Category Archives: Central Asia & South Caucasus News

Armenian MP’s approve Russian air defence deal

JUNE 30 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — MPs in Armenia approved the government’s decision to join its air defence system with Russia’s. The move pulls Armenia further into Russia’s sphere of influence. Russia already maintains one of its largest overseas bases in Armenia. It has been increasing cooperation with its neighbours since relations with the West deteriorated over fighting in Ukraine.

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

Kazakhstan to introduce civil service code

ALMATY, JUNE 24 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s government said that it wants to introduce a code of conduct focused for its civil servants to improve their image with the public.

Maksat Musin, head of the Kazakh civil service, said in a statement on the government’s website that he wanted the new code to improve standards in general.

“The full aims of the code have not yet been set out but the general principles are already established, these are to be modest and ethical,” he said.

Kazakhstan’s government has previously tried to improve the quality and professionalism of its civil service. In 2013 it introduced a special set of exams to try and recruit a cadre of new, professional civil servants.

Still, ordinary Kazakhs were scornful of the potential decree. They said that the government was fond of making empty policy statements about improving government structures and employees which make little or no impact.

“I think it’s some kind of superficial idea to pretend that the government is doing something,” said Nurbek, an Almaty-based student. “The main problem with our government officials is corruption and this is really bad. That’s what they should be working on instead of pretending that they are doing something.”

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

Kyrgyz Supreme Court is unlikely to release rights defender Askarov

BISHKEK, JUNE 30 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan’s Supreme Court may be set to review the case of imprisoned human rights activist Azimzhan Askarov but analysts have said that he is unlikely to be released in a process designed to appease the United States and the United Nations.

Askarov’s case is controversial because he was described as a political prisoner by the United States last year, angering Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyz politicians view him as a troublemaker who has stirred ethnic tension in the south of the country.

Police arrested Askarov after ethnic violence in Osh killed nearly 400 people in 2010. Askarov, an ethnic Uzbek who investigated police brutality, was accused and convicted of inciting the violence and also being part of a gang that killed a policeman. His supporters have always said that he is a political prisoner.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee effectively weighed in on the row between Kyrgyzstan and the US earlier this year when it said that a Kyrgyz court should review the case.

And in a surprise move, the Kyrgyz Supreme Court said last week that it would do just this, raising hopes held by rights defenders that Askarov may be set free from his life sentence.

But Emil Juraev, a political analyst, said that although there were allegations of mistreatment, the UN can only pressure for a review of the case and not for a prisoner to be released.

“This time they called the Kyrgyz court to review the case, as they said it was not valid last time,” he said. “It’s likely, that the court will not change its decision.”

His sentiment was backed up by rights defender Aziza Abdirasulova.

“I worry that the court will only review this case as such and not follow demands to release Askarov due to violations during the process,” she told the Conway Bulletin’s Bishkek correspondent. “Besides, there is a risk that nationalist and radical groups will disrupt the process.”

The Supreme Court is due to consider the case on July 11.

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

Russia released Georgian spy

JUNE 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — In another sign of improving relations between Russia and Georgia, Russia released Zurab Abashidze, a Georgian national who had been imprisoned for spying. Russia said that it had now released seven people it imprisoned for spying between 2008 and 2011. Relations between Georgia and Russia improved when the Georgian Dream coalition took power from Mikheil Saakashvili’s National United Movement party in 2012.

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

Pope pays visit to Armenia

JUNE 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – On a three day trip to Armenia, Pope Francis called for closer links between the Vatican and the Armenian Orthodox Church and also described the killings of over 1m Armenians at the end of the First World War by Ottoman Turks as a genocide. The Pope has been one of the most outspoken proponents of Armenia’s insistence that the killings 100 years ago constitute a genocide. Turkey furiously denies the allegations and has said that the deaths were part of the chaos of WWl.

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

Georgia scraps army conscription

TBILISI, JUNE 27 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia will scrap conscription into its army in 2017, the first country in the South Caucasus and Central Asia to ditch this Soviet military legacy.

Ditching conscription is considered a major step by Georgia towards becoming a modern army fit to join NATO, one of its key policy objectives. In reality, its 37,000-person army had already been remade in the image of a professional Western army, carrying US-made weapons, wearing US-style uniforms and fighting alongside NATO forces in Afghanistan and the US in Iraq.

Only 10% of this standing army was made up of conscripts and they filled non-combat roles. It was also relatively easy to opt out of conscription. This contrasts with the rest of the region’s militaries which are still heavily reliant on conscription and are rife with allegations of bullying.

Defence minister Tina Khidasheli said she had ditched conscription, first discussed in 2013, because it was simply no longer needed.

“The Georgian Armed Forces do not need a service member brought in on a compulsory basis,” media quoted her as saying.

The ditching of conscription will only apply to the army and not to other security services run by the interior ministry or the prison service which are still reliant on conscripts.

And the decision to scrap conscription received a mixed response in Georgia. Some remembered the role that conscription had played in bolstering Georgia’s large reserve army, mobilised in its 2008 war with Russia.

“This decision, like others taken in this period, has been made only because of the election campaign,” a 26-year old man told The Conway Bulletin’s correspondent in Tbilisi.

Georgia holds a parliamentary election in October.

Others said scrapping conscription showed Georgia was progressing. “It sounds good that in our country military service is not mandatory and we are not getting ready for a war,” said another 31-year-old man.

“This somehow emphasises that Georgia is a peaceful country.”

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

Ukraine security forces arrest two Tajik men

JUNE 25 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Security forces in Ukraine arrested two Tajik men at Kharkiv airport for allegedly being members of the radical IS group, media reported. According to reports, the men were returning to Tajikistan from Syria via Turkey and Ukraine. They planned to target various sites with bombs. Governments in Central Asia are concerned about growing IS influence.

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

Oilmen strike in western Kazakhstan

JULY 28 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Around 700 oil workers staged a two-hour strike, protesting against alleged pay cuts and job losses at the Burgylau oil service company in Zhanaozen, western Kazakhstan, the US-funded RFE/RL reported. Burgylau is linked to businessman Yakov Tskhai, who owns a majority stake in its parent company KazPet- roDrilling. In 2011, around 15 people died in Zhanaozen during clashes between striking oilmen and police.

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(News report from Issue No. 291, published on Aug. 1 2016)

MTS wants to sell Uzbek stakes

JUNE 27 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian telecoms operator MTS wants to sell its Uzbek assets, two anonymous sources from the company and the ministry of information told Interfax. The move follows other competitors, like Telia Company and VimpelCom, who are looking to divest from the country, after a corruption scandal hit the telecoms sector. MTS owns 50.01% of UMS, the Uzbek government owns the rest.

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

China agrees to loan Uzbekistan

JUNE 30 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — China has agreed to loan Uzbekistan $2.6b to implement various joint projects, Uzbek President Islam Karimov said. The deal highlights Chinese strategy in Central Asia where it is prepared to hand out cheap loans in exchange for infrastructure projects developed by Chinese companies. The loans also give it political influence.

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