The European Union’s Special Representative for Central Asia Pierre Morel discussed with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Grigory Karasin situation in Kyrgyzstan. Diplomats, as noted, discussed the situation in the Kyrgyz Republic in a telephone conversation, on the initiative of Pierre Morel. The parties discussed the situation in Kyrgyzstan in general and the plans of international organizations to stabilize the situation in the country in particular. Also, the sides discussed problems that have arisen in connection with the deployment of the OSCE Police Advisory Group and the International Independent Commission on investigation of June events (24.kg)

An anti-terror exercise under the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will be held in Kazakhstan from Sept. 9 to 25, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng has announced. The drill, "Peace Mission 2010," would be the seventh of its kind, Chinese news agency (Xinhua) cited Geng as saying. More than 5,000 troops from Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan would be involved, he said. (Saba)

On 27 August 2010 the SCO Secretary-General M. Imanaliev met at the SCO Secretariat with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the People’s Republic of China M. Safari. During the meeting the parties discussed the outcome of the regular SCO Heads of State Council meeting held on 11 June in Tashkent, as well as the issues of strengthening further interaction between the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and its observer Iran.(SCO Official Website)

China's only Muslim autonomous region is hoping to set up a free trade zone to expand two-way trade with Islamic countries, the local government said."We are hoping to further trade and economic cooperation with the world's Muslim community," said Ma Fu, head of the commerce department in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.Ma said the regional government had worked out initial plans for a free trade zone with the Muslim countries, but did not elaborate on the plans or give a detailed timetable.He said Ningxia region, where 36 percent of the 6.2 million people are Muslims, traditionally enjoyed cultural and trade relations with the Arabian countries. (Xinhua)

Plans for the United States to construct an anti-terror training center in southern Kyrgyzstan have collapsed. The demise of the project raises concerns about stabilization prospects in southern Kyrgyzstan, a region that is still searching to regain a sense of equilibrium following an outburst of inter-ethnic violence in June. The Osh Polygon -- a facility projected to cost upwards of $10 million, designed to train security forces in urban combat techniques -- was advertised as a pre-solicitation on the US government’s Federal Business Opportunities website on June 19. On August 25, the project was abruptly cancelled. (Eurasia Net)

A major international manhunt is under way after dozens of enemies of the Tajik state broke out from prison, but you wouldn't know it from the official reaction. Among the 25 men who escaped from a high-security State Security Ministry prison on the night of August 22-23 were Tajiks convicted of planning to overthrow the government. Others had been imprisoned for terrorist and Islamic militant activities. Eleven were foreigners, including Uzbek, Afghan, and Russian citizens of North Caucasus origin. The brazen escape has led the authorities to dispatch additional troops in an attempt to catch the fugitives before they can leave the country. Their presumed destination is Afghanistan, where some of the escapees reportedly spent time in the 1990s. (RFE/RL)

On 25 August 2010 the SCO Secretary-General M. Imanaliev met in Beijing with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic R. Kazakbaev. During the meeting a detailed discussion took place over the current state and prospects for cooperation between the SCO and Kyrgyzstan. Minister Kazakbaev handed in an official invitation for the SCO to participate in the monitoring of his country’s parliamentary elections due 10 October. (SCO Official Website)

Liu Yunshan, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, left on Monday (August 23, 2010) for a good-will visit to Uzbekistan, Macedonia, Albania and Kazakhstan. Liu, also a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, was visiting at the invitation of the Uzbekistani government, the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-Democratic Party of Macedonian(VWRO-DPMNE), Democratic Party of Albania and " Nur Otan" People' s Democratic Party of Kazakhstan. (Xinhua)

Turkmenistan, so key to the energy plans of so many, had long shown its readiness to break Russia's stranglehold on its gas and oil exports. But Ashgabat has offered few hints as to who it prefers as an alternative. That changed last week, when President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov gathered energy officials together on August 12 and outlined, in much more detail than usual, the country's export-diversification policy. It's a strategy that is pioneering in its calls for increased cooperation with Western companies, unambiguous in its preference for deals with China, and surprising for its failure to even mention traditional energy partner Russia and the EU's Nabucco gas-pipeline project. (RFE/RL)

The Customs Union between Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus formally came into force on July 1. However, the occasion produced no cause for celebration among the union's members. The reasons for such open pessimism over the future of this organization are becoming evident, as Minsk and Moscow increasingly resort to unfriendly language in their fruitless efforts to overcome the deepening differences on vital issues. In Kazakhstan, public events staged by nationalist forces against alliance with Slavic states, above all, Russia, are becoming frequent. (Asia Times Online)

The police were investigating an explosion on Thursday (August 19, 2010) that killed seven people and wounded 14 others in China’s restive, far western region of Xinjiang, the site of deadly ethnic riots last year. The blast took place about 10:30 a.m. when an electric three-wheeled vehicle exploded on a bridge on the outskirts of Aksu, a city in northwestern Xinjiang, according to China’s state-run news agency, Xinhua. Most of those wounded were ethnic minorities. (The New York Times)

Kazakhstan is recovering from economic crisis, but stagnant credit growth and banking sector troubles continue to weigh on economic activity, says the International Monetary Fund. In its annual health check of the oil-rich Central Asian economy, the IMF projects that the economy will grow by 4 percent in 2010, mainly driven by higher exports, increasing commodity prices, and foreign direct investment. But Kazakhstan must resolve bank weaknesses exposed by the crisis, the IMF stressed. (IMF)

Afghanistan said on Sunday it had discovered an oilfield with an estimated 1.8 billion barrels in the north of the war-ravaged country, where U.S. and other foreign forces are trying to tame a Taliban-led insurgency.The discovery of the basin between northern Balkh and Shiberghan provinces was made after a survey conducted by Afghan and international geologists, said Jawad Omar, a spokesman for the ministry of mines. (Reuters)

Turkmenistan on Friday (August 13, 2010) offered U.S. energy majors their first concessions in the Central Asian state and said it was pursuing a $4.1 billion loan from China to develop one of the world's five largest natural gas fields and ship the gas east. It also reported that Turkmenistan expected to secure a loan from China to develop the lucrative South Iolotan gas deposit, the second round of financing for a project contracted out to Chinese state oil and gas firm CNPC and other Asian companies. (Reuters)

Kashgar, in China’s far west Xinjiang Province, is close to borders with Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan and already hosts Central Asia’s largest market. The city effectively links China and Central Asia and is to be developed into a major trading and logistical bridge. Kashgar is already a major market for retailers from Central Asia. Every Sunday, traders from across the region congregate at the world’s largest open air market to trade – everything from carpets to horses and from hair clips to plastic sandals. About 65 percent of products exported from Kashgar are garments, while daily essentials make up 30 percent. (China Briefing)

China's concerns regarding the situation in southern Kyrgyzstan stem from the following key issues. First, there are more than 30,000 Chinese nationals in Kyrgyzstan whose lives and safety are under serious threat, especially so in the battle-scarred southern region. China has repatriated 1,299 of its citizens after the unrest deepened. Second, China is an important trading partner of Kyrgyzstan, and bilateral trade volume jumped to $9.3 billion in 2008, up from only a few hundred million dollars at the beginning of this century. The turmoil has dealt a heavy blow to bustling bilateral trade. Third, as China's close neighbor, as well as the first stop on the energy route from Central Asia, the upheavals in Kyrgyzstan will directly impact China's energy cooperation with Central Asian nations. It will also put into jeopardy the ongoing railway line project connecting China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Fourth, the political unrest might lead to a power vacuum, which might encourage extremist forces and terrorist organizations already rampant in Central Asia. This will pose a great threat to China's security, especially in its northwest Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. (Xinhua)

The government has planned a strategy to enhance regional connectivity in transport and communication sector in 2010-11, which will improve links to the Central Asian States, Iran, Afghanistan and India. The strategy also takes into account the regional and domestic dimensions, particularly in relation to rail, road and ports and shipping sub-sectors, which enabled the country connectivity with regional countries. The Transport Development Programme for next fiscal year would be based on a broad strategy that would include establishment of a multi-modal transport system; an emphasis on asset management with consolidation, upgrading, rehabilitation and maintenance of the existing system; enhanced private sector participation in sector development and institutional capacity building with research and development and use of modern technology, procedures and processes to increase sector efficiency. (Daily Times, Pakistan)

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon exchanged views on the Kyrgyz situation and other issues of common concern during a phone conversation.Clashes broke out between Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbeks in mid-June in the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh and later spread to the region of Jalalabad, killing at least 214 and displacing thousands of others. (Xinhua)

A plane carrying humanitarian aid from China to Kyrgyz refugees landed early in Tashkent on Monday morning(June 21, 2010).The 22 tons of aid include food, clothes, sanitary materials, small power generators, mobile shower booths and medicines.The aid will be transported to border areas where Kyrgyz refugees, who have fled violence in their country, are sheltering. (Xinhua)

Bustling trade between China and Kyrgyzstan has slowed to a trickle since deadly violence broke out in Kyrgyzstan, and experts say the crisis could diminish Beijing's economic clout in the country while bolstering rival Russia's already dominant influence. But now, Beijing finds itself shut out of the primarily political and military solutions being offered by the Russia and the U.S. The chaos is threatening trade with China, even while it provides an opportunity for rival Russia to reinforce its presence at a military base in the country's north and help lead efforts to end the ethnic violence and alleviate a worsening refugee crisis. (AP)