The Relations of the Central Asian Republics of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan with Israel
2012; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 48; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/00263206.2012.723628
ISSN1743-7881
Autores Tópico(s)Middle East and Rwanda Conflicts
ResumoAbstract Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan became independent upon the breakup of the Soviet Union. Neither of these republics developed strong nationalist identities and it has been the task of their former communist leaders who are still in power to develop such identities while suppressing internal divisions. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have had a history of tolerance toward their respective Jewish populations, from which many have immigrated to Israel (and the United States) in recent years to unite with family or for economic reasons. Those republics view Israel Diaspora Jews as a source of investment and technological know-how as well as an avenue for better relations with the United States. Conversely, Israel, while considering Russian sensitivities in its relations with Central Asia, values the region as a market for Israeli products, a source for hydrocarbon resources and a way to counteract Iran as well as to seek a more favourable attitude in disputes with the Arabs. Notes J. Abadi, Israel's Quest for Recognition and Acceptance in Asia: Garrison State Diplomacy (London: Frank Cass, 2004), pp.xi–xii. See M.B. Bishku, ‘The South Caucasus Republics and Israel’, Middle Eastern Studies, Vol.45, No.2 (March 2009), pp.295–x314. Republic of Kazakhstan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs – hereafter Kazakhstan, MFA, Relations with Countries of Asia and Africa, Cooperation of the Republic of Kazakhstan with the State of Palestine and Cooperation of the Republic of Kazakhstan with the State of Israel, available at these websites: http://portal.mfa.kz/portal/page/portal/mfa/en/content/policy/cooperation/asia_africa/16 http//portal.mfa.kz/portal/page/portal/mfa/en/content/policy/cooperation/asia_africa/14 (both accessed 12 May 2011). Republic of Uzbekistan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs – hereafter Uzbekistan MFA, List of States with which the Republic of Uzbekistan established diplomatic relations, available at http://mfa.uz/eng/inter_cooper/dipl_relat/ (accessed 11 May 2011). Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs – hereafter Israel MFA, Diplomatic Missions Abroad: Status of Relations, available at www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/About+the+Ministry/Diplomatic+missions/Israels+Diplomatic+Missions+Abroad.htm (accessed 12 May 2011). Turkmenistan finally agreed to the establishment of an Israeli embassy in Ashgabat in May 2009, but Israel subsequently appointed Reuven Dinel, a former Mossad agent expelled from Russia in 1996 after he was caught receiving secret satellite photographs from senior Russian military officers in October 2009; Turkmenistan delayed for months and never responded to the appointment and plans for opening an embassy are now in abeyance. See B. Ravid and H. Correspondent, ‘Turkmenistan Snubs Former Mossad Agent as Israeli Envoy’, Haaretz, 1 March 2010, available at http://www.haaretz.com/news/turkmenistan-snubs-former-mossad-agent-as-israel-envoy-1.263929 (accessed 22 May 2011). A list of Palestine's embassies is found at http://www.webgaza.net/resources/Embassies_of_Palestine.htm (accessed 12 May 2011). Kazakhstan, MFA, Kazakhstan's Embassies and Other Missions, available at http://portal.mfa.kz/portal/page/portal/mfa/en/content/ministry/missions; Uzbekistan, MFA, Diplomatic and Consular Missions of Uzbekistan Overseas, available at http://mfa.uz/eng/mfa/dipcons_mis/ (both accessed 12 May 2011). Kazakhstan, MFA, Diplomatic Missions in Kazakhstan, available at http://potal.mfa.kz/portal/page/portal/mfa/en/content/policy/mission; Uzbekistan, MFA, Diplomatic Corps in Tashkent, available at http://mfa.uz/eng/mfa/diplomatic_corps/ (both accessed 12 May 2011). Other members include Azerbaijan, Mongolia, Thailand, South Korea and Vietnam, while observers include the United States, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Qatar and Ukraine. See Kazakhstan, MFA, Kazakhstan in Global and Regional Security Issues, Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, available at http://portal.mfa.kz/portal/page/portal/mfa/en/content/policy/security/conference (accessed 13 May 2011). The full text of that declaration is available at http://www.cicaistanbul.org/pages/document9.html (accessed 12 May 2011). Previous summits took place in Helsinki (1975 and 1992), Paris (1990), Budapest (1994), Lisbon (1996) and Istanbul (1999). See http://www.osce.org/mc/43197 (accessed 12 May 2011). The Central Asian and South Caucasus republics are members as they are successor states of the former Soviet Union. The quote is from Arkady Dubnov, an international analyst for Moscow's recently defunct Vremya Novostei newspaper in J. Lillis, ‘Uzbekistan: Nazarbayev Makes Diplomatic Trade-Off with Karimov’, EurasiaNet.org, 17 March 2010, available at http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insightb/articles/eav031810.shtml (accessed on 13 May 2011). United States, Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook, entries for Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, respectively, state that for 2009, China received the largest percentage in terms of exports from Kazakhstan (16 per cent), while Russia was fourth (7 per cent); Kazakhstan received the largest percentage in terms of its imports from Russia (28.5 per cent), while China was second (26.5 per cent). Ukraine received the largest percentage in terms of exports from Uzbekistan (30 per cent), while Russia was second (14 per cent) and China was sixth (5.5 per cent); Uzbekistan received the largest percentage in terms of imports from Russia (23.5 per cent) and China was second (20 per cent), available respectively at http://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/kz.html and http://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/uz.html (both accessed 16 May 2011). The speech known as ‘Strategy Kazakhstan 2030’, presented on 12 Oct. 1997, is available on the Kazakhstan Foreign Ministry website: http://portal.mfa.kz/portal/page/portal/mfa/en/content/reference/strategy2030 (accessed 16 May 2011) (emphasis added). I. Karimov, Uzbekistan on the Threshold of the Twenty-First Century: Challenges to Stability and Progress (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998), p. 181. Ibid., pp.151 and 164. A. Rashid, Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2002), p.81. He was orphaned as a child. Karimov, Uzbekistan on the Threshold, pp.88–9. Ibid., p.89. Ibid. O. Roy, The New Central Asia: The Creation of Nations (New York: New York University Press, 2000), pp.150–60. Rashid, Jihad, pp.42–6 and 84–5. G. Saidazimova, ‘Kazakhstan: Government Moves to Add Hizb ut-Tahrir to List of Terror Groups’, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – hereafter RFE/RL, 18 March 2005, available at http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1058033.html; and C. Caryl, ‘The Party's Not Over’, Foreign Policy, 22 Dec. 2009, available at http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/12/22/reality_check_the_party_s_not_over? As of 24 Nov. 2010, the United States Department of State has a list of 47 foreign terrorist organizations, but does not include Hizb al-Tahrir, see http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/other/des/123085.htm (all accessed 16 May 2011). It is also legal in Great Britain, Canada and Australia, as stated in Christian Caryl's article cited above ‘merely professing noxious views is not enough to justify prohibition’. Rashid, Jihad, p.123. National Conference on Soviet Jewry (NCSJ), Kazakhstan Country Page, available at,http://www.ncsj.org/kazakhstan.shtml; and NCSJ, Uzbekistan Country Page,. available at http://www.ncsj.org/uzbekistan.shmtl (both accessed 16 May 2011). Kazakhstan, MFA, ‘Kazakhstan's Stands on the Middle East Peace Process’, available at http://portal.mfa.kz/portal/page/portal/mfa/en/content/policy/security/middle_east (accessed 16 May 2011). M.J. Jordan, ‘Kazakhstan Seen as Bridge to Muslim World’, Jewish Telegraph Agency – hereafter JTA, 18 Dec. 2008, available at http://www.jta.org/news/article/2008/12/18/1001458/kazkhstan-as-bridge-to-muslim-world (accessed 17 May 2011). G. Orazbakov, ‘Kazakhstan and Israel: Good Friends and Reliable Partners’, Jerusalem Post, 20 May 2009. NCSJ, Kazakhstan Country Page; and A. Oreck, ‘The Virtual Jewish History Tour: Kazakhstan’, Jewish Virtual Library, available at http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Kazakhstan.html (accessed 17 May 2011). S. DellaPergola, World Jewish Population, 2010 (Storrs, CT: North American Jewish Data Bank, University of Connecticut, 2010), p.55, available at http://www.jewishdatabank.org/Reports/World_Jewish_Population_2010.pdf (accessed 17 May 2011). Jewish Agency for Israel, ‘World Jewish Population, 2002’, available at http://www.jewishagency.org/JewishAgency/English/Jewish+EDucation/Compelling+Content/Eye+on+Israel/Demography/World+Jewish+Population+2002.htm; and NCSJ, ‘Jewish Emigration from the Former Soviet Union to Israel and the United States: Statistics’, available at http://www.ncsj.org/stats.shtml (both accessed 17 May 2011). NCSJ, Kazakhstan Country Page; and L. Krichevsky, ‘Wealthy Kazakh Businessman Looks to Make Mark on Jewish World’, JTA, 18 Oct. 2004, reprinted in NCSJ, ‘Profile: Kazakh Philanthropist A. Mashkevich’, available at http://www.ncsj.org/AuxPages/101804JTA_Mashkevich.shtml (accessed 17 May 2011). C. Boucek, ‘Iran Spy Trial Highlights Israeli-Central Asian Security Relations’, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute Analyst, 7 June 2000, available at http://www.cacianalyst.org/?q=node/316; and Anti-Defamation League, International Affairs Division, ‘Backgrounder: The Trial of 13 Iranian Jews’, March 2003, available at http://www.adl.org/backgrounders/Iranian_Jews.asp (both accessed 17 May 2011). Jordan, ‘Kazakhstan Seen as a Bridge’. Embassy of Kazakhstan in Israel, ‘About Kazakhstan–Israeli Relations’, available at www.kazakhemb.org.il/?CategoryID=165&ArticleID=163; A. Cohen, ‘Kazakhstan: Israel's Partner in Eurasia’, Jerusalem Viewpoints, No.573 (Sept.–Oct. 2009), available at the website of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs: http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=253&PID=0&IID=3097; and K. Svetlova and S. Wrobel, ‘Kazakhstan Seeks to Increase Oil Exports to Israel’, Gazeta.Kz, 20 Nov. 2009, available at http://engarticles.gazeta.kz/art.asp?aid=140212 (all accessed 18 May 2011). Embassy of Kazakhstan in Israel, ‘About Kazakhstan–Israeli Relations’. Interview of Ran Ichay entitled ‘Israel and Kazakhstan: On the Way to Innovative Economies’, Kazakhstan, No.2 (2007), available at http://investkz.com/en/journals/52/405.html (accessed on 18 May 2011). ‘Israeli President Makes Landmark Kazakhstan Visit’, European Jewish Press, available at http://www.ejpress.org/article/37657# (accessed 18 May 2011). Quoted in ibid.; also see Israel MFA, ‘Shimon Peres in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan for First Historic Visit’, 28 June 2009, available at http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2009/President_Peres_visits_Azerbaijan_and_Kazakhstan_28_Jun_2009.htm (accessed on 18 May 2011). J.C.K. Daly, ‘Israeli–Kazakh Cooperation Grows’, Eurasia Daily Monitor, Vol.5, No.142 (25 July 2008), available at http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=33834 (accessed on 18 May 2011). Boucek, ‘Iran Spy Trial’. M. Perelman, ‘Uzbek Unrest Shines Light on Leader's Ties to Jewry’, Forward, 25 May 2005; and W. Ruby, ‘Bukharans Standing by Their Man’, Jewish Week, 27 May 2005. E. Navon, ‘Uzbekistan: The Diplomatic Club Magazine Meets with Uzbekistan's Ambassador to Israel, Oybek Usmanov’, The Diplomatic Club, Sept.–Oct. 2005, pp.8–9. NCSJ, Uzbekistan Country Page; DellaPergola, World Jewish Population, 2010; Jewish Agency for Israel, World Jewish Population, 2002; Ruby, ‘Bukharans Standing by Their Man’; ‘Bukhara’, Encyclopedia Judaica (Jerusalem: Keter Publishing House, 1972), Vol.4, pp.1470–74; J. Sloame, ‘Bukharan Jews’, Jewish Virtual Library, available at http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/Bukharan_Jews.html; and A. Oreck, ‘The Virtual Jewish Tour: Uzbekistan’, Jewish Virtual Library, available at http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Uzbekistan.html (both accessed 20 May 2011). Navon, ‘Uzbekistan’, p.9. P. Berman and L. Goldman, ‘Cracked De Beers’, Forbes, 15 Sept. 2003, available at http://www.forbes.com/global/2003/0915/046.html (accessed 20 May 2011). The title of the article refers to Leviev's controlling share in Africa Israel investments with its interests in the diamond trade and challenges to the De Beers cartel. Z. Chafets, ‘The Missionary Mogul’, New York Times, 16 Sept. 2007. ‘Uzbekistan to Train in Israel, Turkey’, Uzbekistan Daily, 12 Dec. 2008, available at http://www.uzdaily.com/articles-id-4388.htm (accessed 20 May 2011). ‘Karimov in Israel’, Eurasia Monitor, Vol.4, No.170 (17 Sept. 1998), available at http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=16216&tx_ttnews[backPid]=212 (accessed 20 May 2011). A. Snow, ‘Cuba Embargo: UN Vote Urges US to Lift Embargo’, Christian Science Monitor, 26 Oct. 2010, available at http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2010/1026/Cuba-embargo-UN-vote-urges-US-to-lift-embargo. In the 2010 vote, the Marshall Islands, Palau and Micronesia abstained. Cuba was the 118th country to recognize Uzbekistan. See Uzbekistan MFA, List of States with which the Republic of Uzbekistan established diplomatic relations. As for Kazakhstan see their MFA website at Relations with Countries of Europe and America, Cooperation of the Republic of Kazakhstan with the Republic of Cuba, available at http://portal.mfa.kz/portal/page/portal/mfa/en/content/policy/cooperation/europe_america/12 (both websites accessed 21 May 2011). M.B. Olcott, Central Asia's Second Chance (Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2005), p.53. United Nations, General Assembly Resolution GA/10883 is available at http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2009/ga10883.doc.htm (accessed on 21 May 2011). The vote was 114 to 18, with 44 abstentions. Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan voted in favour. The United States, Canada and Australia opposed the Report. Most EU states either abstained or voted against, while Russia abstained and China voted in favour. ‘Israel Says Relations with Uzbekistan Still Good, Despite Reports’, RFE/RL, 15 Oct. 2009, available at http://www.rferl.org/content/Israel_Says_Relations_With_Uzbekistan_Still_Good_Despite_Reports/1852583.html (accessed 21 May 2011). ‘Uzbekistan Improving Relations with Israel’, RFE/RL, 7 May 2009, available at http://www.rferl.org/content/Uzbekistan_Improving_Relations_With_Israel/1623277.html (accessed 21 May 2011). Ibid. E.F. Trushin, ‘Uzbekistan: Foreign Economic Activity’, in B. Rumer and S. Zhukov (eds.), Central Asia: The Challenges of Independence (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1998), p.228. S. Gonchar, ‘MASHAV Projects in Uzbekistan’, 18 Nov. 2010. Gonchar is the MASHAV coordinator for Uzbekistan. Available at http://eng.econews.uz/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=261:mashav-projects-in-uzbekistan&catid=11:eco-education&Itemid=21 (accessed 21 May 2011).
Referência(s)