Author Archives: admin

Nazarbayev to travel to Iran in show of support

APRIL 15 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev will visit Tehran later this year, signalling Kazakhstan’s eagerness to embrace Iran after the United States agreed to relax sanctions imposed on it.

Yerlan Idrissov, Kazakhstan’s foreign minister, made the announcement at a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, in Astana.

“We expect the visit of President Nazarbayev to Iran and we hope that this visit will contribute to the development of our relations,” he said.

Mr Zarif was visiting Kazakhstan less than two weeks after agreeing a deal with the US in Lausanne, Switzerland, that could scrap sanctions on Iran in return for extra American oversight of the Iranian nuclear programme.

The US has said Iran wants to develop a nuclear weapon. Iran has insisted its nuclear programme is for civilian use only.

Mr Nazarbayev has visited Iran previously. He was one of the few international leaders to attend the inauguration of Iranian president Hassan Rouhani in 2013.

For Kazakhstan, Iran is an important consumer market, particularly for grain and steel products. Kazakhstan exports its products to Iran by ship across the Caspian Sea.

At the press conference in Astana, Mr Idrissov also said Kazakhstan supported Iran’s potential membership of the Russia and China-ed Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), an economic-security organisation focused on Central Asia.

Iran is already an observer member of the SCO. Russia has also said that it supports SCO membership for Tehran, a proposition that will alarm NATO and the US.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 227, published on April 15 2015)

Erdogan flies to Astana

APRIL 15 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan flew to Astana for a state visit. He is due to hold talks with Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev on Thursday which have been billed as important. Turkey is an influential regional power.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 227, published on April 15 2015)

Kazakhstan murder trial starts in Vienna

APRIL 14 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – An ex-Kazakh spy chief and a member of the presidential guard went on trial in Vienna accused of murdering two bankers in 2007 (April 14). The chief suspect in the case, Rakhat Aliyev, former son-in-law of Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev, was found hanged in his prison earlier this year.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 227, published on April 15 2015)

Mortgage holders protest in Kazakhstan

APRIL 10 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – In a rare anti-government protest in Kazakhstan, dozens of homeowners demonstrated in Astana about the extra pressure they are under to meet US dollar denominated mortgage repayments, media reported. The Central Bank cut the value of the tenge by about 20% this year and is under pressure to do so again as the rouble remains low.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 227, published on April 15 2015)

Floods hit central Kazakhstan

APRIL 15 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A rise in snowmelt, triggered by an increase in temperatures, has caused rivers to burst their banks, media reported. The Karaganda oblast’s emergency department said nearly 2,000 homes had been flooded.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 227, published on April 15 2015)

EBRD gives loan to Kazakhstan’s Temir Zholy

APRIL 13 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has agreed to give Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, the Kazakh national rail company, a loan of $200m to restructure its debt, media reported. Temir Zholy has been upgrading rapidly over the past few years.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 227, published on April 15 2015)

EU wants loose association deal with Armenia

APRIL 3 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The European Union is considering negotiating a loose association deal with Armenia, its ambassador in Yerevan, Traian Hristea, told the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

This is significant as Armenia rejected a closer Association Agreement it had been negotiating with the EU in 2013 when it agreed to join the Kremlin-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).

Referring to an EU summit in Riga next month, Mr Hristea said: “After we receive the mandate from the member states (to negotiate a deal with Armenia), of course we will engage in negotiations.”

For Armenia, short on regional allies, this is vital. It had been worried that its membership of the EEU will block any further involvement with the EU. That, though, hasn’t been the case and the EU has been willing to engage Armenia despite its close alliance with Russia. Russia keeps a large military base in Armenia, it is Armenia’s biggest investor and controls the gas pipeline network.

Separately, Armenian media quoted President Serzh Sargsyan defending his decision to take the country into the EEU.

“I am convinced Armenia has made the right choice, and, I am sure, there would be many more difficulties in any other circumstances,” he was quoted as saying.

Many ordinary Armenians have said they would rather that the country had not joined the EEU.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)

Italian builder wins Azerbaijan contract

APRIL 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Subsidiaries of Italian building company Maire Tecnimont have won a contract worth 350m euros to construct a plant producing the plastic polypropylene in Azerbaijan. This will be the first polypropylene plant in Azerbaijan and is part of a new petrochemical complex announced last month.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)

Defence minister from Azerbaijan, Turkey fly to Tbilisi

APRIL 2 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Defence ministers from Turkey and Azerbaijan flew to Tbilisi to discuss improving cooperation. Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia agreed last year to set up trilateral meetings. Armenia has been cast aside from the group.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)

Azerbaijan’s president travels to Saudi Arabia

APRIL 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev visited Saudi Arabia only a few days after members of the United Arab Emirates’ royal family had travelled to Baku for talks.

Some analysts have said that Mr Aliyev is looking to boost his alliances with Arab states as a potential bulwark against improving US-Iran ties.

“Saudi Arabia will extend its investment in Azerbaijan. We are both Muslim countries and Azerbaijan has good relations with Saudi,” Vahid Ahmadov, an independent MP, told the Bulletin.

In many ways it suits Azerbaijan to have its neighbour, Iran, ostracised and demonised by the international community. The thinking goes that if Iran is considered a rogue state, the US and Israel need Azerbaijan more. This month, at talks in Switzerland, the US moved to relax sanctions imposed on Iran because of concerns about its nuclear programme.

The opposition ReAl movement said that Mr Aliyev had been trying to woo Arab states because he needed more cash for various pipeline projects.

“Azerbaijan will need huge money for the TAP and TANAP projects. Oil revenues are falling and the government needs to find loans,” media reports quoted Azer Gasimli, an opposition activist, as saying.

“The IMF and World Bank set disturbing standards which require economic reforms for Aliyev. For him it is better to find loans from Arab countries.”

The EU and Western companies are investing in Azerbaijani energy and the infrastructure needed to transport it to markets. Azerbaijan, though, needs cash now.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)