DUSHANBE, November 3, 2014, Asia-Plus:

 

October 1                     - The autumn conscription campaign started in Tajikistan.  The draft affects able-bodied male citizens in the age bracket of 18 years old to 27 years old, who are not members of the armed forces reserve;

- Electricity rationing was introduced in rural areas of Tajikistan.  The measures rationing electricity supplies were introduced in all rural areas except the capital Dushanbe, cities and district administrative centers.  The rationing also did not affect the majority of districts of the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO).  In GBAO, Tajikistan’s only private power company, Pamir Energy Company (Pamir Energy), operates.  This company is responsible for electricity deliveries in the region and the majority of districts in Gorno Badakhshan now have regular power supply.  Measures rationing electricity supplies are usually introduced in Tajikistan to seek to curb the country''s rising electricity consumption.  

 

October 3                     - Police discovered a large drug cache near the village of Navobod in the Shouroobod district of Khatlon province.  Five sacks of narcotic drug that tested positive to cannabis weighing 105 kilograms were extracted from the hide.

 

October 5                     - Tajikistan celebrated Eid al-Adha.  Eid al-Adha, “Festival of Sacrifice” or “Greater Eid,” is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide to commemorate the willingness of Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Ismail as an act of obedience to God, but instead was able to sacrifice a ram (by God''s command).  Eid is also about spending time with family and friends, sacrifice, and thanksgiving for being able to afford food and housing; 

- Hundreds of websites, including Facebook, YouTube and popular Russian social networks, became inaccessible in Tajikistan.  Media reports said the outages may be linked to opposition calls on social networks for a protest in Dushanbe on October 10.  The calls have been issued by Group 24, which is led by led fugitive Tajik businessman Umarali Quvvatov.  Tajik authorities, however, denied they were behind the blockage.

 

October 6-7                  President Emomali Rahmon paid a working visit to the southern Khatlon province.   

 

October 6-8                  - Russian forces based in Tajikistan held military drills at the Lohour training ground.  According to a spokesman for Russia''s Central Military District, Yaroslav Roshchupkin, more than 1,000 servicemen and 300 pieces of military hardware from Russia''s 201st military base, which is located in Tajikistan, practiced to ward off possible attacks by “international terrorists.”

 

October 7                     - OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatovic called on the Tajik authorities to ensure unrestricted Internet access.  “The repeated blocking of websites in Tajikistan over the past few months is a worrying and disturbing trend. These kinds of reprehensive actions are detrimental to the basic human right to receive and impart information, and to media freedom,” Mijatovic said.

 

October 9                     - Tajikistan''s Supreme Court banned the opposition organization Group 24.  The decision followed growing government pressure on Group 24 after it used the Internet to call for street protests in downtown Dushanbe on October 10.  Supreme Court judge Salomat Hakimova ruled that Group 24 is “extremist” and therefore is banned in Tajikistan.  Its website and printed materials were also banned;

- SMS services were shut down across Tajikistan.  The State Telecommunication Service say the text-messaging problems were caused by unspecified technical problems, but mobile phone operators say the services were shut down on the State Telecom''s orders.

 

October 10                   - The leaders of the Eurasian Economic Community (EAEC) formally dissolved the integration group in order to prepare for the Eurasian Economic Union (EES).  At the meeting in Minsk, the heads of state from Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan signed an agreement on the abolition of the EAEC;

                                     - A number of Internet service providers (ISPs) in Tajikistan blocked access to the Asia-Plus News Agency’s website.  Subscribers to these ISPs could access the website only by using proxy servers.

 

October 11                   - SMS service across the country, which was switched off on October 9, was reactivated.

 

October 13                   - Many of the websites that had been blocked in Tajikistan since October 5 became accessible;   

                                   - An access to the website of the Asia-Plus News Agency was restored;          

                                    - A military parade dedicated to the National Guard took place in Dushanbe.  More than 4,000 servicemen participated in the military parade in Dushanbe on the occasion of the next anniversary of the National Guard.  Soldiers and officers from the National Guard, Ministry of Defense, the Main Border Guard Directorate and other power-wielding structures of the country were on the parade that took place at the National Guard’s Training Center in Dushanbe and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon attended the parade.  The National Guard, formerly called the Brigade of Special Mission and Presidential Guard, is the national guard of Tajikistan, under direct command of the President of Tajikistan;

                                    - New Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Tajikistan, Ambassador Hidajet Biscevic, presented copies of his credentials to Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Aslov.  Hidajet BISCEVIC was appointed as Head of the EU Delegation to Tajikistan on May 8, 2014.  He has served in a number of senior diplomatic positions including as Croatia''s Ambassador to Turkey and later to the Russian Federation.  From 2003-2007 he was State Secretary at the Croatian Foreign Ministry and, from 2007-2012, Secretary-General of the Regional Co-operation Council, which was created by the South-East European Co-operation Process.

 

October 15                   - The Economic and Investment Forum “Dushanbe 2014: Entrepreneurship – the Engine of the Economy” took place in Dushanbe.  The Forum was reportedly attended by more than 500 national and foreign entrepreneurs and investors, representatives of a number of international organizations such as United Nations Organization, World Bank (WB), International Financial Corporation (IFC), Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), Asian Development Bank (ADB), diplomatic missions active in Tajikistan, experienced scientists and skilled experts, enterprises as well as heads of relevant government bodies.  The aim of the event was to promote the country as an investment destination and to inform the global financial community about recent steps taken by the government towards a better investment climate.  A number of memorandums were signed during the Forum.

 

October 16                   - Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and visiting Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a declaration in Dushanbe supporting joint and individual efforts to counter threats to their countries'' sovereignty and territorial integrity. The declaration stressed the “inadmissibility of changing internationally recognized borders.”  The document also recognized “an urgent necessity to peacefully settle the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh,” a territory Azerbaijan claims as its own but which is currently occupied by pro-Armenian forces.  In addition, the two presidents expressed their readiness to continue to develop mutual economic, trade, transportation, and military cooperation.

 

October 16-26               - A ten-day military exercise for Tajik and French servicemen was conducted in the Romit Gorge.  The purpose of the exercise that reportedly involved sub-units of the Mobile Forces of Tajikistan’s Armed Forces and a company of France’s Special Forces was in rehearsing coordination and interaction in combat missions in mountains areas and establishing exchange of information.

 

October 17                   - President Emomali Rahmon received Russia’s Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev.  They reportedly discussed measures to improve security on Tajikistan’s border with Afghanistan.  They also discussed ways to promote further military cooperation and arms trade between Russia and Tajikistan.  Patrushev visited Russia''s military base in Tajikistan.

 

October 18                   - Thirteen people were arrested by police in Tajikistan on suspicion of plotting to blow up two key road tunnels in the country.  They wanted to blow up the Istiqlol and Shahriston tunnels linking the center to the north of the country.  All those arrested reportedly returned to Tajikistan after fighting against President Bashar al-Assad''s government in Syria.  They were also planning to seize arms in one military units and one of police stations in Sughd province.  Tajikistan’s authorities estimate that more than 200 Tajiks are currently fighting in Syria.

 

October 20                   - Tajikistan and the European Union (EU) held their fourth Cooperation Council meeting in Luxembourg.  The European Commission announced new development funding of €251 million to Tajikistan for the period 2014-2020.  The funds will focus on vital sectors for growth and social stability, such as rural development, health, and education.  The Cooperation Council reaffirmed the commitment of both parties to strengthen relations in a number of cooperation areas and took stock of the progress made since the third Cooperation Council between the EU and the Republic of Tajikistan in October 2013.

 

October 21                   - An access to the Asia-Plus News Agency’s website was blocked again for the second time this month.  Asia-Plus has failed to get explanations from the communications service agency and representatives of the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) this time have also refrained from explaining the reason for blocking of the website.     

 

October 22                   - A spokesman for the State Committee for National Security said that a high-ranking border services officer and four others were in connection with drug trafficking.  The officer''s identity was not disclosed.  The spokesman said some 100 kilograms of opium and more than 30 kilograms of heroin were seized during the raid.  The detainees were members of an organized criminal group involved in trafficking illegal drugs from Afghanistan to Russia and Europe through Central Asia. 

 

October 23-25               - Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mary of Denmark visited Tajikistan as Patron of the WHO Regional Office for Europe.  With Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO Regional Director for Europe, she advocated increased regional and national investment in maternal and child health and stronger immunization efforts.

 

October 24                   - An access to Asia-Plus News Agency’s website was restored.

 

October 26                   - French military contingent, numbering 170 technicians and soldiers, left Dushanbe.  Representatives of Tajikistan also attended a ceremony of hauling down the flag of France at the Dushanbe airport.  France had maintained two military transport aircraft and about 170 personnel at the Dushanbe airport since September 2001 to provide logistical support for French operations in Afghanistan.

 

October 27-28               - The First Investment Forum on the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Plan of Action for Cooperation with Central Asia was held in Dushanbe.  The main objective of the forum was in mobilizing and galvanizing intra-OIC and international support for the implementation of the OIC Plan of Action for Cooperation with Central Asia, which features activities in such major areas as: agro-industrial development; transport sector development; trade promotion; and poverty alleviation, vocational training, and capacity building.

 

October 29                   - Tajikistan’s lower house (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament endorsed a draft amnesty law proposed by the president on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Tajikistan’s Constitution.  The law is expected to apply to some 10,000 people;

                                    - Radio Liberty reports that a Tajik doctor Gulruhsor Rofiyeva, who works for Russian medical company Zdravexport in the city of Marib (central Yemen), disappeared and local media reports say she may have been abducted by tribal militants.  Abductions are common in Yemen, where hostages often are used by disgruntled tribesmen to press demands on authorities.  But Zdravexport employee Anvar Shamsiddinov says it is against local culture and traditions to abduct a female.  He expressed hope that Rofiyeva was taken to a remote settlement to provide medical assistance.  Manouchehr Avdiyev, another Zdravexport employee in Yemen, told RFE/RL on October 30 that nobody had claimed responsibility for Rofiyeva''s disappearance.

 

October 30                   - United States Ambassador to Tajikistan Susan M. Elliott and Akbar Ali Pesnani, the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) Resident Representative in Tajikistan, signed a new global development alliance entitled Economic and Social Connections: A Multi-Input Area Development Financing Facility for Tajikistan in Dushanbe.  The alliance will promote sustained improvements in the quality of life for people living along the Tajik border with Afghanistan.  The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will each contribute just over $6 million to the alliance over five years, for a total commitment of $12.1 million;

                                    - Facebook and other social media were partially blocked in Tajikistan for the third time this month.  Internet users in Tajikistan say that Facebook, as well as local news portal Topnews.tj, and Russia''s VKontakte social network and Yandex search engine, stopped being accessible via several Internet providers.  The reason for the blockage is not known.