Political
The second anniversary of the Andijon tragedy on 13 May 2005 was one of the main issues during this reporting period. The European Union accepts that there was an armed insurgency but considers the Uzbek government's response inappropriate. What is still in doubt is the exact number of victims and the manner in which they were killed. On 14 May, the EU reviewed the sanctions it had imposed on Uzbekistan in the aftermath of the Andijon tragedy. It decided not to lift the arms embargo and to suspend the visa ban for four of the twelve officials on the EU's list. International human rights organizations, such as Human Rights Watch, the International Helsinki Federation, and Reporters without Borders, had previously called on the EU not to lift or even ease sanctions. Especially Germany, which held the EU chairmanship, was the target of criticism because it was one of the most outspoken lobbyists for renewed cooperation with Uzbekistan. However, other analysts pointed to the deteriorating human rights situation in the country after the introduction of the EU's sanctions and the Western loss of leverage over Tashkent, which benefits China and Russia, whose policies are not driven by concerns over human rights and rule of law. They therefore called for a re-engagement with the country in order to exert at least a small influence on the rulers in Tashkent. The EU's decision also clearly disappointed the Uzbek leadership, which called it "counterproductive." On 13 May, small scale protests against the Uzbek government in remembrance of Andijon victims took place in Brussels, Bishkek, London, Moscow and Stockholm, among others. The Uzbek authorities also remembered the victims – on 10 May local authorities in Andijon opened a memorial square devoted to the policemen that were killed during the Andijon events.
Uzbekistan has continued to make some conciliatory gestures in its treatment of local journalists and human rights activists: Independent journalist Umida Niyazova was released on 8 May (see FAST Update Uzbekistan No 2, March to April 2007). On 11 June, the charges of tax evasion and working without accreditation against two local journalists of the Deutsche Welle were dropped by the prosecution and on 12 June, human rights activist Gulbahor Turaeva was released on parole. According to official news agencies, which portrayed the release as "yet another manifestation of humanism," she pleaded guilty and thanked law enforcement agencies for having taken her off the wrong path she had been pursuing. She also condemned other human rights activists and journalists for seducing people like her to tell lies and denigrate the image of Uzbekistan in exchange for money. On 2 May, the accreditation of the representative of Human Rights Watch was extended. Nevertheless, persecution of other human rights activists continued throughout the country – arrests were reported in Manghit, Qarshi, Qoqand, Samarqand, and Tashkent. Thus, there appears to be a certain ambivalence in Tashkent's treatment of human rights activists. In some cases, there seems to be a move towards a slightly more liberal approach. It can therefore be assumed that international pressure on the Uzbek authorities has had a certain effect.
Despite the lack of any official preparations for the presidential election expected to be held in December, President Karimov seems to have started his re-election campaign by visiting several regions in the country. Analysts noted that Karimov's earlier visits to the provinces were always either in connection with reshuffles of local administrations or if he had important international guests. This time, however, there were no government reshuffles reported in the aftermath of the president's visits. On 21 and 22 June, he visited cotton farmers and textile plants in the Namangan and Andijon provinces and proposed the expansion of a micro credit system for farmers. Earlier, he was also in the Khorezm, Bukhoro and Navoi provinces as well as in Qaraqalpakistan. For the time being, the question of the presidential election is as open as it can be.
International
The Uzbek government continued its drive to diversify its foreign policy options. Contact officially took place with countries of the Middle East, East Asia and countries of the former Soviet Union. Thus despite Western sanctions, Uzbekistan cannot be considered an isolated country. On 6 June, President Karimov received the Deputy Prime Minister of Kuwait for talks on bilateral cooperation. One day later, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bahrain visited Tashkent to discuss an intensification of bilateral relations. At the meeting, President Karimov stated that Uzbekistan gives high priority to relations with Arab countries. This was underlined by the earlier visits of the President to Egypt (see last FAST Update) and the opening of direct flights between Tashkent and Cairo in July. The national oil and gas company Uzbekneftegaz's agreement on joint gas exploitation with a Korean firm and the joint extraction of glycerin with a Chinese company are yet another sign of diversification in Uzbekistan's foreign economic policy. Another important event was the informal summit of the heads of state of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in Saint Petersburg on 10 June, where President Karimov seized the opportunity for bilateral talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. The official statements were positive, noting the high volume of bilateral trade, the mutually beneficial cooperation in the oil and gas sector, as well as collaboration in security. So far Uzbekistan's drive to diversify its foreign policy options (especially in regard to energy export) does not seem to have hampered its relations with Russia.
On the regional level, a notable improvement in relations with Turkmenistan is evident. This is mainly due to the change in leadership in Ashgabat. Personal animosities between President Karimov and his late Turkmen counterpart, Saparmurat Niyazov, led to relations that can be termed frosty at best. Points of conflicting interests are the usage of water from the Amudarya River and the exploitation of a cross-border oil field. President Karimov used the presence of his new Turkmen counterpart, Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov, at the St. Petersburg Summit for talks on regional cooperation and improving bilateral economic relations. Meanwhile, Kazakh ambitions to create a Central Asian Union (see FAST Update Kazakhstan No 2, March to April 2007) have been met with considerable skepticism by the Uzbek leadership and political commentators. However, this does not hinder bilateral cooperation on different issues, such as the re-opening of the railway connection between Kazakhstan and the Qaraqalpak republic or discussions about additional custom points on the border. Still, Uzbekistan is continuing to act in an unpredictable manner as demonstrated by the sudden ban on the export of vegetables, especially tomatoes, to Kazakhstan in the second half of May. Some analysts point to the possibly upcoming elections as a motivation behind this move – prices in Uzbek bazaars plummeted after the introduction of the export ban.
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