UZBEKISTAN: KAZAKHSTANI PRESIDENT TO VISIT TASHKENT (EurasiaNet) (Mar 9)
Kazakhstan’s president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, will visit Uzbekistan later this month, according to Kazakhstani diplomats. The upcoming visit was raised by Kazakhstan’s new ambassador to Uzbekistan, Boribay Jeksembin, as he presented his credentials to President Islam Karimov on March 4.


Uzbeks Face Forced Sterilization (The Moscow Times) (Mar 9)
Uzbekistan’s government has instructed health workers to surgically sterilize women as part of a campaign to reduce the birth rate of the country, a human rights group and a think tank said.


Fergana Valley: Relations Cooling, Uzbek-Kyrgyz Border Growing Increasingly Violent (Mar 9)
BY JONIBEK KADAMJAYOV The deteriorating relationship between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan is giving rise to violence along the countries’ shared frontier. Adding to the tension, Tashkent has unilaterally closed one of the largest border crossings between the two countries.


Georgia: Amid Democratization, Village Elder Tradition Survives in Mountainous Svaneti Region (Mar 9)
A EURASIANET PHOTO ESSAY BY TEMO BARDZIMASHVILI In the remote mountain villages of Georgia’s northwest region of Svaneti, 84-year-old Bauchi Qaldani of Adishi is universally regarded as a wise man. And Qaldani, a village elder now in his fifth decade as a mediator and matchmaker, is still ready to dispense his wisdom whenever called upon. "I was born for others," he says.


Kazakhstan to keep the status of the world leader of flour exports (AgriMarket) (Mar 9)
According to the forecast of the International Grains Council (IGC), in the current season, Kazakhstan will again keep the status of the world leader of flour exports. According to estimations of the experts, in 2009/10 MY, the country will increase flour exports compared to 2008/09 MY.


Kazakhstan mulls tax breaks for Kazakhmys project (Reuters via Yahoo! Asia News) (Mar 9)
ASTANA, March 9 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan may grant tax breaks to the Boschekul copper mining project run by copper major Kazakhmys , Industry and Trade Minister Aset Isekeshev said on Tuesday.


Tajikistan: More Parties Don’t Make Pluralism (Mar 5)
Five political parties instead of three now hold seats in parliament, but only one of them really counts. By Nargis Hamrabaeva and Lola Olimova in Dushanbe (RCA No. 605, 04-Mar-10)


Armenia: US Congressional Committee Adopts Resolution Recognizing Armenian Genocide (Mar 4)
BY JOSHUA KUCERA A US congressional committee narrowly passed a resolution on March 4 officially to term Ottoman Turkey’s 1915 massacre of ethnic Armenians as genocide. The move is likely to complicate relations between the United States and Turkey, and could bring the Turkish-Armenian reconciliation process to a halt.


Uzbekistan’s Hidden Trials (Mar 3)
Secrecy of proceedings raises serious questions about due process. By Kamilla Abdullaeva in Uzbekistan (RCA No. 605, 03-Mar-10)


Kyrgyz Journalism Under Pressure on All Fronts (Mar 3)
Tendency towards playing safe by avoiding controversial subject-matter. By Anara Yusupova in Bishkek (RCA No. 605, 03-Mar-10)