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The OSCE should oppose Kazakhstan’s Iron Curtain Policies
Central Asian Free Market Institute is puzzled by OSCE’s indifference on Kazakhstan’s unilateral closure of the border with Kyrgyzstan. It has been exactly forty days that the border is closed.
On May 14, 2010 during talks with Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Kanat Saudabayev, OSCE Secretary General Marc Perrin de Brichambaut said the OSCE appreciates Kazakhstan’s efforts to resolve the situation in Kyrgyzstan. However, facts indicate the contrary for Kazakhstan.
Media leaked information that the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, after talks with the head of the Provisional Government of Kyrgyzstan Roza Otunbayeva promised to open the border on May 11, 2010. However, on that day over 300 people with cars and goods from Kyrgyzstan were turned away from Kazakhstan.
Mutually beneficial trade relations between Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan ended following Kazakhstan’s decision to close the border on April 7. Despite numerous appeals from Kyrgyzstan’s Provisional Government, business associations and individual citizens - the border remains closed.
Losses from the closure amount not only the loss in trade but also the prices increase in the markets of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, which erodes people’s purchasing power. It is expected higher inflation these months. Thus, Kyrgyzstan’s textiles and agricultural entrepreneurs are close to bankruptcy because their primary export markets are Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. 350,000 people directly involved in the textile sector face the risk of job loss.
Beside goods, ordinary citizens cannot cross the Kyrgyz-Kazakh border. The previously vibrant Bishkek-Almaty route is virtually non-existent. Thus, the iron curtain has descended between Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.
According to worst-case scenario the border is to remain closed until Kyrgyzstan’s parliamentary and presidential elections in October 2010. Such a trade embargo will have disastrous consequences for both the economic and political stability in Kyrgyzstan. Kanat Saudabayev, serving as OSCE Chairman andMinister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstanm proclaimed on April 20, 2010 that the OSCE is particularly interested in the process of establishing the rule of law and improving the quality of life in Kyrgyzstan. Therefore, we believe that there is no reason to delay this process by keeping the borders closed and the iron curtain must be lifted.
The Central Asian Free Market Institute requests OSCE to comply with the principles of Charter of Paris (1990), namely: a firm commitment to prosperity through economic liberty and social justice. We call for the immediate opening of the border.