US call for reform welcomed

Experts have welcomed a call by US President George W Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powel for democratic reforms in Kyrgyzstan, a tiny Central Asian state once considered an oasis of democracy in a highly authoritarian region. "Such statements are always positive," Filip Noubel, a senior Central Asian analyst with the International Crisis Group (ICG)told IRIN on Tuesday from the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh. "But we have to see the how they are translated into reality." The comments follow a meeting between Bush, Powell and the Kyrgyz President Askar Akaev on Monday. According to White House spokesman Sean McCormack, the US president urged his Kyrgyz counterpart to engage in economic and political reforms. The Kyrgyz President reportedly agreed that such reforms were important. But Noubel was doubtful about such a commitment. "Everybody is sceptical about Akayev listening to US concerns,"he said. This year Kyrgyzstan emerged as perhaps the least stable country in the region. Many Central Asian experts have maintained that although the US-led military campaign against terrorism in Afghanistan has resulted in committing more international resources to the region, authoritarian regimes have further undermined the prospects of any meaningful reforms in the former Soviet states by utilising the same resources to tighten their grip on power. Noubel said that the American pronouncement was a reaction to increasing pressure from human rights and democracy activists, who had repeatedly called on Washington to push Central Asian regimes into political and economic reforms. "People in the region thought that the US presence would boost economic openness and political reforms," he said. However, such hopes were dashed when a year on from 11 September no changes of any consequence have been initiated. In fact, the region has witnessed an increased suppression and authoritarianism. In Kyrgyzstan itself, security forces shot dead five demonstrators in the Asky district of Jalal-Abd province in March. While in Uzbekistan, late last year President Islam Karimov re-elected himself for another seven years following a dubious referendum. "There is a general impression that military security has overwhelmed democratisation and economic liberalisation in the region," Noubel explained. "This opportunity has been squandered and has been lost by the Central Asians," best selling author and regional expert, Ahmed Rashid told IRIN recently in an interview. But experts believe that Washington and its western allies can influence regional governments by attaching strings to the military and economic assistance being handed over to Central Asia. Rashid said that the aid should have been made conditional on some kind of timetable for at least some major political and economic reforms. Rights groups in Kazakhstan told IRIN recently they want foreign energy companies - eager to exploit the country's abundant oil and gas reserves - to include political reform and respect for human rights in contracts they negotiate with the government. Noubel suggested that the US - an international player of growing importance in the region - should initiate, finance and monitor reforms in the Central Asian societies. "The people in Kyrgyzstan have great potential that needs to be supported," he said.