On a tour of Central Asia, Secretary of State John Kerry is hoping to prod the former Soviet republics of the region toward greater democracy and respect for human rights even as they work to snuff out funding and recruiting by the Islamic State group that has spread to the region.
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After meeting Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon and Foreign Minister Sirodjidin Aslov, Kerry said: “We talked about the difficulties and challenges of counterterrorism and fighting against violent extremism effectively, but also in a way that balances human rights and religious freedom”. In Tajikistan, another northern neighbor of Afghanistan, Kerry said the U.S.is targeting “drivers of radicalization” and training and equipping border guards to prevent extremists from penetrating the country. The “historic meetings” between the five Central Asian states and the US (C5+1) in NY on September 26, 2015 and in the Uzbek city of Samarkand on November 1, the Office of the Spokesperson said, “represent a significant step forward for the U.S.-Central Asia relationship and a sign of the growing capacity of Central Asian countries to collaborate and prosper as a region”.
Later Sunday, Samarkand was the backdrop for the first ministerial meeting between the United States and all five Central Asian powers.
President Nazarbayev said he was “grateful” for the “permanent support” of the USA for Kazakhstan’s “sovereignty and economic development”.
“We see that, unfortunately, in our news, on our television, every day”, Kerry continued.
Kyrgyzstan’s president also canceled a scheduled visit to the U.S.in September.
Kerry praised the results of talks between Nazarbayev and Obama in NY, during which the sides discussed non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, combating extremism, the situation in Afghanistan and countering Daesh.
Tajikistan and Turkmenistan are next of the secretary’s itinerary. It responded in July by lambasting the USA and dissolving a 22-year-old cooperation agreement with the United States.
“The lifetime work of this particular individual is what was being honored, and it certainly was not meant to somehow interfere with any judgments with respect to one particular event or incident – which I am not speaking to now, but simply reaffirming that our department will continue to stand up for and speak for human rights on a global basis”, he added.
United States officials also said he would pressure Rakhmon on human and civic rights issues, but there was no mention of this in his opening statement before the closed door talks. And we encourage strong candidacies, and Kazakhstan’s candidacy is a strong candidacy… but we have to wait and see sort of how or where that develops.
Secretary of State John Kerry speaks with Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on October 31, 2015.
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Berdymukhamedov, whose official title is Arkadag, or “Protector”, has ruled Turkmenistan with an iron fist for nearly a decade, controlling all aspects of life in the mostly Muslim nation of 5 million people on the Caspian Sea.
