Central Asia: Apr '09, part 1
Water and energy report presents differing views of the Central Asian states without taking sides.
Central Asia: Apr '09, part 1
Water and energy report presents differing views of the Central Asian states without taking sides.
Regional experts say an IWPR article on the continuing dispute over shared water resources in Central Asia was comprehensive in scope and gave a fair hearing to the very different positions held by a number of regional governments.
IWPR report Uzbek Overtures to Kazakstan on Water Dispute, (RCA No. 574, 27-Apr-09.), focused on signs of a divide between the three Central Asian states that have plenty of oil and gas but few sources of water and the two others, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, where the major regional waterways arise. The two latter states want to build new power stations on the upper reaches of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, leading to concerns in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and now Kazakstan that they will be starved of water.
The article came out ahead of an April 28 meeting of five Central Asian leaders at which the five presidents signally failed to keep their disagreements behind closed doors, let alone take the first steps towards some kind of compromise deal.
Analysts quoted in the article warned that the formation of interest-based blocs would obstruct progress towards the mutually beneficial outcome that all five countries need, as well as harming political relationships in the region.
In producing the article, IWPR staff were aware that Uzbekistan often looks as though it is being deliberately obstructive of Kyrgyz and Tajik aspirations to generate the electricity they need. Yet Uzbekistan, like all states in the region, has legitimate and vital interests that need to be addressed if and when negotiations progress, and we tried to ensure these concerns were articulated properly.
According to Ravshan Nazarov, a senior researcher at the Institute of History, part of Uzbekistan’s Academy of Sciences, the report was a valuable contribution to the debate on what is one of the most important issues facing Central Asia.
“This topic is now being hotly debated, and I think that the more it is covered by the press, the better the chances of finding a solution will be,” he said. “The article was well-balanced and provided extensive coverage both in terms of length and of the arguments around the issue.”
“Another big plus,” added Nazarov, “is that the views of all the Central Asian countries were present, not just opinions from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.”
Another Tashkent-based expert, Komron Aliev, said, “The publication stands out among other press reports on this issue because of its impartiality and because the views of various experts were presented.”
In Kyrgyzstan, Muratbek Imanaliev, president of the Institute for Public Policy, also said the coverage was objective and balanced.
Tajik environmentalist Alikhon Latifi said his country’s views, too, were given the attention deserved. In his view, “There is an information war going on, which Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan are losing.” In other internet articles, he said, “Tajikistan is portrayed as a monster”.
Georgy Petrov of Tajikistan’s Institute for Water, Hydropower and Ecology agreed, saying, “The article presented our position in balanced fashion, with good arguments and restraint, and was undoubtedly a very useful report.”
Some analysts, like Rahman Alshanov, head of the Association of Universities in Kazakstan, agreed that the article explained the issues properly, but said he would have liked to see some of the solutions outlined as well.
“What is needed is not to concentrate on the possible consequences of confrontation – although they should be mentioned – but to focus on ways of solving the problem,” he said.
Imanaliev, however, said the article did set out the arguments of those who believe it is time for all parties concerned to sit down at the negotiating table.
Nazarov said that what set the article apart from others on the same subject was that it was produced by a team of journalists from across the region,
“It’s a collective piece of work, which obviously adds weight to it,” he said.
Published in Kyrgyz as well as Russian and English, the report became one of the popular Reporting Central Asia articles of this year, and was reprinted 16 times.
