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WATER POLITICS

Via World Bulletin, a report on Central Asian water challenges:

Uzbek President Islam Karimov said Thursday that full-scale war could begin in Central Asia if Kyrgyzstan does not stop building new water-power plants under Russian patronage. 

“Cascade of water-power plants on cross-border rivers will leave irrigation ditches without any water, and Aral Sea will run dry,” said Karimov. 

Water resources has been a long-standing issue in Central Asia, and caused a vast number of disputes among countries within the region.

According to Karimov, there should be a common agreement on building of new hydroeletric plants along the rivers passing through Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. Otherwise, hydroenergy problems could escalate so much that “won’t only cause serious confrontation, but even wars.”

Islam Karimov has repeatedly appealed to the UN demanding “to carry out a comprehensive international expertise before starting to build, or before signing hydroelectric power station construction agreements with some great states”, referring to the Russian Federation and Kyrgyzstan.