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Central Asia holds water summit Central Asia fails in water talks
(about 3 hours later)
The leaders of the five Central Asian states are meeting in the Kazakh city of Almaty to discuss one of the most contentious regional issues, water. The leaders of the five Central Asian states have failed to agree on the best way to share their water.
Correspondents say that finding an agreement on water use is key to the stability of this ethnically diverse and potentially volatile region. They signed a compromise statement that did not mention water sharing, concentrating instead on the decline in the level of the Aral Sea.
The two nations with extensive mountains, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, hold 80% of the region's water. Correspondents say that a deal on water usage is key to regional stability.
But much of this is needed in the other three semi-arid states downstream. Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan hold 80% of the region's water, but much of this is needed in the three states downstream, which are semi-arid.
Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan rely on water from their neighbours for their important cotton industries, as well as for agriculture.Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan rely on water from their neighbours for their important cotton industries, as well as for agriculture.
A Soviet-era system for sharing water has lapsed and the five states have been unable to devise a new one.
Ecological disasterEcological disaster
The Central Asian leaders have a poor history of co-operation, according to the BBC Central Asian correspondent Rayhan Demetrie. In Soviet times a system of exchange enabled the five states to share water and energy resources such as electricity and gas.
They only meet infrequently and usually on the sidelines of other events. But this barter scheme is no longer active and the five states have been unable to devise a new one.
The Central Asian leaders have a poor history of co-operation, according to the BBC's Central Asian correspondent Rayhan Demytrie.
They meet infrequently and usually on the sidelines of other events.
But water allocation is becoming an increasingly pressing issue, and drought and overuse have caused an ecological disaster in the Aral Sea, which has shrunk by 90% in recent decades.But water allocation is becoming an increasingly pressing issue, and drought and overuse have caused an ecological disaster in the Aral Sea, which has shrunk by 90% in recent decades.
In Soviet times a system of exchange enabled the five states to share water and energy resources such as electricity and gas, but this barter scheme is no longer active.
Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, which suffer most from lack of electricity during the cold winters, have long been pursuing the construction of hydropower plants.Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, which suffer most from lack of electricity during the cold winters, have long been pursuing the construction of hydropower plants.
But Uzbekistan fiercely opposes these projects, saying the construction of hydropower stations and new dams would reduce the flow of water for cotton irrigation downstream.But Uzbekistan fiercely opposes these projects, saying the construction of hydropower stations and new dams would reduce the flow of water for cotton irrigation downstream.
While the summit is mainly about water, some attention will also be focused on the fact that Uzbek President Islam Karimov is there at all.
Mr Karimov, one of the region's most reclusive leaders, does not usually travel abroad, and his country is often singled out for criticism for its human rights abuses and repressive regime.