Qishloq Ovozi (Archive)

Drills that Uzbekistan's National Security Service (SNB) and Interior Ministry forces have been conducting recently seem to go beyond the realm of exercises.

RFE/RL's Uzbek Service, known locally as Ozodlik, reports that what was described by authorities as a "drill" in two villages in the Ferghana Valley recently resulted in the arrest of some 40 people.

The action took place on May 15-16 in the Oltiariq district of Uzbekistan's Ferghana Province and was intended to simulate the kind of unrest that erupted in Andijon 10 years earlier.

SNB and Interior Ministry forces, supported by armored vehicles, reportedly arrived in the two villages on May 15 and deployed around the area, surprising and sparking fear among local residents.

Locals were even more alarmed when about 40 residents were arrested and taken away, which did not seem to be part of the drill.

All those taken into custody were soon released. But for them and their relatives it must have been a frightening experience, especially since SNB and Interior Ministry forces staged a real raid in the same district on April 13 and arrested eight people on charges of being members of a banned religious organization.

Ozodlik reported a "de facto curfew" was imposed on the district for several days following the April raid.

Uzbeks, Kyrgyz Inherit U.S. Equipment

On a different note, many people have written about (here and here) the U.S. decision to send Uzbekistan more than 320 MRAPs (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles).

But Uzbekistan is not the only Central Asian country that has received U.S. military vehicles.

RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service pointed out during Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev's May 26 visit to a military base in southern Jalal-Abad Province that the vehicles in the below photograph belong to the Kyrgyz military, a gift from the departing U.S. forces that were stationed at the Manas Airport near Bishkek.

-- Bruce Pannier

With contributions by Farruh Yusupov of RFE/RL's Uzbek Service

Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan have agreed to their maritime border in the Caspian Sea despite the continued lack of agreement on the legal status of the Caspian among its five littoral states.

Both Kazakh and Turkmen media reported on May 26 that Turkmenistan's parliament ratified an agreement with Kazakhstan that dated back to November 7.

A report on May 27 confirmed that the Kazakh parliament had similarly ratified the deal.

Media in both countries suggest the agreement recognizes the sovereign rights of each country in their sectors of the Caspian, including the right to develop and use the resources found within their national sectors.

The interesting thing about this agreement is that it comes as the five littoral states -- which also include Azerbaijan, Iran, and Russia -- continue to debate whether the Caspian should be considered a sea or a lake.

If it is the latter, then national sectors would be established stretching about 16 kilometers from the shoreline of each country, within which each country would have exclusive rights to develop its portion. The remainder would be the common property of the five littoral states and could only be developed by mutual consent.

Iran in particular has been favoring "lake" status because if the Caspian is considered a sea, national sectors would be drawn that would give Iran just 13 percent along the southern shore, or the least valuable section of the Caspian based on known reserves.

The Kazakh-Turkmen agreement also comes as Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, and the European Union have been discussing construction of a Trans-Caspian Pipeline (TCP) that would bring Turkmen gas across the bottom of the Caspian to Azerbaijan, where it would be pumped into pipelines leading to Turkey and, possibly, on to Europe.

The Kazakh-Turkmen maritime demarcation deal strengthens Turkmenistan's claim on rights to use its sector for whatever purposes it wishes -- building a pipeline, for example -- without consulting the other littoral states. Turkmen and Azerbaijani authorities have already said if both countries agree to build such a pipeline there is no need to seek approval from the other three coastal states.

Russia has raised objections to the TCP project, citing the unresolved matter of the Caspian's legal status and the potential environmental consequences of the TCP.

Some feel Russia's objections are motivated more by the potential loss of revenue from Russia's gas sales to Europe than by any concerns about the environment.

The Khabar news website noted it is not the first such agreement that Kazakhstan has signed with a Caspian littoral state and noted a 2002 agreement with Russia that divided the Caspian zone between Russia and Kazakhstan and allowed for the joint development of hydrocarbon resources in the Kurmangazy, Tsentralnaya, and Khvalynskoye fields that are located along the common maritime border their agreement established.

-- Bruce Pannier with contributions by RFE/RL's Kazakh and Turkmen services