Person: My name is Paul [Gandich], I whole-heartedly agree with everything you’ve said and I would also like to start with [IB]. I went to central Asia very many times, I stood at the crossroads, nothing happened and I left. As soon as I left something happened. I was in Bishkek in 2009 December, I had been following the Kyrgyz political and economic scene. Despite the fact that I’m an economist and therefore the ability of projection is not [IB] scientist, I aid the situation is not terrible and soon after the problems started. I think the problems that you have been touching on are resonating extremely well I must say thank you very much. Those are using the old if you want [IB] term [are the] super structure. There are a number of issues that are infrastructure and there is no interest in fact of solving this.
The infrastructure problems come from, one thing is their, I don’t have any question actually [IB] at all. First of all the legacy of the Soviet system and Soviet mentality like locals having no voice, and instead of KGB you have family groups controlling things, the control mentality hasn’t been changed neither in Kyrgyzstan nor Uzbekistan nor in any other place; I’ve been to practically to all of them. In 2005 created a glimpse of hope that there will be a serious change. I don’t know if you’ll agree with me. And there will be a democracy there will be freedom of speech and so on, those things have disappeared very quickly. In 2009 December what my friends in various strata of the Bishkek society I can say are complaining a number of things. One, the disappearance of the hope of democracy, corruption and the stagnation of the economy; the stagnation of the economy structure because as you well know Kyrgyzstan has practically has nothing. The water, where are they going to sell it? A little gold and that’s the end of it. As opposed to say Kazakhstan the money is coming out of their ears.
So the things that we’ll have to look into, into Kyrgyzstan as well as in other countries, I suspect that similar things one way or the other the explosion of this satisfaction will blown up in Kazakhstan, definitely Uzbekistan is a candidate, Tajikistan already exploded and settled down. Io think we will have to accept the fact that the soviet mentality, those that have experience with the soviet system must disappear from this world before we change these countries into a more democracy, more understanding, more decentralization, local political participation and so on and so forth. Neither OSC nor Kazakhstan nor United States nor Russia will be able to remedy that situation in a short time. I think central Asia is pregnant for further instability or explosions of the Kyrgyzstan type. I don’t think the Kyrgyz wanted to kill the Uzbeks living in Osh or in Jalalabad. I think it’s just the explosion of frustration, and this always happens. It’s not really the ethnic tension but it took the form of ethnic tension because they have no jobs, they have to go to Moscow or [IB], St. Petersburg and so on. So deep inside this whole Soviet system, Soviet mentality, which is replaced by corruption, family ties, mafia type of organizations or relations are really the essence of those eruption to the surface that cannot be easy to remedy. Thank you.
Interviewer: So thank you so much, thank you for your questions, they were excellent, thank you for excellent presentation.
Kevin DeWitt: Thank you, thank you very much.
[57:45] [END OF PRESENTATION]
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