Welcome to Central Asia in Focus, a newsletter offering insight and analysis on events shaping the region’s political future. I’m Bruce Pannier. In this week’s edition: Kyrgyz authorities detained leading members of Kyrgyzstan’s Social Democrats party, a Tajik court extended the prison sentence of Pamiri MMA fighter Chorshanbe Chorshanbiev, and more.

In the Region

Kyrgyz Authorities Target Another Opposition Party

Days before Bishkek’s November 17 municipal elections, police detained leading members of Kyrgyzstan’s Social Democrats party and searched the party’s office.

Party leader Temirlan Sultanbekov and campaign chief Irina Karamushkina were among those detained on November 13.

Police are investigating the Social Democrats for buying votes, a practice that has plagued Kyrgyzstan’s elections for many years.

An audiotape from an unknown source posted on social networks purportedly reveals a conversation between Karamushkina and a person identified as Daniyar Cholponbaev.

The two reportedly discussed paying voters 1,000 som (about $11.50) each to vote for Social Democrats’ candidates.

During the search of the Social Democrats’ office, police also detained Roza Tyurksever, a member of the party who was allegedly trying to destroy a list of individuals the party had paid.

Kadyr Atambaev, son of former Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev and a Social Democrat candidate in the Bishkek municipal elections, was taken in for questioning and released.

Atambaev said the money being discussed in the audiotape with Karamushkina and Cholponbaev was payment for party campaigners, not bribes for voters.

Atambaev added that the party has advertisements for hiring campaigners on its website that include the salaries.

On November 14, the Bishkek Territorial Election Commission announced none of the Social Democrats’ candidates in Bishkek were eligible to compete.

The party’s candidates in other districts of the country were still able to run for seats.

Sultanbekov, Karamuhskina, and Tyurksever were remanded into custody for two months.

Why It’s Important: Since coming to power in late 2020, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov has been extremely effective in neutralizing opposition political parties.

The once influential Ata-Meken (Fatherland) party has been quiet since Japarov appointed party leader Omurbek Tekebaev to be ambassador to Germany in February 2022.

Butun (United) Kyrgyzstan was the most vocal opposition party in the current parliament.

On March 26, 2024, its leader, Adakhan Madumarov, lost his seat after being found guilty of treason for a border protocol he signed with Tajikistan in 2009 when he was head of Kyrgyzstan’s Security Council.

The statute of limitations had expired for legal punishment against Madumarov, but he was stripped of his mandate in parliament.

The Social Democrats are an offshoot party of the Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan (SDPK), co-founded by former President Atambaev in 1993.

The SDPK won the second largest number of seats in the 2010 parliamentary elections and the most seats in the 2015 parliamentary elections.

The SDPK crumbled after President Atambaev left office in 2017 and the Social Democrats are the heir.

Vote-buying in Kyrgyz elections has been so prevalent in the past that the accusation could be made against any party.

The fact that such an accusation is being made against one of the last active, genuine opposition parties in Kyrgyzstan and none of the other 38 parties taking part in local elections raises some suspicions.  

Tajik Authorities Extend Prison Sentence of Pamiri MMA Fighter

A Tajik court has added four years to the prison sentence of Pamiri Mixed Martial Arts fighter Chorshanbe Chorshanbiev.

Chorshanbiev is already serving an 8.5-year sentence after being convicted in 2022 of calling for the violent overthrow of the government.

On November 15, the organization Pamir Inside posted the news about the additional years added to Chorshanbiev’s sentence, which the court said was punishment for “disrupting the work of detention centers.”

It was unclear how Chorshanbiev “disrupted” the detention center where he is held.

Pamir Inside said Chorshanbiev’s lawyer was not present at the trial and his relatives were not informed ahead of time about the new court proceedings.

Chorshanbiev is a native of eastern Tajikistan Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO).

The majority of GBAO residents are Pamiris, a group that is distinct ethnically, culturally, and religiously from Tajiks.

Chorshanbiev had a successful MMA career in Russia.

When unrest broke out in GBAO in November 2021, after security forces killed a Pamiri man in his home, Chorshanbiev posted messages of support for the Pamiri people.

In one video, he said, “I urge you to stand up against injustice and against the unjust death of innocent people.”

Russian authorities deported Chorshanbiev to Tajikistan in December 2021.

Based on opinions from linguistic experts who testified for the state that Chorshabiev’s messages were calls to overthrow the government, he was convicted on May 13, 2022.

Why It’s Important: Pamiris in the GBAO capital Khorugh planned a peaceful protest on May 16 to demand justice for the November 2021 killing and arrests of locals that followed, but security forces responded with violence.

The Tajik government blamed the protesters for the violence and launched a security operation that left dozens of people dead, mostly Pamiris.

Since then, Tajik authorities have imprisoned more than 100 influential Pamiris, including lawyers, activists, journalists, poets, and well-known figures such as Chorshanbiev. 

Majlis Podcast

The latest Majlis podcast looks at the plight of many Central Asian opposition figures and activists who fled their countries and are trying to obtain asylum in Europe.

In recent months, individual European countries have deported several Tajiks back to their homeland where they were immediately arrested and imprisoned.

These European governments are signatories to international agreements against “refoulement,” raising questions as to why these Central Asians are being sent back to likely torture and certain incarceration.

The guests on this podcast are: 

• Leila Seiitbek, a lawyer and chairwoman of the NGO Freedom for Eurasia; and
• Hugh Williamson, the Europe and Central Asia director for Human Rights Watch. 

What I’m Following

Russia Looking to Export Gas to China via Kazakhstan

While attending a Russian-Chinese economic forum in Kazan, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak said on November 15 that his country could export natural gas through Kazakhstan to China.

Novak also said Russian and Chinese representatives discussed gas shipments of up to 35 billion cubic meters.

Turkmenistan will be closely following these discussions as it is currently supplying some 35 bcm annually via the same pipeline system that leads from Kazakhstan to China.

The maximum capacity for that pipeline system is 55 bcm. 

Uzbekistan to Monitor Media for Spiritual, Moral Violations

Uzbek authorities are planning to monitor media to ensure they meet spiritual and moral standards.

A group of experts will be assembled to check content on television, radio, and social networks to prevent “immoral” content from being disseminated to the public, especially children.

The expert group will review domestic and foreign content before it is made available in Uzbekistan.

Uzbekistan’s Center for Spirituality and Enlightenment said the work will not restrict the “freedom of creativity for media representatives, journalists, authors and bloggers.”  

Fact of the Week

Afghanistan’s trade with Iran from April to September this year totaled $1.8 billion, of which approximately $30 million was Afghan exports to Iran. The remainder was Iranian exports to Afghanistan.

Thanks for Reading

Thanks for reading Central Asia in Focus! I appreciate you sharing it with other readers who may be interested.

Feel free to contact me on X, especially if you have any questions, comments, or just want to connect about topics concerning Central Asia.

Until next time,
Bruce

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