in Kyrgyzstan say they have shut down 39 mosques and 21 Islamic schools in the southern Osh region as part of an ongoing mass inspection of religious institutions. In its August 8 statement, the State Committee for National Security, or GKNB, offered a variety of motivations for the closures, ranging from a desire to prevent alleged extremism to building code violations. Teachers working in a number of the madrasas were unqualified and were providing unsanctioned religious education to the attending children. Click here to read... [8]

China in Eurasia Briefing: The Wider Strategy behind China's Ukraine Diplomacy

China joined international diplomatic talks in Saudi Arabia on August 6 for a two-day summit with officials from 40 countries designed to find a framework for peace in Ukraine. But does it signal a new tack for Beijing? China sent its special envoy for Eurasian affairs, Li Hui, who offered support for the summit and called for another round of talks through the format that includes countries from the West and across the Global South. The summit -- which also included representatives from the European Union, India, and the United States -- excluded Russia and centered upon putting momentum behind a 10-point peace formula developed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Click here to read... [9]

Kyrgyzstan to import 1.7 billion kWh of electricity from Turkmenistan in 2024

Kyrgyzstan is importing electricity from Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Uzbekistan, Energy Minister Taalaibek Ibraev told RIA Novosti. Electricity is coming from Uzbekistan only now, he said. This year, Kyrgyzstan is receiving Turkmen and Russian electricity. Click here to read... [10]

Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan demarcate 101.86-kilometer border section

Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have demarcated 101.86-kilometer border section. It is reported that Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan signed a draft description of the disputed section of the border. According to the document, a section with a length of 101.86 kilometers was demarcated. Click here to read... [11]

Saudi Company Installs Central Asia’s Largest Wind Turbine in Uzbekistan

CWA Power, a Saudi-listed company, installed the first wind turbine at the Bash wind farm project in the Bukhara region of Uzbekistan, the company’s press service reported on Aug. 8. The wind turbine generator (WTG) is the largest in Central Asia, with a capacity of 6.5 MW. According to ACWA Power’s Chief Portfolio Management Officer Kashif Rana, the steady progress of such projects contributes to Uzbekistan’s long-term aspirations to boost the share of renewables in the country’s energy mix. Click here to read... [12]

Kazakhstan Plans to Send 100,000 Tons of Oil to Germany This Month

Kazakhstan plans to send 100,000 tons of oil to Germany via the Druzhba oil pipeline in August, despite the shutdown of one of its strings due to a leak in Poland, reported the Kazakh Energy Ministry on Aug. 7. The Bolshoi Chagan oil pumping station received 11,600 tons from Aug. 3 to 5, intending to get the rest from Aug. 6 to Aug. 29. Karachaganak Petroleum Operating Consortium is set to transport oil toward the Samara oil delivery point between August 25-29 and for its further delivery to Adamowo-Zastawa in Germany from August 28 to 30. Click here to read... [13]

Afghanistan has repaid a debt of $ 28 million for electricity to Tajikistan

The volume of electricity exports in the first half of 2023 decreased by 85.3 million kWh compared to the same period in 2022 and amounted to 971.2 million kWh. This was announced at a press conference today by the deputy head of the company "Barki Tojik" Abdullo Kurbonzoda. According to him, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan are the main importers of Tajik electricity. Last year, Afghanistan had debts to Tajikistan in the amount of $28 million. Click here to read... [14]

Kyrgyzstan stops supply of irrigation water to Zhambyl region of Kazakhstan

Kyrgyzstan stopped supplying irrigation water to Kazakhstan’s southern Zhambyl region in August, which resulted in a threat to crops in the region. Press service of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Kazakhstan. According to the ministry, as of August 9 this year, the volume of Kirov reservoir in Talas river basin reached 32.48 million cubic meters, which is 144.8 million cubic meters less than in the same period last year (177.28 million cubic meters). Click here to read... [15]

Kazakhstan Hosts Joint Military Exercises with Uzbekistan

The second stage of the Kanzhar (Dagger) 2023 joint military exercises of the Kazakh and Uzbek armed forces took place in Aktau, Kazakhstan’s Defense Ministry reported on Aug. 12.Kazakh Defense Minister Ruslan Zhaksylykov and Uzbek Defense Minister Bakhodir Kurbanov watched the escalation of the exercise aimed at developing interoperability and a response method in case of a terrorist threat and at ensuring military security in Central Asia.Uzbekistan conducted the exercise’s first command and staff training stage with automated battle simulations earlier this month. Click here to read... [16]

South Caucasus and Iran

Strategic partnership" between Georgia and China puzzles critics

The inauguration of a "strategic partnership" between Tbilisi and Beijing has been widely celebrated by Georgian government circles but viewed warily by critics. The announcement, made last week by Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, came as a surprise to some. While the intensifying ties logically follow Georgia's newfound role as a transit and energy corridor connecting Europe and Asia, the wording of the relevant joint statement left the country's pro-Western voices fearful that it could signal a bigger geopolitical shift. Click here to read... [17]

Iran, Pakistan sign five-year plan to strengthen trade ties

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, who started a tour of Pakistan late on Wednesday, also exchanged views with his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on a range of issues, including border security and exchange of prisoners. Amir Abdollahian emphasized that the agreements reached between the two neighbouring countries to strengthen border security will provide a suitable ground for developing relations. He further noted that the meeting is aimed at facilitating the implementation of 190 documents already signed between Iran and Pakistan and reaching a sustainable and long-term cooperation deal, Press TV reported. Click here to read... [18]

Top general stresses Iran-Belarus military cooperation

General Bagheri made the remarks during a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart who visited Iran for military talks. The Iranian general pointed to the political commonalities of Iran and Belarus in the face of the West, saying, “Today, independent and aligned countries that are facing the cruel sanctions of America and the Western world must have proper relations and interactions with each other.” Click here to read... [19]

U.S. Expands Sanctions Targeting Belarusian State Entities on 'Election' Anniversary

The United States issued new sanctions against several Belarusian entities and individuals on August 9, the third anniversary of the 2020 presidential election that kept authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka in power. The U.S. Treasury Department said the new sanctions target entities involved in the regime’s “continued civil society repression,” its complicity in the Russia’s unjustified war in Ukraine, and the “enrichment” of Lukashenka. Click here to read... [20]

Azerbaijan has laid an underwater pipeline on the order of Turkmenistan

The Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company (ASCO) has laid an underwater pipeline at the Lam and Zhdanov oil field in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea, the press service of ASCO reports. Works commissioned by Turkmenistan were carried out by the pipe-laying vessel "SüleymanVəzirov".Click here to read... [21]

Western Azerbaijan Community issues statement regarding "crusaders" action in Armenia

The Western Azerbaijan Community denounces the action carried out by a group of criminals identifying themselves as "crusaders" in the heart of Yerevan, where they demanded "to give weapons to open the Lachin road by force," as well as statements made by these people about provocations on the border aimed at the Lachin district of Azerbaijan, where internally displaced people have only recently started to return, the Western Azerbaijan Community said in a statement. Click here to read... [22]

Türkiye renews anti-terror vow after losing 6 soldiers to PKK in Iraq

Türkiye has so far eliminated nearly a thousand members of the PKK terrorist group and its Syrian branch YPG in 2023 and will continue fighting terrorism “until it’s entirely eradicated” at its roots, the Defense Ministry said Thursday. "Fifty-three terrorists have been neutralized in the last week, including ones in Iraq and northern Syria, with the strategy of eliminating terrorism at its source, which we resolutely implement," a ministry official told reporters at a background briefing in the capital Ankara. Click here to read... [23]

EU monitoring mission in Armenia deletes previous post on social media, confirms shooting

The European Union monitoring mission in Armenia (EUMA) posted conflicting information about the incident that happened in Gegharkunik Province today.

After the Ministry of Defense of Armenia announced that the EU monitors were targeted by the Azerbaijani side at the Verin Shorzha village sector this afternoon, EUMA went on X—former Twitter, dismissed this information, and assured that none of their monitors were targeted by the Azerbaijani shooting. Click here to read... [24]