SEPT. 12 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Vatican released a schedule for Pope Francis’ second trip to the South Caucasus. The Pope will spend two days in Georgia, Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, and the following day in Azerbaijan. In June, Pope Francis had visited Armenia.
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(News report from Issue No. 296, published on Sept. 16 2016)
SEPT. 13 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – A presidential decree connected to the recent reshuffle in the Kazakh government established the ministry of religious affairs and civil society, headed by Nurlan Yermekbayev. Mr Yermekbayev, former aide to the president and secretary of the Security Council, pledged to foster inter-religious dialogue. Analysts have criticised the creation of the new ministry as a new instrument to control society.
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(News report from Issue No. 296, published on Sept. 16 2016)
SEPT. 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – SOCAR, Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil company, said it expects oil prices to stabilise at $40/barrel in 2017. Oil prices are crucial for Azerbaijan’s economy as it earns most of its income from oil exports. Earlier this year, after Brent prices fell below $30/barrel, Azerbaijan’s parliament formed its 2016 budget with a $25/barrel forecast.
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(News report from Issue No. 296, published on Sept. 16 2016)
SEPT. 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan’s Central Bank said that annualised inflation amounted to 6.4% in August, an increase from last year’s level of 5.1%. Inflation is volatile in Tajikistan, as it is closely tied to the Central Bank’s currency interventions. Despite repeated Central Bank’s interventions, the Tajik somoni has lost 19% against the US dollar in the past 12 months.
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(News report from Issue No. 296, published on Sept. 16 2016)
SEPT. 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The first rail freight from China arrived in Afghanistan via Central Asia, potentially opening up a new trade route. China has tried to create interconnected transport infrastructure in Central Asia to promote alternatives to sea shipping. The railway linking China and Afghanistan also crosses Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan for a total length of 7,500 km.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 296, published on Sept. 16 2016)
SEPT. 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – A Kyrgyz court sentenced two women to six and seven years in prison after they tried to recruit another woman to join the IS extremist group in Syria. The prosecutor also said that the brother of one of the women was currently fighting in Syria. Kyrgyzstan and other countries in Central Asia are increasingly worried about a rise in IS recruitment in the region.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 296, published on Sept. 16 2016)
SEPT. 8 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Hovik Abrahamyan resigned from his post as Armenian PM, saying that new leadership was needed to restore confidence in the government.
Local media outlets in Armenia have touted Karen Karapetyan, former mayor of Yerevan and Gazprom Armenia executive, as the potential new PM.
During his resignation speech, Mr Abrahamyan, PM since April 2014, said that Armenia needed new leadership to restore confidence.
“In order to improve the current economic and social situation, both the government and the people need to make joint efforts, and this requires new approaches and new principles,” he said.
Mr Abrahamyan may have been trying to deflect criticism from Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan. President since 2008, Mr Sargsyan’s popularity has fallen recently.
In July a group of gunmen calling for a new government captured a police station, triggering a two week standoff with security forces. Three policemen died during the capture of the police station and the subsequent standoff. Hundreds of protesters, supporting the gunmen clashed with police, during the standoff, highlighting the frustration with the government.
Armenia’s economy has flatlined and promised improvements in relations with neighbours have not materialised. In the summer of 2015, protesters clashed with police when the government tried to increase prices for electricity. In April, too, fighting broke out between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
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(News report from Issue No. 295, published on Sept. 9 2016)
ASTANA, SEPT. 4/5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — China handed Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev an A-grade PR opportunity when he attended the G20 summit, as a guest, in Hangzhou.
Not only was his press team able to release a series of photos of Mr Nazarbayev meeting other global leaders such as US President Barack Obama and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, but China positioned him at the centre of the standard G20 team photo, directly behind German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese president Xi Jinping.
The positioning of leaders at the team photo is important and underscores the regard that the hosts hold each leader in.
It is usual for the G20 host to invite allies to the meeting of the world’s top global leaders as guests but unusual to position them so prominently in the team photo.
And for Mr Nazarbayev, this sort of opportunity is PR gold dust. He clearly enjoyed the occasion too with his official photographer releasing photos of him laughing with Mr Obama and other leaders.
Other invited guests were the leaders of Egypt, Singapore, Thailand, Spain, Chad (representing the African Union), Senegal (representing the New Partnership for African Development) and Laos (representing South-East Asia countries).
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(News report from Issue No. 295, published on Sept. 9 2016)
SEPT. 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Gulmurod Khalimov, the former head of Tajikistan’s special police force and a US-trained sniper, was named top commander in Iraq by the extremist IS group. Khalimov defected to the IS last year. In August, the US State Department placed a reward of up to $3m for information on the location of Khalimov.
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(News report from Issue No. 295, published on Sept. 9 2016)
TBILISI, SEPT. 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s Central Election Commission said that 41 political parties had registered to compete in the country’s Oct. 8 parliamentary elections, highlighting the potentially fraught and unpredictable nature of the vote.
It also said that the 41 political parties had formed seven blocs, including the current governmental Georgian Dream and the United National Movement (the party of former President Mikheil Saakashvili).
Pollsters have said the election is going to be too close to call. A poll by the US’ National Democratic Institute (NDI) in July said 58% of voters were still undecided.
“This level of undecided people just weeks before an election should be a wake up call for all the contesting parties,” said Laura Thornton NDI senior director.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 295, published on Sept. 9 2016)
