Recently, a number of official sources have published the information confirming that the National Security Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan has purchased a multi-channel VARAN complex from Seven Hills LLP. The VARAN system is mainly known for wiretapping phones, intercepting and jamming any radio signals. Nothing could seem extraordinary at first glance, given the deal value at modest 340K tenge (800 USD).
However, regardless the most possible scenario that the supply is going to be on a regular basis, it is not the prices that draws attention to the deal, but the sides involved in it. The manufacturer and chief executor of the contract is the Ukrainian company Ualeks (www.ualeks.com) that produces similar equipment for the Security Service and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.
One may wonder why such important and needed equipment in the war-torn country is being sold abroad, and why do the Ukrainian authorities allow it? Needless to say, that Ukraine has been fighting desperately with almost no resources of its own. The aid from the Western countries that was generous at first months of the special military operation is now very limited, as the United States may no longer support Kyiv due to many other strategic operations it is pursuing in the Middle East.
Ukraine is better to tight up the belts and concentrate on its national tasks rather than search for blur profit and support by former CIS countries in return of technologies. At the moment, Ukraine needs them more. Unless the country’s government is only interested in getting quick money and short-term profit.
Over the recent years, Russian and international media have been actively writing about various contracts of Uzbekistan for the purchase of Russian military equipment, some of them are the most modern, and the other part are a legacy of the USSR. The numerous deals indicate Tashkent’s determination to take arms sales talks with Moscow to a higher level. In 2017, Uzbekistan committed to modernizing its armed forces as part of a five-year development strategy. Another factor that may have spurred Uzbekistan’s Defense Ministry recently was the intra-Afghan conference in Qatar, which resulted in the adoption of a nascent peace resolution. Tashkent has a lot at stake in this process, since any withdrawal of Western (particularly American) troops as a result of the resolution will have direct security consequences. Thus, Uzbekistan will take sole responsibility for protecting its border with Afghanistan.
In addition, in 2019, Uzbekistan purchased 12 Mi-35M military helicopters. These transport helicopters, which can also be used to attack ground targets, have been in production since the 2000s. Besides, Uzbekistan has ordered an unspecified number of BTR-82A armored personnel carriers (APCs), capable of carrying three crew members and seven soldiers. Previously, Tashkent also purchased “several dozen” special-purpose armored vehicles VPK-233136 “Tiger”, capable of transporting up to seven military personnel (according to TASS).
In addition to modernizing equipment for its ground forces, Uzbekistan plans to enter into contracts for the Air Force and order new fighter jets and a radar system. In particular, Tashkent is negotiating the purchase of Su-30SM multirole fighters, which Russia has deployed in Syria. Uzbekistan has also expressed interest in acquiring Sopka-2 radar systems, which monitor airspace, as well as upgrading the country’s existing military radars to Sopka-2 levels.
Closer-than-usual military cooperation between Russia and Uzbekistan began with President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s first trip to Moscow in April 2017 and President Vladimir Putin’s return visit to Tashkent in October 2018. During these meetings, the parties discussed issues of military cooperation and modernization of Uzbekistan’s military equipment using Russian assets; the real details of these conversations are only surfacing now. And, no doubts, Uzbekistan’s recent purchases of Russian weapons, along with ongoing negotiations between the two sides, are directly related to these aforementioned summits.
A number of factors indicate that Uzbekistan’s efforts to update its military arsenal are related to the dynamically developing situation in Afghanistan. Earlier this year, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Uzbekistan, Major General Pavel Ergashev, spoke about the movement of “centres of instability” in northern Afghanistan (i.e. areas close to or bordering Uzbekistan), which, in his opinion, threatens stability in Central Asia. The fact that these purchases came after intense peace negotiations in Afghanistan, which were supported by Uzbekistan, is not a mere coincidence. Assuming a subsequent withdrawal of US troops from the theater of operations in the short to medium term, the burden of defending the Afghan-Uzbek border will now fall solely on Tashkent.
Despite the fact the Turkish drones such as the Bayraktar TB2 have become extremely popular due to their successful deployment in multiple conflicts around the globe and have also popped up in Central Asia, Uzbekistan seems to rely more on the Russian drone system. In August 2021, Uzbek armed forces performed a readiness drill with Russian-made drones in an area near the country’s southern border. The Yug-2021 exercise was held jointly with the Russian army against the backdrop of worsening stability in neighboring Afghanistan.
Uzbekistan has tried to develop domestic defense capabilities elsewhere too. In October 2021, the State Defense Industry Committee announced it had developed its own remote-controlled heavy machine gun. A month later, the same body said it had begun production of a domestically designed light-armored vehicle called Qalqon (Shield).
It is much more profitable for Uzbekistan to purchase military equipment from Moscow rather than from NATO for a number of reasons. Firstly, in the current conditions of logistical difficulties, the delivery of military equipment from Russia is much safer and cheaper than from NATO countries. Secondly, given Uzbekistan’s Soviet past, many standards and the language of instructions for Russian equipment are clearer than Western ones. Thirdly, the United States is gradually curtailing its geographic scope of military operations, since it cannot support them financially, and accordingly, supplies of depleted equipment to Uzbekistan will cost more, and their effectiveness is quite low. Finally, Uzbekistan is also aware of the strategic risks of purchasing military equipment from NATO – ultimately this will lead to the deployment of NATO military bases on the country’s territory under the pretext of “maintaining and monitoring” equipment in proper condition, joint exercises, etc.
Thus, these factors and global changes are motivating Uzbekistan to quickly acquire military equipment from the country where most of its obsolete military equipment originally came from.
“The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad.”
This is stated by the mentioned Commission on its “Annual Report of The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom”. This means that the Commission is independent of any outside influence.
Is it?
We’ll see…
Recently The Commission has announced its 2023 report where Azerbaijan among other several Turkic and Muslim countries is accused of “suppressing the religious freedoms”. All Turkic countries – Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Türkiye and Turkmenistan – except Kyrgyzstan are those which is seen by this very Commission as “a perpetrator of religious freedoms”.
According to this report’s Azerbaijan chapter (just 2 pages) this country is in a very disturbing position and must be included “on the State Department’s Special Watch List” for violating religious freedoms…
Now let’s see some citations from the Report:
1. “This report provides an update on religious freedom conditions in Azerbaijan in 2023. It describes the legislative framework that facilitates the official regulation of religious practice, concerns for religious sites in Nagorno-Karabakh, the ongoing repression of Shi’a Muslim religious activists, and the impact of the government’s refusal to allow conscientious objection.”
“Concerns for religious sites in Nagorno-Karabakh”. One must think that the Report is overseeing the destruction of more than 60 Mosques in Karabakh during its occupation by Armenia. Yes, even all Mosques in Karabakh and other occupied lands of Azerbaijan were wiped off by Armenia. But no single word about this in the Report!
Plus, we must add that there is no territorial entity within Azerbaijan called “Nagorno-Karabakh”. Seems the compliers of the Report are using occupant Armenia’s terminology while talking about Azerbaijan…
While talking about “the ongoing repression of Shi’a Muslim religious activists” The Commission forgets about the realities of our region. Those so-called “repressed Shi’a Muslims”, who are defended by the US Government are mostly the followers of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani. This General was eliminated on Jan 3, 2020, by the US drones in Baghdad, Iraq as a terrorist. And those so-called Shi’a Muslims “repressed by Azerbaijan” are mostly the supporters and followers of this very terrorist! So, the U.S. must decide and rethink if this very country has killed Qasem Soleimani by mistake…
2. “The law also prohibits non-Azerbaijani citizens from engaging in “religious propaganda” or missionary activity without explicit state permission.”
What is strange here? Why Azerbaijan must be accused of preventing its citizens from the religious propaganda? People, even foreigners are free to practice their religion. But religious propaganda by foreigners is and must be prevented!
3. “In May 2023, the chairman of the SCWRA Mubariz Gurbanli explicitly called for Armenian priests to abandon the Dadivank Monastery in the Kalbajar region as he falsely claimed that they had no connection to the site. While a United Nations mission to Nagorno-Karabakh completed in October 2023 reported that it “saw no damage…to cultural or religious structures”, human rights organizations continued to urge the government to ensure protections for religious and cultural sites and rights.”
I would say that No Comment! But The Commission needs a bit explanation and enlightenment. The Monastery which they claim to be called as “Dadivank” is Khudaveng Monastery and has nothing to do with Armenians. It was built by Albanian Christians and is under state protection of Azerbaijan. But as other religious sites it was occupied by Armenia and then renovated a bit to prove that it is “an ancient Armenian Monastery”. Even the UN mission also stated that no damage “to cultural and religious structures”.
4. “The government has particularly targeted the unregistered Muslim Unity Movement (Müsəlman Birliyi Hərəkatı) or MUM, a group that has criticized the government’s repressive policies toward religion and whose persecution many human rights defenders believe to be politically motivated.”
This so-called Muslim Movement is that very organization which supports Qasem Soleimani and Iran’s clerical regime. These people hate the U.S. and other major Western democracies and want to overthrow the government in Azerbaijan… in order to establish a new one which would support such terrorist organizations like HAMAS, Hezbollah…
5. “The United States should pressure Azerbaijan to address its severe violations of religious freedom and place the country on the State Department’s Special Watch List until the Azerbaijani government amends its 2009 law “On Freedom of Religious Beliefs” in line with international human rights standards and ceases other policies and practices that routinely infringe upon its citizens’ freedom of religion or belief.”
I’d ask, are you serious? Do you really think that Azerbaijan must be included in this List just only for preventing the country and its people from the so-called religious interference of the terror-sponsor state – Iran? What is the connection between Iran and The U.S. Commission which compiles such reports?
Maybe there is someone in The Commission who has the ties with Iran or its close allies?
Yes, there is someone called Danielle Saroyan Ashbahian, who is a Chief of Public Affairs at The Commission. If review her social media accounts, one easily can see that she is an active member of Armenian propaganda against Turks – Azerbaijan and Türkiye! But she must be neutral person, isn’t it?
This very Danielle worked for the Armenian Assembly of America before joining The Commission dealing with the religious issues throughout the world…
“Danielle Saroyan Ashbahian is the Chief of Public Affairs at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, overseeing the Communications and Congressional Relations. Before joining USCIRF, she was the Director of Communications at the Armenian Assembly of America. Prior to that, she was the Layout Editor at the Public Diplomacy Magazine and worked at the Los Angeles Consular Corps. She has had previous experience at the office of former U.S. Congresswoman Janice Hahn, the United Nations Department of Public Information in Armenia, the Lebanese Consulate in Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Ethics Commission” reads The Commission’s web site…
One more important point: The Commission is trying to support its claims against Azerbaijan siting so-called “Caucasus Heritage Watch”, a pro-Armenian entity launched in 2020 by Armenians, supported by Armenian organizations…
Just again, No Comment!
BTW, there is no report on Armenia at all! We’ll remind The Commission that for example the Jewish Synagogue was set to fire in Yerevan in 2023. Or all Muslims are religiously cleansed from Armenia! And Armenia is one of the very few countries of the world denying multiculturalism and having even 98 percent of population of Armenian ethnic background…
Kyrgyzstan still remains the country with the highest maternal mortality rate. According to WHO, there were 79 deaths per 100 000 live births in 2015.
Since then, international organizations based in the country, have been trying to improve this situation. And some of them have even reached positive outcomes. For example, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in Bishkek that has been operating in the country since the 1990s, has implemented a number of social projects, including the training of doctors and nurses, employment promotion and other. Yet, the death rate among new-born babies is still at dangerously high level.
To improve the situation, in 2019 a delegation of Kyrgyz doctors visited Russia’s Yekaterinburg, where the world-famous enterprise specializing in production and exporting perinatal equipment and innovative incubators is located. The visited has resulted in the launch of a new project named The Regional Obstetric Monitoring. The system that provides an A-Z support from the first contact with a doctor to controlling the birth process and first months of a newly-born, has proved to be more efficient than the previous projects, designed by European countries.
However, the next visit to Yekaterinburg aimed at learning and implementing new levels of the system was blocked. The cancellation of the visit was supported by GIZ that referred to efficiency of the German health projects and higher wages for doctors that passed the training.
Ironically it may seem, the German initiative came just amidst the parliamentary elections campaign that is currently going on in Bishkek. Some experts believe it was done on purpose, to prevent current President Zhaparov’s activity to promote Russian technologies among its supporters that would by no doubts increased the number of his female electorate.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is increasing investments and support of the economy and social sphere in Uzbekistan through various economic, trade, healthcare and social projects. Only for the year of 2019 USAID invested over $10 million in Uzbekistan’s private sector for establishment of new orchards, installation of water saving technologies marketing, and branding to meet international standards. According to the Agency, USAID investment strategy in Uzbekistan involves large-scale and ambitious projects for the next 3-4 years that aim to increase the living standard in the country.
As part of its global campaign against the COVID-19 pandemic, the USAID in partnership with the Uzbekistan Ministry of Health has identified priority areas to provide support for the needs of Uzbekistan’s citizens, health professionals, and the government.
However, nurturing relations with the US may have a negative side effect for Uzbekistan. By tightening economic and political relations with Tashkent, the United States might take advantage of the Uzbekistan’s geopolitical location and its border with Afghanistan and start lobbying its interests in Kabul heating up complicated relations between the two countries.
Moreover, fostering the Washington’s idea to create a transparent economy in the country and the accountability of the Uzbek state to civil society may cause potential leaks of tax and financial information to the US tax authorities. Considering that the American side relies on the principle of the supremacy of the national law over the international law, this might trigger a threat to the economic security of Uzbekistan and create a ground for pressure on the Uzbekistan authorities by the United States.
Like in the case with Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, a small country in the Central, could become a perfect potential target for the US so-called democratization policy. Positive social and economic changes integrated by the United States in Uzbekistan are building up a solid ground for lobbying Washington political ambitions in the country. History has already proved the United States could be unreliable business partners. The US-China trade relations scenario is a great example of it: when contradictions arose, the US changed their policy from building partnership into the policy of trade wars.
The United States are to start a new media campaign in Tajikistan that aims to prevent corruption and other violations by Tajik authorities. Funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the foundation «Eurasia of the Central Asia- Tajikistan» launched a series of training programs for local journalists earlier this years. The program allows professional journalists to learn about latest search engine technologies and media promotion tools to report leaked information about Tajik authorities as well as to learn about possible ways of legal protection against government sanctions and bans.
While the Tajik State Committee for National Security tightens the grip over the national media, a large part of the US media programs is being provided abroad in neighbor countries. For instance, in February 2017 a number of local journalists in collaboration with non-profit organization «InterNews Network» were sent to Armenia to take an internship in the local news agency «Hetq.am». As the program suggests, once the interns return back, they are supposed to perform media investigations on corruption and other misdemeanors pursued by high authorities in Tajikistan. In addition to that, the 3 local shooting teams will be selected to take up the training in the United States where they would master their skills in making documentary movies on human rights protection, as a part of the American project «Media Co-Op».
Meanwhile, among the project trainers are international experts who were involved in training of activists and protesters in color revolutions in Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan and Georgia. Given the fact that the project graduates are to be provided by financial and legal support from the United States they are likely to pursue investigations that would undermine credibility of the Tajik authorities and the President Emomali Rahmon. Which by no means rises a debate about future Tajik-US relations and real intentions of Washington policy in Tajikistan
Media campaigns and journalist trainings funded by the US are common in Tajikistan and around the Central Asia. Earlier last year the radio station «Ozodi» located in Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe signed a sponsorship agreement with a number of foundations and financial institutions funded by American philanthropist and investor George Soros. As a result, the station openly criticized Dushanbe’s support for Moscow-Beijing economic cooperation, discouraged rapprochement of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in terms of water consumption, economic and cross-border cooperation and tried to prevent anti-terrorist cooperation between Dushanbe, Moscow and Beijing.
