Category Archives: Uncategorised

Turkmenistan hopes to finish East-West pipeline

JULY 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan hopes to complete construction of is 300km East- West gas pipeline by the end of the year, local media reported quoting government officials. The pipeline is important because it will pump gas from Turkmenistan’s fields in the east to the Caspian Sea for shipment to Europe.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 241, published on July 23 2015)

Turkmen port receives investment from Japan

JULY 22 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Japanese officials said they want to invest in the Caspian port of Turkmenbashi on the western shores of Turkmenistan. The port is currently being expanded and could become a major hub.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 241, published on July 23 2015)

Kyrgyz forces foil attacks

JULY 17 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Kyrgyz National Security Committee said it had prevented two attacks planned by the extremist group IS. Kyrgyz special forces said it killed six men during two gunfights in Bishkek. Allegedly, their targets were a square in Bishkek and the nearby Kant airbase, leased to Russia’s military.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 241, published on July 23 2015)

Georgian car imports fall

JULY 21 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The value of car imports to Georgia slumped by 26%, in the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2014, data from the statistics agency showed, more evidence that an economic slowdown across the region is hitting Georgian consumers. Overall, imports in H1 2015 were down 9% compared to H1 2014.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 241, published on July 23 2015)

Turkmenistan has lowest smoker rate

JULY 21 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan has the lowest number of smokers per capita in the world, according to World Health Organisation’s director general, Margaret Chan, during a trip to Ashgabat.

Ms Chan was visiting Turkmenistan to attend a health conference.

“Recently a WHO overview showed that in Turkmenistan only 8% of the population smokes,” the AFP news agency quoted Ms Chan telling Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov.

“This is the lowest national indicator in the world. I congratulate you on this achievement.”

But not only is it an achievement for the country, it is also an accolade of sorts for Turkmenistan’s authoritarian tendencies.

It was Mr Berdymukhamedhov’s predecessor Saparmurat Niyazov who pushed for a strict mass anti-smoking campaign.

He was a reformed heavy smoker who grew to hate the habit and pushed several campaigns to eradicate it. These were effective, much like his other, rather eccentric mass campaigns, such as outlawing ballet and banning men from having long hair.

Mr Berdymukhamedov is perhaps more restrained in his public campaigns but he too is considered an authoritarian leader.

Earlier this year officials in Ashgabat unveiled a golden statue of Mr Berdymukhamedov riding a horse. They said it symbolised his role as the protector and leader of the nation.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 241, published on July 23 2015)

Uzbek president grows taller

JULY 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A photo released by Uzbek officials of President Islam Karimov’s trip to Russia earlier this month for a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) appears to have been doctored to shrink Chinese president Xi Jinping, a tall man, to the same height as Mr Karimov and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Opposition groups have previously accused official Uzbek media of doctoring images of Mr Karimov, 77, to make him look younger and fitter.

The Uzbek government has not commented.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 241, published on July 23 2015)

Azerbaijani activists go on trial

JULY 15 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Husband and wife Arif and Leyla Yunis will go on trial, accused of financial crimes, on July 27, a year after they were arrested, media reported. Both Arif and Leyla Yunis are high profile human rights defenders and their trial is almost certain to act as a flash-point.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 240, published on July 16 2015)

Protesters challenge Kyrgyz labour law changes

JULY 14 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – BISHKEK — Dozens of people protested in central Bishkek against proposed changes to labour laws which they say will reduce the rights of temporary workers.

The main proposed changes focus on making it easier for foreign companies to hire and fire workers.

The government has argued that it needs to update labour laws to crackdown on the “shadow economy” where employers hire people for short periods but do not pay tax.

Protesters said the amendments would help foreign companies dodge paying social security and over-time.

The mood at the protest, which wound its way through central Bishkek under a cloudless blue sky, was angry but calm.

“We are against slavery,” one of the protesters’ banners said.

Many of the protesters were representatives of workers’ unions attached to mines, including the Kumtor mine in the east of the country owned by Toronto-based Centerra Gold. Kumtor is Kyrgyzstan’s single biggest industrial asset.

After the protest, the government said they would set up a working group to look at the demonstrators’ concerns.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 240, published on July 16 2015)

Tajik inflation falls

JULY 14 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Central Bank said inflation in Tajikistan for the first half of 2015 stood at 2.6%. In the same period in 2014, inflation measured 4.5%. Tajikistan’s economy is faltering under a drop in remittances from Russia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 240, published on July 16 2015)

Mine blasts in Uzbekistan

JULY 16 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A blast at a gold mine around 90km southeast of Tashkent has killed 25 people, local media reported. The blast occurred on July 13 at the village of Kochbulak. Reports said the blast was linked to a ownership dispute.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 240, published on July 16 2015)