Category Archives: Central Asia & South Caucasus News

Comment: US foreign policy in C.Asia & the S.Caucasus

JULY 8 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — John Kerry’s visit to Georgia on Wednesday was the first visit by a US Secretary of State to the South Caucasus in four years. And, importantly, the visit was tied not to the region as a whole, but to a NATO summit that Mr Kerry will attend in Poland today, July 8.

Mr Kerry has only visited our patch once, in November 2015, when he toured all five Central Asian states.

This compares to the frequent visits of his predecessor and now presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who visited the Central Asia and South Caucasus region four times, perhaps because of a stronger US interest in Afghanistan and the need to show support to South Caucasus countries over their relationship with Russia and Europe.

President Barack Obama’s second term, which started in 2013, has been marked by a slow disengagement from the region. This included giving up the Manas air base near Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, in mid-2014, once the main jumping off point for forces heading to Afghanistan but not needed once US engagement dropped off. In July 2015, the State Department also awarded jailed Kyrgyzstani human rights defender Azimzhan Askarov a human rights prize, prompting an official complaint from Kyrgyzstan.

The NATO-driven engagement in Georgia also waned, especially after President Mikhail Saakashvili lost power in 2013. Georgia is now possibly the furthest it’s ever been from joining the military alliance.

US diplomatic relations with Azerbaijan have also worsened, after President Ilham Aliyev’s re-election in 2013 and the increasingly harsh crackdown on political opposition and media freedom, including expelling the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty from Baku.

And Mr Kerry’s demeanor has also betrayed lack of interest. Soon after his appointment, in Feb. 2013, he referred to Kyrgyzstan as “Kyrzakhstan” at a press conference. Both the US diplomatic attitude and resource allocation show that it is losing ground in Central Asia and the South Caucasus to Russia, China and Iran, who have proved able to pay for the soft power in cash, investing in infrastructure, financial and energy projects.

Next year the State Department plans to allocate around $240m to the region, around 1/3 more than in 2015. Still, more funding does not necessarily mean more engagement.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)

Kazakh court jails doctors for selling babies

ALMATY, JULY 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — An Almaty court sentenced a group of former doctors, nurses and mothers to prison for selling newborn children, exposing another case of corruption and human trafficking in Kazakhstan’s healthcare system.

Four mothers who had sold their children, 10 hospital workers and one other person linked to the trafficking of the babies will face between two and nine years in prison.

The sentence ended a trial that lasted for one year and targeted the illegal market of children.

For eight years, hospital workers, including several doctors, had organised the sale of at least 30 children at a price of between $500 and $6,000 each. One nurse sold as many as 10 babies.

The parents who bought the babies were pardoned by the judge, avoiding both a sentence and a criminal record, allowing them to become their children’s official guardians.

Under Kazakh law, people who have a criminal record cannot legally adopt children.

During the trial, parents who bought the babies said they had agreed to the trafficking ring because it was easier than facing the bureaucratic hurdles of adoption.

Aiman Umarova, a lawyer who defended a woman who bought a baby, told the Conway Bulletin’s Kazakhstan correspondent that this was not an isolated case in Kazakhstan.

“It is a problem across the country. In maternity houses you can easily sell children,” she said.

Last month, a court in Shymkent, south Kazakhstan, started a trial against workers in a maternity centre accused of selling as many as 21 newborn babies.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)

Kyrgyz and Tajiks were part of airport attack, says Erdogan

BISHKEK, JULY 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tajiks and Kyrgyz were part of the group that planned an attack on Istanbul airport last week, again highlighting the Central Asian link to radical Islam.

Turkish security forces have arrested around 30 people, including Kyrgyz and Tajiks, and accused them of plotting the attack that killed at least 44 people and wounded over 200 on June 28.

Mr Erdogan accused the IS radical group of the attack.

“We have arrested 30 people related to the terrorist attack. We are dealing with natives of Dagestan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan,” Mr Erdogan said.

Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan said they would investigate Mr Erdogan’s accusations.

The Istanbul attack has highlighted Central Asia as a growing recruitment centre for Islamic extremists. It is unclear whether Central Asians become radicalised in their own country or in Russia, but their growing presence in Syria’s IS training camps is undisputed.

In an effort to crush radicalism, Central Asian governments have cracked down on Islamic opposition, including ordinary, peaceful and pious Muslims, often enflaming tension.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)

Obama and Putin discuss Azerbaijan and Armenia

JULY 7 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin said they would intensify efforts to resolve the stand-off between Azerbaijan and Armenia-backed forces over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The White House said Mr Obama and Mr Putin discussed the South Caucasus during a wide-ranging telephone conversation.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)

Briefing: Georgia’s EU Association Agreement

JULY 8 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — >> So, this EU Association Agreement that Georgia officially entered into on July I, is it a big deal? What will it change for Georgia?

>>Yes, it is important. Basically it gives Georgian businesses more access to EU markets. In return for this, the EU has insisted that Georgia improves certain areas of its laws and regulations to bring them more in line with EU standards. This mainly involves technical business issues such as health and safety standards and workers rights but also includes wider issues such as democratic reforms.

You have to keep in mind that this deal was signed two years ago, although it was only officially implemented on July 1, so many of the reforms have been ongoing.

>> I see. Why does Georgia even need to boost its access to EU markets?

>>Georgia needs better access to EU markets simply because they have become more important. It is exporting more and more products to the EU, mainly fruit, wine and water. Georgia had been reliant on former Soviet states as its main trading partner but that dynamic has shifted.

>> And on Georgia’s EU aspirations, do they really think that they can join the EU?

>>They certainly want to. Georgia has pursued an overtly pro-Western agenda since Mikheil Saakashvili was voted into power in 2004. Realistically, Georgia has a long, long way to go before anybody is really going to take their application to join the EU seriously.

What they really want next is a deal of visa liberalisation for Georgians visiting Europe for a short period of time.

The government had been receiving encouraging signs. Unfortunately for them, though, the current EU migration crisis has turned public opinion and pressured governments into restricting any potential free-movement deals.

Earlier this year European politicians warned Georgia, and Ukraine, that visa liberalisation was unlikely.

>> Are any of the other former Soviet countries also going down this road?

>>The three Baltic states became full EU members in 2004. They are also NATO members. Of the rest Ukraine has also signed an Association Agreement with the EU. Armenia was offered a similar deal but instead opted to join the Kremlin-led Eurasian Economic Union, trade bloc that also includes Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

>> And finally Brexit. Where would we be without talking Britain’s vote to leave the EU? Has Brexit change anything for Georgia? Is it relevant?

>>No. As fascinating and mesmerising as Brexit is, it’s not important to Georgia, unless Brexit breaks the entire EU project.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)

Armenia’s finance minister refuses does not respond

JULY 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s finance minister Gagik Khachatryan refused to respond to an investigative article that questioned his role in his sons’ real estate purchases in the US. His sons, Gurgen and Artyom, bought two houses in Los Angeles in 2010 for $11m and are now selling them for $35m. Transparency lobby groups have said there could be ties betweenMr Khachatryan’s ministerial position and his sons’ business deals.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)

Merkel to visit Kyrgyzstan

JULY 7 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel will visit Kyrgyzstan on July 13-14 on her first-ever visit to the Central Asian country. President Almazbek Atambayev’s press office said that the leaders will discuss cooperation between Kyrgyzstan and Germany. The last timeMs Merkel metMr Atambayev was in Istanbul in May, on the sidelines of a UN-sponsored meeting.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)

Azerbaijan’s SOCAR reports loss

JULY 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s state-owned energy company SOCAR posted a loss of 1.8b manat ($1.2b) in 2015 because of low oil prices, its first loss for over a decade. SOCAR said it will potentially turn a profit this year because of a sharp depreciation of the manat in December 2015, when the Central Bank ditched the peg to the US-dollar.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)

Kyrgyz President releases song

JULY 2 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev released a music video in which he sings a melancholic ballad. Mr Atambayev also wrote the Russian-language song, entitled ‘In spite of fate’. Mr Atambayev does not appear in the video which features scenes from a Soviet-era movie. Five days later, Mr Atambayev released a second music video.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)

Azerbaijan invests in pipelines

JUNE 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The total cost of the new pipelines that will form the so-called Southern Gas Corridor amounts to $6.1b, according to Vagif Aliyev, head of investment at SOCAR, Azerbaijan’s state-owned energy company. TANAP, which will run through Turkey, will cost $4.9b, out of which Azerbaijani companies will contribute $820m, according to Mr Aliyev. The Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which will connect Turkey to Italy, has a price tag of $1.2b, and will be completed in the next three years.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 287, published on July 1 2016)