#1. KHAZARIA WAS THE LAND OF TURKISH KHAZAR EMPIRE (Polat Kaya)
#2. Azerbaijan/Caspian Oil:
2.1 Aliyev: 'Baku-Ceyhan has priority' (Turkish daily News, 6 August 1997(
2.2 US wants to train Azeri army (Turkish Daily News, 6 August 1997)
2.3 Dueling Pipelines By Paul Goble Washington, 4 August 1997 (RFE/RL)
#3. Eastern Turkestan/China
3.1 Aids in Xinjiang, AP (2 August 1997)
3.2 Commentary from A. Aitbayev
#4. KYRGYZ NEWS, 4,5,6 August 1997
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#1. KHAZARIA WAS THE LAND OF TURKISH KHAZAR EMPIRE (Polat Kaya)
To: turkistan-n@turkistan.org
From: tntr@compmore.net (Polat Kaya)
Subject: Israeli Documentary about the Khazars
I am submitting the following view of mine regarding an article
entitled "Israeli Documentary about the Khazars" which appeared in the July
29, 1997 (Vol 97-1) issue of the Turkistan Newsletter, for publication in
the Turkistan Newsletter. It is hoped that you will publish it so that it
might help to wake up us all in guarding historical Turkish heritages
wherever they happen to be from unwanted encroachments. Thank you.
Sincerely yours,
Polat Kaya
=========================
KHAZARIA WAS THE LAND OF TURKISH KHAZAR EMPIRE
This is in reference to an article in the July 29, 1997 (Vol 97-1)
issue of the Turkistan Newsletter entitled "Israeli Documentary about the
Khazars" where the source of the article was referred to be in the website
'Khazaria Home Page: <http://www.khazaria.com>'.
Although the information given in the article was interesting,
however, I was rather startled, to say the least, by the misinformation
being subtlely spreaded by it. In the given article as well as in other
articles in the Khazaria Home Page, the writers seem to use freely such
innocent sounding terms as "Jewish steppe-empire", "Jewish Khazar sites",
"Mediaval Jewish Kingdom of Khazaria", "Jewish Kings", etc. Additionally,
in the above mentioned Web site, a "Star of David" symbol is planted on a
map of the Turkish Khazar Empire, thus claiming it a Jewish empire that
never was.
While it may be commendable for someone to carry out research to
find information about the Jewish people in the Khazar Empire and about the
roles of Jewish religious missionaries in converting Turkish Khazar Kagans
to Judaism, yet it is not so readily accepted to Turks if the Turkish
Khazar Empire is labelled as Jewish Khazar Empire. This would be a
distortion of history.
Historically, the Khazar Empire is known to be a Turkish empire -
not a "Jewish" empire, irrespective of the fact that the Khazar Kagans
adopted Judaism as their religion. The Turkish people, known to the
Chinese T'ang as "Tukiu-ho-sa" (= Turk=Hazar), [see Laszlo Rasonyi:
"Tarihte Turkluk",Ankara, 1988; and Akdes Nimet Kurat "Hazar Kaganligi",
Turk Dunyasi El Kitabi, 1992, and Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1963 issue,
Vol. 13] were initially part of the Gok-Turk Empire. After separating from
the Gok-Turk Empire and moving westward, they founded a multi-cultural and
multi-ethnic Empire that in the steppe land-mass surrounded by the river
Don in the west, the river Volga in the east and the Caucasus in the south.
The Khazar Empire's direct zone of influence extended all over the immense
plains of southern Rusia, stretching from the northern shores of the Black
Sea and the Caspian (the Khazar Sea still carries their name) to the Urals
and the Volga beyond Kazan.
Many peoples such as the Greek colonies of the Crimean peninsula,
the Goths, Hungarians and Bulgar, Slavonic tribes centred chiefly around
Kiev and the Alans and other peoples living to the north of the Caucasus
between the mountain range and the river Kuban recognized the Khazars as
their overloards. The ethnic Jewish people were probably the smallest of
all the other minority groups in the empire. The Jewish people remained as
a minority despite the fact that they invited their Jewish kins to come to
the Khazar Empire (from everywhere far and near) to live a good and
prosperous life - while they were being persecuted elsewhere.
Historians tell us that it was only the Kagans and their immediate
family plus a small percentage of Turkish people that adopted Judaism.
Among the population of the Turkish Khazar Empire, a multitude of other
religions were also being practiced, such as Islam, Christianity, Altaic
Shamanism and others in addition to Judaism.
Like all Turkish Empires, the rulers of the Turkish Khazar Empire
were very tolerant of all religions within the borders of their Empire. It
was a non-racist Empire - the equal of which is not readily found even
among the present day modern states. And, it was particularly the Jewish
people who benefitted greatly from this kind of Turkish goodwill and
tolerance throughout history. This is especially true in the Turkish
Khazar Empire since the Khagans and their immediate families believed in
Judaism even though they were not ethnically Jewish.
The founders of the Khazaria were Turks. The majority of its
population were Turks. The Empire's army was Turkish and the empire was
defended by that Turkish army. In view of all these facts, unless
historians are not telling us the truth about the Khazars, it is very
difficult to believe that the Turkish Khazar Empire was a "Jewish Khazar
Empire" or a "Jewish steppe-empire", or that the Turkish Kagans of the
Empire were "Jewish Kings". While the writer may claim that he is only
referring to the Judaistic religion aspect of the ruling Khazar Kagans, but
surely he is, in a very subtle way, changing the Turkish identity of the
Turkish Khazar Empire to a "Jewish" identity by using highlighted titles.
In this regard, there seems to be misinformation being spreaded far and
wide through the Internet and other media.
It seems that as long as the Turks do not atively claim ownership
of their heritage left to them by their ancestors, there will always be
some other people who become emboldened enough to take the step to claim
the ownership.
With the use of a double-meaning word like "Jewish", (meaning Jewish
religion as well as ethnically Jewish) to describe a historical Turkish
Empire,
those who are not familiar with history are readily and incorrectly led to
believe that the Empire was founded by ethnic Jews and was ethnically a
"Jewish" Empire.
History is not furthered in a justfull manner by such
misrepresentations
and/or the spreading of such misinformation. Similar distortion of Turkish
history was unjustly rendered in the past (under the directives of
Russian/Soviet politics) by applying all kinds of unjustified terminology
and deceptive language to describe Turkish peoples, their history and their
culture. It seems that Turkish history is once again being distorted, this
time by another group.
Historically, Turks have not used religious adjectives to describe the
identity of their peoples or the titles of their Empires. Like all other
ethnic groups, the ethnicity of Turks is much more unique than their
religion whatever it may happen to be at a particular time. Such
descriptions using religious adjectives regarding Turks are quite often
made by some people who have some hidden agenda behind them and they are
not believed to be made with good-intentions. For example, the Soviets
used to describe the Turks within their Empire as the "Moslems of the
Soviet Union" without referring to Turks' Turkish ethnicity. This was
designed with the malicious intention of distracting Turks from their
Turkish ethnicity and thus to cut off the Turkish people not only from
their history which was the real strength for their survival but also from
each other. However, what was done was essentially distorting the history
and an act of empirialistic taktics trying to con some people who did not
know the truth.
To Turks, the Khazar Empire was and will always be a Turkish
Empire. No cleverly designed description can alter that fact. The Turkish
Khazar Empire is part of the proud heritage of all Turks throughout the
world, irrespective of the Jewish religion of the Khazar rulers. One cannot
change a Turk's Turkishness by attributing a particular religion to
him/her. Today, a Christian Gagauz (Gok Oguz) is ethnically a Turk as any
other Turk - irrespective of their religion. It just so happens that most
of the Turks for a long while have been Moslems, although this was not the
case during early history of Turks.
Turks are very proud of their ancestors and their magnificent
history. The Turkish Khazar Empire is one proud link to that history. For
that very reason, one of the sixteen stars in the Turkish Presidential
Flag, each representing one of sixteen major Turkish Empires in history,
represents the Turkish Khazar Empire.
Incidentally, the Turkish Khazar Empire had a flag of their own
represented with a golden horsetail standard symbol (tug~ in Turkish) plus
five five-pointed stars all on a blue background. It was certainly not the
Star of David as shown in Kevin Brook's web site.
Polat Kaya
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#2. Azerbaijan/Caspian Oil: (Turkish Daily News, 6 August 1997)
2.1 Aliyev: 'Baku-Ceyhan has priority'
Azerbaijani president asks for US to place pressure on Armenia so as to
resolve the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh region
TDN with wire dispatches
Azerbaijani President Haydar Aliyev said on Monday that his country is
giving priority to the Turkish proposal for Baku-Ceyhan, the transportation
of Caspian Sea oil to world markets.
Addressing guests in the Chicago office of U.S. company Amoco, Aliyev
pointed out that although there are many options for the transportation of
the oil resources, they are seriously considering the Turkish option. He
also invited U.S. companies to make investments in his country.
Nagorno-Karabakh
Aliyev commented that pressure on neighboring Armenia from the United
States and other nations created hopes for a resolution to the dispute over
the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
"It is unacceptable to us to have a second Armenian state within
Azerbaijan," Aliyev told an audience of business leaders through an
interpreter.
"Armenia has to compromise. We have compromised already," he said.
Aliyev said U.S., Russian and French intervention to promote negotiations
on the fate of Nagorno-Karabakh "has created high hopes in our hearts" that
the enclave would be returned to Azerbaijan.
He said 20 percent of his country was under Armenian control and one
million Azerbaijanis were refugees.
Aliyev was on the last stop of a U.S. tour that included talks in
Washington with President Bill Clinton and congressional leaders, and where
he signed several oil exploration deals with U.S. oil companies.
The United States has barred Azerbaijan from receiving U.S. aid because
of the dispute, while giving its neighbors, Armenia and Georgia, $100
million annually, Aliyev said.
The continuing dispute with neighboring Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh
region was made more difficult to resolve because Russia had shipped $1
billion worth of weapons to Armenia during the three-year cease fire,
according to Aliyev.
Three principles agreed to last December at the Lisbon meetings of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe needed to be
implemented, he said. Those included respect for international borders,
self-rule for Azerbaijan and security guarantees for the Armenians, in a
majority, and the Azerbaijanis, in a minority, within Nagorno-Karabakh.
"We will protect our independence to the end. Our independence is
irreversible and eternal. No one can set us back," Aliyev said.
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2.2 US wants to train Azeri army (Turkish Daily News, 6 August 1997)
* US considers a 'defense cooperation program'
* US press cautious of rapprochement between US and Azerbaijan
----------------------------------------------------------------------
By Ugur Akinci / Turkish Daily News
Washington- Washington not only thinks it is time to have access to
Caspian oil but time to redress the military imbalance in the Caucasus
as well. To that end, Azeri President Heydar Aliyev signed on July 31,
1997 a joint statement with U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen
during Aliyev's recent official visit to Washington.
The document, entitled "Joint Statement on Future U.S.-Azerbaijani
Defense and Military Relations," makes it clear that the Pentagon
would like to get involved with the training, budgeting and management
of the Azeri army -- if not send any arms.
Russia, which has troops stationed in Armenia and Georgia, sent $1
billion worth of arms -- reportedly including Scud missiles -- to
Armenia between 1993-96. Twenty percent of Azeri territory was
occupied by militarily superior Armenian forces, causing 700,000
Azeris to become refugees in their own country.
Since 1992, the United States has given $600 million in foreign aid to
Armenia, making Armenia the second-largest recipient of U.S. aid per
capita, after Israel. Congress earmarked another $95 million for
Armenia in 1998.
Defense cooperation program
During his meeting with Aliyev, Secretary Cohen emphasized the U.S.
desire to move forward with a "defense cooperation program" that would
"contribute to the continued development of the Azerbaijani military
under democratic and civilian control."
"Such a program could include contacts between senior military and
defense officials, bilateral military-to-military contacts, and
programs in areas such as military education and training, defense
budgeting, and resource management," Aliyev and Cohen said in their
joint statement.
"As a further step toward deepening the bilateral relationship, both
sides expressed the intention to maintain regular consultations and
exchanges between defense ministries on issues of security and
military cooperation," Aliyev and Cohen said.
Azerbaijan has an expanding participation in NATO's Partnership for
Peace program, as well as the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council.
Secretary Cohen commended Azerbaijani participation in the courses at
the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies as well.
Georgetown University will reportedly soon become the host to a new
Azerbaijani Studies Center, financed by Baku.
Cautious press
Despite the obvious melting of ice between Azerbaijan and the United
States, some in the American press are calling for the administration
not to alienate Russia in the process and be cautious with lifting
Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act of 1992.
Fred Hiatt, a member of the Washington Post's editorial board,
expressed his disappointment that, at Georgetown University where
President Aliyev gave a speech, "a standing-room-only crowd welcomed
the former KGB chief and Politburo sycophant as a great statesman."
Aliyev, not denying his KGB background, said he had changed since
then.
"It's easy and maybe profitable to lionize Aliyev for keeping the
Russians at bay. To support Azerbaijan in good measure while
encouraging Russia's democratic and economic development is a more
sophisticated game -- and, in the long run, a more rewarding one,"
Hiatt said.
As a "new element in Russia," Hiatt mentioned Russia's privatized oil
companies which are wheeling and dealing beside American companies.
"It's in everyone's interest for these Russians to be included" in
what is not a zero-sum game, he said.
In an unsigned Wall Street Journal editorial, "Caspian Oil and
Quicksand," Section 907, which denied all U.S. aid to Azerbaijan, was
defended since it "meant to punish Azerbaijan for its trade embargo
against Armenia" ... "Washington ought to proceed with great caution"
in lifting Section 907, the WSJ said.
"Corruption, political repression and human rights abuses remain
endemic in the region. The United States has a nasty habit of
subordinating its democratic principles when access to foreign oil
reserves seizes the attention of politicians and their corporate
benefactors. It happened in Iraq. It should not happen again in the
Caspian basin," the WSJ editorial concluded.
Heritage Foundation
One editorial writer who was positive on the recent developments was
Ariel Cohen, a senior policy analyst at the conservative Heritage
Foundation. In his Washington Times editorial, Cohen supported the
lifting of Section 907 and said: "Section 907 is completely outdated
and should be eliminated."
"In addition to lifting the sanctions, the United States should offer
comprehensive political assistance to Azerbaijan, Georgia and other
pro-Western countries in the region... Azerbaijan's
most-favored-nation status should also be approved," Cohen wrote.
"The United States has a unique opportunity to provide leadership,
funding and technical assistance to a region that is important for
long-term U.S. interests. The new silk road strategy for the U.S.
policy in the south Caucasus and central Asia is needed. The time to
act is now," Cohen concluded.
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2.3 Analysis From Washington--Dueling Pipelines
By Paul Goble
Washington, 4 August 1997 (RFE/RL) - Two major decisions -- one by the
United States and another by Russia -- highlight the complex interplay
of politics and economics on all questions having to do with access to
Central Asian gas and oil.
A week ago, U.S. officials said that Washington had no legal basis for
objecting to Western involvement in an Iranian pipeline project to carry
Turkmenistan natural gas across Iran to Turkey.
These officials said that the ongoing American sanctions regime against
Tehran, for its sponsorship of international terrorism, did not apply in
this case because the principle beneficiaries of this project would be
Turkmenistan and Turkey rather than Iran.
Then on Friday, the Russian government told Turkmenistan President
Saparmurat Niyazov that it had annulled an agreement between two Russian
oil companies with Azerbaijan because of Ashgabat's objections.
That accord, signed by Lukoil and Rosneft with the State Oil Company of
Azerbaijan on July 4, called for the exploitation of offshore gas
deposits in Kyapaz, a section of the Caspian Sea claimed by Turkmenistan
as well as Azerbaijan.
At one level, the American decision appears to reflect the triumph of
economics over politics, while the Russian one appears to reflect the
triumph of politics over economics.
But in fact the situation is far more complicated not only for these two
countries but for Turkmenistan and the entire region.
Despite repeated denials, Washington's decision to allow the pipeline to
go ahead not only opens the way for the outflow of Turkmen natural gas
to the West and for the profits that will bring, but also has enormous
political consequences -- intended or not.
Washington's decision in this case sets a precedent that it will be hard
for the U.S. to back away from unless Iran decides, or is provoked into,
some new outrage. And if there are more projects like this one, they
will inevitably lessen Tehran's diplomatic isolation.
Moreover, the American decision to allow this project to go ahead may
permit the countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus to build a more
solid foundation for their independence.
And that in turn represents a fundamental geopolitical challenge to
Moscow which has sought to maintain its influence over the territory of
the former Soviet Union and which has exploited Western efforts to
isolate Iran in order to isolate these countries as well.
For Russia, on the other hand, the decision to defer to Ashgabat on the
question of Kyapas is clearly a political one -- a response to warming
U.S. ties with Azerbaijan and a reassertion of Russia's claim to a voice
over decisions about the Caspian basin.
But the Russian decision has both economic roots and economic
consequences. One reason Moscow may have decided to annul the accord was
that some in the Russian capital were unhappy with their share of the
deal or its division among the two Russian companies.
Moreover, at least some in Russia may be calculating that they can get
an even better deal from Ashgabat, and possibly even from Baku, by
taking this line now.
Turkmenistan's sale of natural gas to Russia and other CIS countries
fell dramatically last year because Ashgabat did not receive payment.
But that fall-off has weakened the economy of Turkmenistan and thus
limits its freedom of action on other issues.
Moreover, by backing Ashgabat on this issue, Russia may be trying to
promote itself as a pipeline route at least for the immediate future
especially since the Iranian pipeline route's capacity is too small to
carry all the natural gas Turkmenistan would like to export.
And that in turn might lead others, including those involved in the
development of Azerbaijani oil, to look to the Russian route as well.
These contrasting combinations of politics and economics seem likely to
complicate the development of this region. Not only must each government
consider the ways in which these two elements matter for itself but also
the ways in which they matter for the other.
Any failure to do the latter will almost certainly mean that one side
will misread the actions of the other in this most complicated of games.
And that in turn could further delay the start of the flow of gas and
oil from Central Asia and the Caucasus.
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#3. Eastern Turkestan/China
3.1 Aids in Xinjiang, AP (2 August 1997)
LINXIA, China(AP) - Coral from Taiwan, rugs from Xinjiang, knives from Inner
Mongolia- the trade goods of centuries - line the tidy, brimming shops in
Linxia's bazaar.
Behind the far-flung traffic in exotic wares that long kept this Muslim
trading
town in western China prosperous now slinks a more modern commodity, heroin,
and with it, AIDS.
On the back of a flourishing drug trade, AIDS has crept up an ancient caravan
route linking China's Southeast Asian border to its remote frontier with
Central Asia. Along the way, the virus has hit tens of thousands of China's
most vulnerable, disaffected people: poor minorities on the fringes of
Chinese-dominated society.
The epidemic is a silent one, officially. Its scope and the identity of its
victims have shocked Chinese health policy makers and confounded communist
leaders nervous about social decay and ethnic rebellion.
Little has been said in the state-run media about the outbreak. Western AIDS
experts working with the government fear little is being done, even though
Chinese officials had time to prepare.
"Government leaders think it's not a thing to be proud of - people having that
kind of habit or behavior are bad. Good people don't get this," said Zhang
Konglai, a professor of epidemiology at Beijing Union Medical College and an
AIDS education campaigner.
AIDS incubated on China's border with Burma for five years starting in 1990.
The confined epidemic ravaged hill tribes in four counties in Yunnan province
as members turned to the heroin pouring across the border and, out of poverty
and ignorance, shared needles.
In 1995, the virus went north with the drugs. Within a year, HIV, the virus
that causes AIDS, began tearing through heroin users in Xinjiang, China's
northwesternmost region 1,500 miles north of Burma.
"It's an epidemic," said Zheng Xiwen, the Chinese Academy of Preventive
Medicine professor who runs the government's AIDS monitoring program.
No one in Xinjiang tested positive for HIV in 1995. By the end of last year,
nearly one in four drug addicts out of a sample of 400 did, Zheng said.
He refused to estimate how many people in Xinjiang may be infected. But a
Western specialist familiar with the testing data said they may number as many
as 50,000 - a third of all addicts in Xinjiang and the largest number in the
country. Many are Uighurs, a Turkic minority grown restive under Chinese rule.
The source of the virus is not in doubt. Zheng said the strain of the virus,
known as HIV-C, matches that found along the Burma border and is distinct from
varieties detected in Xinjiang's Central Asian neighbors.
An AIDS epidemic also has struck the Yi, another desperately poor minority
living in hilly Sichuan province, according to a U.N. agency report, a
draft of
which was obtained by The Associated Press.
The Yi straddle the trade route that for centuries brought tea and gems up
from Yunnan and Southeast Asia and horses and knives down from north China and
Central Asia.
That route goes through Linxia, a legendary commercial hub in a fertile valley
in Gansu province 500 miles north of the Yi and 750 miles west of Beijing. It
now is a notorious drug trafficking center that AIDS experts fear will be the
virus' next target.
"Linxia is one of China's heroin hot spots," said Ma Weimin, a grain trader
working out of one of Linxia's bustling markets. "It's in all the villages.
It's everywhere."
Linxia's dominant Muslim community, from the Hui minority, is as famous for
skill in trade as for the Islamic ferment that earned the town the nickname
"Little Mecca."
Dozens of mosques - some with the curved roofs of Chinese temples, others with
the onion domes of Arabia and many newly built - make the low skyline stand
out
against brown, arid hills. All attest to the wealth trade has brought Linxia.
Shops along the clean main bazaar burst with trade trinkets: coral beads from
Taiwan, incense from India, turquoise from East China, carpets from Pakistan
and fox furs from Tibetan lands. Saddles, swords and holsters give off a
frontier atmosphere.
Everyone is involved in trade, according to merchants, truck drivers,
restaurant owners and retired officials. Everyone knows the drugs come from
Yunnan, although no one interviewed admitted to being involved. No one has
heard about AIDS.
"Outsiders, people from Linxia too, are all bringing it in because they can
make money," said one resident who identified himself only as "Ma," the most
common Hui surname.
Migrants from Xinjiang living in Linxia were cagey about their knowledge of
the drug trafficking. When pressed, one said they trade everything; they have
to to make a living. "The illegal trade follows the legal trade," said Dru
Gladney, an expert on China's Muslim communities at the University of Hawaii.
"It's all kinds of trade, not just drugs."
Police plastered Linxia with notices of a drug crackdown in March, part of a
nationwide crusade. New posters were put up in mid-June warning drug offenders
of stiffer penalties and that family members and businesses could be
considered
accomplices.
"Police have set up checkpoints around Linxia," said one driver, also surnamed
Ma. "No matter how many people they catch, there's no end."
Linxia has so far avoided an AIDS epidemic, because heroin is so cheap that
users smoke rather than inject it. But if the police succeed in making
supplies
scarce, addicts will turn to needles, said Zhang Konglai, the Beijing Union
epidemiologist.
China's AIDS epidemic so far fits the pattern of the outbreak in Thailand,
said Emile Fox, director of the China office for UNAIDS, the U.N. agency
coordinating AIDS eradication.
AIDS first struck Thailand's drug users and then spread to prostitutes, their
clients, women and finally babies, Fox said.
Thailand has an estimated 750,000 HIV cases. Officially, China has 5,157
people
infected with HIV, 133 with full-blown AIDS, but officials guess HIV
infections
may be nearer to 100,000. Fox believes the real figure may be three times
higher.
Fox and other experts suspect a growing sex trade, not needle sharing, will
cause China's worst and most widespread epidemic, although testing has so far
failed to confirm their fears.
Even though China's first AIDS case was discovered 12 years ago, the
government
is still reluctant to discuss its AIDS problems in detail publicly.
Ministry of Health officials refused to discuss the epidemic in Xinjiang.
Likewise the Xinjiang government could not provide specifics on the epidemic
and efforts to fight it. Officials with Xinjiang's government and its
state-run
television said, on condition of anonymity, that almost nothing has been
reported.
An outbreak among the Uighurs is an especially frightening and sensitive
prospect for Chinese leaders. The Uighurs, one of many Turkic-speaking, Muslim
groups that are a majority in Xinjiang, have never fully submitted to Chinese
rule. They are also highly mobile, with large communities in Beijing,
Shanghai,
Guangzhou and other major cities.
In the absence of information about the epidemic, rumors have spread of
government plots and fanned concerns about domination by the Han Chinese.
Uighurs fear that Han Chinese, migrating in large numbers, are taking the best
jobs and that strict government control is wrecking the practice of Islam.
As a
result, they feel marginal.
"They have become a natural population to be involved in that (the drug
trade)," said Gladney, the expert on Chinese Muslims. "Chinese officials...
are
creating an underclass that's not participating in the system."
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3.2 Commentary on AIDS in XINJIANG
From: "Abdulrakhim Aitbayev" <rakhim@lochbrandy.Mines.EDU>
Date: Mon, 4 Aug 1997 09:02:31 -0600
On Aug 2, 5:03pm, Haldun Haznedar wrote:
> Subject: <Uighur-L> AIDS in Xinjiang
>
.....
>
> No one in Xinjiang tested positive for HIV in 1995. By the end of last year,
> nearly one in four drug addicts out of a sample of 400 did, Zheng said.
......
>-- End of excerpt from Haldun Haznedar
The following was reported by ETIC in October, 1996.
I would like to address your attention on item 3 below.
--Rakhim Aitbayev
THE MOTHERLAND MESSENGER HEADQUARTER REPORTS ON TREATMENT OF THE
ARRESTED UYGHURS IN THE CHINESE PRISONS
Eastern Turkistan Information Center, 10/28/96
>From April to July 12 the Chinese dictators in their "Strike Hard"
political repressions campaign in Aksu, Karasheher, Urumchi, and Gulja
cities of Eastern Turkistan had arrested about 20 thousand young
Uyghurs, confiscated and destroyed about half a million of religious,
cultural and national printed materials, and shut down hundreds of
mosques and medreses (Islamic religious schools).
Nevertheless, these vicious actions did not suppress the Uyghur people,
on the contrary, they caused rise of the national resistance. Armed
revenges happen more and more often.
In the middle of July, the Chinese authorities launched the second stage
of the "Strike Hard" campaign. This time they decided to conduct
purges, including those with use of military, without much of publicity.
At the end of September, the committee responsible for carrying out
"Strike Hard" formed a special commission which, in particular, was to
determine the total number of the arrested people during the campaign.
By our source, the commission ended up with an estimate of 57 thousand
arrested. The source cites the following conclusion of the commission:
1. There is no any reason to organize trials for every arrested person.
2. Put the leaders and organizers of disturbances to prisons together with
criminal elements, such as thieves, murderers and hooligans.
3. IN ORDER TO GET RID FROM THE MOST RESISTANT ELEMENTS AND THEIR
OFFSPRING, TO ORGANIZE IN ONE SELECTED PRISON INFECTING THE ARRESTED
BY THE AIDS VIRUS, AND AFTER CONTAMINATION RELEASE THEM FOR HOMES.
At the end of September, 9 arrested Uyghur leaders from Kashgar,
Khotan, Aksu and Urumchi were relocated to the Lodavan prison for
dangerous criminals in Urumchi, and shortly after some murderers
brutally killed them. The bodies were dumped and buried in the
prison's yard. The murderers were later released from the prison.
--Rabiyem Yakub, Bishkek.
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#4. KYRGYZ NEWS, 4,5,6 August 1997
KYRGYZ NEWS - 4 AUGUST 1997
1. President press service announced in Bishkek today that President Askar
Akayev had left for a 2-week vacation and departed to the Issyk-Kul lake.
Before the vacation, he signed into effect Custome Code and Law on the
National Bank and banking in Kyrgyzstan.
Juridical department of the president administration said that a law draft on
amnesty, past in the both houses of the Parliament, had been given to the
President for signing, but Akayev had not signed it yet.
According to the draft, all journalists, accused of insulting state persons
and convicted, should be pardoned.
2. Board of the Supreme Court is set to consider the cases of Zamira Sydykova,
chief editor of the independent Res Publica weekly, and Alexandr Alyanchikov,
correspondent with the same paper, tomorrow, on 5 August. They were accused of
insulting and libeling manager of the State gold company and sentenced to 18
months of imprisonment by district court last May. Last June, municipal court
of Bishkek changed the verdict and Sydykova received 18 months of colony
serving and Alyanchikov was sentenced to 18 months of suspended imprisonment.
Procurator General office appealed to the Supreme court 2 weeks ago, demanding
to restore the original verdict. A plaintiff, president of the Kyrgyzaltyn
concern, accused chairman of the municipal court of supporting opposition and
demanded from the Supreme Court to dismiss Jakyp Abdrakmanov, chairman of the
city court.
Also, two other journalists (editors Marina Sivasheva and Bektash Shamshiev)
for the same weekly were convicted by the district court, but municipal court
acquitted them in June. Procurator General office and D.Sarygulov are
demanding to restore the original verdict on them, too.
Human Rights Committee of Kyrgyzstan announced in Bishkek today that President
Akayev had declared that he signed a draft on amnesty into law, but nothing on
it has been announced in Bishkek yet. Also, the Committee says "there is
tremendous pressure put on the judges" by executive authorities.
3. Sulaiman Imanbayev, chairman of the Central electoral commission, announced
in Bishkek today that Kyrgyz government had worked out a new Electoral Code,
but Parliament has rejected to consider it. According to Imanbayev, government
will try to find compromise on it with Parliament.
Both Government and Parliament agree that electoral system in the country must
be changed. Several law drafts on it are being considered in the Parliament
now, main point of them is that next parliamentary elections shoild be held
by party lists. Government suggests to give political parties (as well as to
women oranizations and minorities) only quotas in the parliament.
Imanbayev says the numbers of deputies in the two Houses of the Parliament
could also be changed. There are 35 members in the Legislative Assembly and 70
members in the People's Assembly. According to Imanbayev, there could be 75
members in the Legislative Assembly and 35 members in the People's Assembly
after the next parliamentary elections in 2000.
4. Kyrgyz government delegation, led by deputy finance minister Alymbek
Biyalinov, has returned from Ukraine, government press service announced in
Bishkek today. Kyrgyzstan wants Ukraine to pay $28-million state debt. Kyiv
denies that Ukraine owes Kyrgyzstan. According to Biyalinov, two sides has
agreed to hold next negotiations in Bishkek.
5. Official from the president administration, Turusbek Kylychbayev, announced
in Bishkek today that a first sample of poly-silicon has been produced at the
Kristall plant in the town of Tash-Komur. Poly-silicon is used in
semi-conductor industry. According to Kylychbayev, only the United States,
Germany and Japan are producing poly-silicon.
6. Konrad Adenauer Foundation holds a round table seminar in Bishkek today. It
is called "Media as the forth power". Members of the Europarliament, Center
for strategic researches in Bishkek, Kyrgyz journalists are taking part in it.
KYRGYZ NEWS - 5 AUGUST 1997
1. Supreme Court of Kyrgyztan began to consider an appeal by Zamira Sydykova,
chief editor of the independent Res Publica weekly, and Alexandr Alyanchikov,
correspondent with the same paper, in Bishkek this afternoon. About 30 people
gathered in front of the building of the Supreme Court today. They were
collecting signatures under an appeal to the President, Askar Akayev,
demanding to stop persecuting independent journalists in the country and to
release Topchubek Turgunaliyev, opposition leader.
Sydykova and Alyanchikov were accused of insulting and libeling manager of the
State gold company and sentenced to 18 months of imprisonment by district
court last May. Last June, municipal court of Bishkek changed the verdict and
Sydykova received 18 months of hard labour and Alyanchikov was sentenced to 18
months of suspended imprisonment. Turgunaliev, chairman of the opposition
Erkin Kyrgyzstan party, was accused of abusing of power and sentenced to 4
years of labour camp last Ferbruary.
Procurator General office appealed to the Supreme court 2 weeks ago, demanding
to reinstitute the original verdict. Its representative, Tablay Abdulin, is
taking part in the session. A plaintiff, president of the Kyrgyzaltyn concern,
has accused chairman of the municipal court, Jakyp Abdrakmanov, of supporting
opposition and demanded from the Supreme Court to dismiss him.
Also, two other journalists (editors Marina Sivasheva and Bektash Shamshiev)
for the same weekly were convicted by the district court in May, but municipal
court acquitted them in June. Both Procurator General office and plaintiff
D.Sarygulov are demanding to restore the original verdict on them, too.
Human Rights Committee of Kyrgyzstan announced in Bishkek yesterday that
"there is tremendous pressure put on the judges" by executive authorities.
Zamira Sydykova was accused of insulting President Askar Akayev in 1995 and
sentenced to 18 months of suspended imprisonment. Investigation against other
correspondent for the same Res Publica weekly, Yrysbek Omurzakov, is under way
in Bishkek now. He was accused of insulting factory manager in article,
published last January and was arrested in March. District court could not
prove his guilty in May, but he was released only after the decision of the
minicipal court, taken in June, having spent 79 days in custody. Omurzakov was
also accused of insulting President Askar Akayev and sentenced to 2 years of
suspended imprisonment in 1996. Turgunaliyev was also accused of insulting
President Akayev in December 1995 and, spending 4 months in custody, was
sentenced to 2 years of suspended imprisonment in April 1996.
2. Briggite Duffeaut, chairwoman of the International Federation on Human
Rights, has come to Bishkek specially to attend the session of the Supreme
court today. She told the RFE/RL correspondent in Bishkek today that several
cases of human rights violations have occured in Kyrgyzstan recently.
According to Duffeaut, this case will be included in the agenda of the OSCE
meeting in Vienna soon.
Also, Briggite Duffeaut says she would try to meet leaders of the Interior and
Foreign ministries and Procurator General office of Kyrgyzstan and discuss the
cases.
3. Foreign ministry announced in Bishkek today that three American senators
will visit Kyrgyzstan soon. Charles Robb will come tomorrow, on 6 August. John
McCenny and Phil Gramm are expected to arrive on 16-17 August. They will meet
with President Askar Akayev and Foreign minister, Muratbek Imanalieyv, and
discuss economical reforms in Kyrgyzstan.
4. Kyrgyz government announced on 4 August the economical results of the first
6 months of 1997. According to the Government, inflation in January-June was
13.6%, it is less than in 6 months of 1996 by 6%. Budget deficit had been
decreased by 0.9% and is 1.6% now.
Also, 111 enterprises are stalling in the country now, 178 other enterprises
could not increase their output in 1997. 679 -million-som (about $40 million)
goods are kept in warehouses, because could not be sold. Total debit debt
of the
enterprises is 3,600 million som (about $210 million), their credit debt is
2,400 million som.
5. Official from the Labour ministry told our correspondent in Bishkek today
that ther are 15,359 registered Tajik refugees in Kyrgyzstan now. 12,613 of
them are ethnic Kyrgyz; 2,451 of them are ethnic Tajiks. According to him, it
is not clear yet, when the refugees will be returned to Tajikistan.
KYRGYZ NEWS - 6 AUGUST 1997
1. Zamira Sydykova, chief editor of the independent Res Publica weekly, told
RFE/RL today by phone that she had not received an official decision of the
Supreme Court yet. According to her, she might be find guilty for the article,
published late in 1993, but the suspended inprisonment term for it would be
reckoned by her suspended term in 1995. In another case, she was accused of
insulting President Askar Akayev and was sentenced to 18 months of suspended
imprisonment in July 1995.
Sydykova was released form custody in Bishkek on 5 August, after the decision,
taken by the Supreme Court. The Court considered her appeal on overturning the
decision by district and municipal courts, taken on 23 May and 10 June.
Sydykova was accused of insulting and libeling manager of the state gold
company and was sentenced to 18 months of imprisonment by district court.
Municipal court replaced imprisonment by labor camp.
Three judges of the Supreme Court considered the case yesterday: Akylbek
Matkerimov, Nadezhda Duyunova and Klara Maksutova. Matkerimov, chairman of the
session, told our correspondent in Bishkek on 6 August that the Supreme Court
did not acquit Sydykova fully, but only improved mistakes, had made by
district and municipal courts.
Briggite Duffeaut, chairwoman of the International Federation on Human Rights,
who came to Bishkek specially to attend the session of the Supreme court, told
our correspondent in Bishkek today that the Supreme court made "balanced
decision" only and did not dare to acquit Sydykova.
Sydykova began to work as chief editor of the Res Publica today.
2. Government press service announced in Bishkek today that a meeting of the
Inter-State Council of the Central Asian Union would be held in Almaty,
Kazakhstan, on 7 August. Prime ministers of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and
Uzbekistan will take part. 10-strong Kyrgyz delegation will be led by Prime
minister Apas Joumagulov.
11 subjects are on the agenda of the meeting. Among them are:
- migration problems,
- transport problems,
- export of the electrical power,
- water supply and others.
Kyrgyzstan wants Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to pay for water from its water
resevoirs.
3. American senator Charles Robb arrived in Bishkek today. He will meet with
Foreign minister, Muratbek Imanaliyev, in the Ala-Archa residence today. On 7
August, he will travel to the resort town of Cholpon-Ata to meet with
President Askar Akayev. Economical and political reforms in Kyrgyzstan will
be discussed.
4. Asaba party's Board appealed to the President and Parliament today,
demanding to change electoral system in the country. According to the party,
parliamentary elections should be held by party lists and a party, won in the
elections, should form a government. Also, current bi-cameral parliament
should be replaced by unicameral one. And number of deputies should be reduced
to 70. There are 35 members in the Legislative Assembly and 70 members in the
erople's Assembly of the Parliament now.
Asaba party had prepared a law draft on it and sent it to President and
Parliament late in 1996.
Government is preparing its own program on changing the electoral system in
Kyrgyzstan. According to it, politycal parties will receive only quotas in
the parliament, as well as women organizations and minoruty associations.
5. Official from the Yntymak movement told our correspondent in Bishkek today
that only 190 its members had received plots of lands in the outskirts of the
capital. More than 1,000 people had given their applications to the
governmental comission on it. The commission must convene twice a week, but,
according to the Yntymak official, it had not gathered for 2 weeks.
There are more than 5,000 members in the Yntymak movement, which unites young
people, moved to the capital from countryside. There is a few opportunity to
find job in the countryside now, that is why the young people work in the
capital and want to build their houses by their own. The movement held several
demonstrations in Bishkek in 1996-1997 and government promised to help them.
However, local authorities has sued some members of the movement, accusing
them of constructing houses without permission.
<<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>>
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