![]() ![]() At issue was a government proposal to exchange its 32.7-percent stake in Centerra for 50 percent of a joint venture that would give the state control over the gold mine. Under a veiled government threat to nationalize the gold mine, negotiations between the two sides began nearly two years ago. In 2014, government officials heeded calls by Kyrgyz nationalists and told Kumtor to revise its agreement with the state to give the government a bigger share of the mine and, therefore, its profits. Hundreds of people became sick and several died ( here and here) pregnant women were advised to have abortions and the government evacuated many of the downstream villages.Ĭenterra Gold and Kumtor mine officials have rejected reports that the cyanide spill caused fatalities.īut after that tragedy, Kumtor officials made infrastructure investments in the region and in small communities near the mine, partly, no doubt, in an effort to generate positive PR. The spill poisoned the Barskoon River that supplies water to many of the villages along the southern shore of the lake at Issyk-Kul. Whether an overreaction or not, McFeat's comment has certainly resulted in some bad PR for Centerra, the Canadian-based company that owns the Kumtor mine - which is Central Asia's largest Western-managed gold-deposit project.Ĭenterra has been especially image-conscious since 1998, when a Kumtor truck carrying cyanide overturned while driving along the curvy mountain road that leads up to the mine. We have so much hatred and anger toward all of them that we are ready to go out and start beating anyone who is not Kyrgyz by blood," she wrote on Facebook. ![]() It is the result of our anger toward 'strangers, foreign agents, State Department spies,' etc. "What happened is that this story is a very vivid reflection of us at the current time. But please tell me why for doing this someone should be taken to the police station? What law is violated when somebody refers to horse sausage like that? I would like to now hear from the most competent lawyers."Īliya Suranova, a well-known Kyrgyz blogger, said the strong reaction to McFeat's comment is a symptom of something deeper in society. "Horsesausagestan - a country without leadership, where the emotions of three-year-old hooligans rule the day," tweeted Edil Baisalov, a former parliament member and government official.īektour Iskender, founder of the kloop.kg website, asked: "OK, to call chuchuk a horse's penis is, of course, not the smartest thing. (file photo)īut some Kyrgyz suggested the real outrage was the authorities' response to the Facebook quip, which merely appeared crafted - however crudely - to get a laugh out of McFeat's friends and family in Scotland. Because I will never insult another nation while visiting it, I hope you wouldn't either."Ī Kyrgyz vendor sells sausages prepared from horse meat at Bishkek's Osh Bazaar. ![]() I want him and other foreign guests to learn their lesson. Samat Dolotbakov, a director at the Emark construction company and the CEO and founder of the magazine #ONE, wrote on Facebook: "Dear friends, I saw in post written in English that he laughed of our nation. Prominent Kyrgyz historian and publicist Kyias Moldokasymov wrote on Facebook: "The guy who mocked chuchuk must definitely be punished! And don't you think that those who are destroying Kyrgyz glaciers and creating irreparable damage to our environment while taking natural wealth out of the country are also laughing at us and asking, 'What can you do about it?' must also be punished?" Many in Kyrgyzstan were outraged that McFeat would dare to compare chuchuk - a sausage prized among the former nomadic Kyrgyz, who consider the horse a noble animal that is only eaten on special occasions - to horse genitalia. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |