Category Archives: Uncategorised

Georgia’s parliamentary election likely to be fraught

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.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 295, published on Sept. 9 2016)

Kyrgyzstan blames Uyghurs for Chinese embassy attack

BISHKEK, SEPT. 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — – Kyrgyzstan’s Security Service accused Uyghur militants of organising an attack on the Chinese embassy in Bishkek in last month.

Specifically the Security Service said the Uyghur group that financed the attack was based out of Syria, suggesting a potential link with the extremist IS group.

The attacker, the only casualty of the attack, was identified as an Uyghur with a Tajik passport who was linked to the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) separatist group.

Chinese officials said they were satisfied with Kyrgyzstan’s findings and that they consider militant Uyghurs, an ethnic group based mainly in China’s western region of Xinjiang province, to be a terrorist organisation.

“I want to stress that East Turkestan terrorist forces representing ETIM have planned and carried out many terrorist incidents targeting China inside and outside the country and committed bloody crimes,” Reuters reported Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying as saying.

Uyghur groups have said that they are now worried that China will use the attack in Bishkek to crackdown on Uyghurs. They say that the Chinese repress them and their culture.

There are significant Uyghur groups living in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. A Canadian diplomatic report in 2012 said that 50,000 lived in Kyrgyzstan.

Last week, a suicide bomber drove a car through the gates of the Chinese embassy in Bishkek, the first direct attack against China’s diplomatic missions in Central Asia and the South Caucasus.

The Security Service said that the support network for the attacker was local, as the car belonged to an ethnic Uzbek with a Tajik passport living in Osh, southern Kyrgyzstan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 295, published on Sept. 9 2016)

Comment: Mirziyoyev promoted to acting Uzbek president

SEPT. 8 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan’s parliament named PM Shavkat Mirziyoyev as interim president, another step towards confirming him as Islam Karimov’s successor.

Two days earlier, Mr Mirziyoyev had appeared to win the endorsement of Russian president Vladimir Putin, the region’s real kingmaker, when he visited Karimov’s grave in Samarkand.

Mr Mirziyoyev fills a power vacuum left by the death of Islam Karimov, independent Uzbekistan’s only president, last week.

According to Uzbekistan’s Constitution, the next-in-line for the top job, at least on a temporary basis, was the speaker of the Senate, Nigmatilla Yuldashev.

During a parliament session to name the acting president, though, Mr Yuldashev declined to take the job, saying that wasn’t experienced enough. Instead he endorsed Mr Mirziyoyev.

PM since 2003, the 59-year-old Mirziyoyev was born in Samarkand, also Karimov’s birthplace.

He was considered Karimov’s righthand-man and a like-for-like successor. Mr Mirziyoyev had already acted presidential during the mourning ceremonies after Karimov’s death, meeting with the world leaders who visited Samarkand for the funeral.

The last to visit was Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, who said that stability and good relations were the chief objectives of his country’s relations with Uzbekistan (Sept. 6).

In Samarkand, Mr Putin appeared to endorse Mr Mirziyoyev, making all-but-certain that he would take over the top job.

“Of course, we hope that everything Islam Abduganiyevich (Karimov) had started will be continued,” he was quoted by Russian media as saying. “For our part, we will do everything to support this path of mutual development and the people and leadership of Uzbekistan. You can fully count on us as your most reliable friends.”

And Mr Mirziyoyev is likely to continue many of his predecessor’s policies which will worry human rights groups who have criticised the Uzbek leadership for presiding over one of the most repressive regimes in the world.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 295, published on Sept. 9 2016)

Telia sells Tajik assets

SEPT. 7 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Sweden’s Telia Company sold its 60% stake in Tcell to the Aga Khan Fund, which owned 40% of the Tajik telecoms operator . Telia said it will earn $39m from the sale. The sale is in line with Telia’s goal of dropping stakes in companies it owned in Central Asia and the South Caucasus after investigations into corruption practices in the region were launched.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 295, published on Sept. 9 2016)

Russia temporarily cuts gas supplies to Armenia

SEPT. 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s gas distributor said that it will cut Russian gas supplies to Armenia for one week from Sept. 7 to carry out maintenance work on a section of the pipeline that crosses the country from the Caucasus. This is the second time in two months that the pipeline has been closed for maintenance and the cuts highlight the importance of Armenia’s negotiations with Iran to boost supplies from the south.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 295, published on Sept. 9 2016)

Azerbaijani court jails two for links to IS

SEPT. 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — A court in Azerbaijani sentence two men to 13 and 14-1/2 years in prison for fighting for the extremist IS group in Syria. Governments in the S.Caucasus have been clamping down on IS recruitment.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 295, published on Sept. 9 2016)

NATO conducts military exercise in Georgia

SEPT. 7 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — A NATO-sponsored military exercise took place in Georgia, the second in four months, potentially aggravating Georgia-Russia relations. Six countries participated in the military exercises. Georgia wants to join NATO and contributed to NATO operations in Afghanistan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 295, published on Sept. 9 2016)

Georgia’s visa-free agreement with EU inches forward

SEPT. 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — An agreement on Georgia’s visa-free arrangement with the EU moved forward after a committee at the European Parliament voted in favour of the proposal. There are still hurdles, though, as the agreement, which was delayed in June, must be approved by the Parliament, the European Commission and EU member states.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 295, published on Sept. 9 2016)

Georgia’s Central Bank cuts interest rates

SEPT. 7 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s Central Bank cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 6.5%, the fourth rate cut in five months. The Central Bank has said it wants to lower interest rates further to prop up economic activity. In April, before the first cut, Georgia’s key interest rate stood at 8%. Georgian interest rates have yoyoed from 4% for most of 2014, climbing sharply to 8% before being lowered.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 295, published on Sept. 9 2016)

Tajik opposition leader placed on Interpol’s wanted list

SEPT. 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Mukhiddin Kabiri, leader-in-exile of the banned Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT), was placed on the Interpol wanted list. The Tajik government accuses Mr Kabiri of terrorism and fraud. Over the past year, it has accused the IRPT of an attempted coup previously and arrested its leaders.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 295, published on Sept. 9 2016)