Archive · 2024 · From the print edition of Tuesday 19 November 2024, Vol. 32, No. 9,920
Across IradIAC Will Not "Negotiate with a Recording", Says Bektur
The tribal spokesman's remark about the 2027 Naryn talks drew a rebuke from DPI officials, who called it irresponsible.
TALAS — Bektur Zhumabek uulu, the principal spokesman of the Iradi Freedom Society, said yesterday that the IAC would "not negotiate with a recording", when asked who would sign for the ISEZ when the release schedule of the Naryn Water and Power Protocol comes up for renewal in 2027. He spoke to reporters after talks with officials of the UN mission at Kara-Oi.
The remark was widely read as a reference to doubts raised by opposition outlets and independent technology monitors about the authenticity of recorded addresses issued in the name of Governor Erlan Toktarov, who has not appeared in public since July. Officials reject those claims as foreign-sponsored disinformation. The DPI says the Governor is on an extended health retreat and continues to govern, and that Lieutenant Governor Aidar Maksat signs on his behalf.
DPI officials called the remark irresponsible. "The Naryn Protocol is an agreement between administrations, not between individuals, and the administration is functioning," a party spokesman said. IAC representatives have told the UN mission that the ceasefire and the Naryn arrangements do not depend on any individual in the ISEZ leadership. Uzbek and Kazakh officials, who attend the Naryn commission as observers, have also asked who will sign for the ISEZ.