Category Archives: Uncategorised

Rights lawyer jailed in Azerbaijan

APRIL 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Baku sentenced yet another human rights lawyer to prison on various charges including tax evasion, media reported. Intiqam Aliyev received a 7-1/2 year prison sentence. His supporters say the offences are false.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 229, published on April 29 2015)

Georgia’s government collapses

APRIL 29 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgian sports minister Levan Kipiani resigned after a row with a parliamentary committee, triggering a vote of confidence in PM Irakli Garibashvili’s government.

In-fighting has dogged Mr Garibashvili’s Georgian Dream coalition government since it was voted into power in October 2012 and his opponents now sense an opportunity to kill it off.

Nino Burjanadze, a former PM and now an opposition leader, said: “Early parliamentary elections and real changes in the government are the only option at the moment”

Georgia is grappling with a fiercely divided political scene and a worsening economy linked to a decline in Russia’s finances.

The governmental crisis makes stability even more precarious. Mr Kipiani was the seventh member of Mr Garibashvili’s 20-member cabinet to quit. Under the constitution if a third of ministers resign, a no confidence vote is triggered within seven days.

And the Georgian Dream majority in parliament is wafer thin.

A handful of defections means that it holds 75 seats out of the current 149 filled seats. One seat is empty.

This means there is no guarantee the government will survive the vote, and if it fails, new elections are likely.

It is the speed of the government’s collapse that has taken people by surprise. Mr Kipiani was the third member of the government to resign in quick succession, following environment minister Elguja Khokrishvili and regional development minister Davit Shavliashvili.

Will Dunbar, a Tbilisi-based analyst, said: “To lose one minister in a week looks bad, to lose three looks like care- lessness and carelessness is one thing this government does well.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 229, published on April 29 2015)

Uzbekistan car sales to remain low

APRIL 27 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan has made plans to deal with a sustained slump in demand from Russia for its cars, media reported quoting an Uzbek government source.

It said that sales would remain relatively low for its cars until 2019.

This is important because demand from Russia is the main driver of Uzbek car production. This is centred on the GM Uzbekistan plant in Andijan, east Uzbekistan.

GM Uzbekistan, which is 25% owned by US carmaker GM and 75% owned by the Uzbek government, recorded a 38% slump in car sales to Russia in 2014. It also recorded a slump of around 60% in the first quarter of the year, according to reports.

News agencies said sales to Russia between January and March were 5,411 cars from GM Uzbekistan compared to 12,858 in 2014.

Like other countries in Central Asia and the South Caucasus, Uzbekistan is strug- gling to cope with the severe economic collapse over the past few months, triggered by a collapse in oil prices and sanctions on Russia. The Russian economy is a vital engine for the wider regional economy.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 229, published on April 29 2015)

Taliban move closer to Tajikistan

APRIL 16 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Taliban forces have launched a series of major attacks on government checkpoints and bases in the previously stable Badakhshan region of northeast Afghanistan, media reported.

Badakhshan borders Tajikistan and its worsening security situation will alarm Tajik officials. They have warned that the Taliban may have designs on Central Asia once NATO forces leave.

Reuters reported that at least 18 government policemen were killed fighting Taliban forces in Badakhshan. Eight of them had reportedly been beheaded.

It also said that government forces had killed 19 Taiban fighters, suggesting that there had been a series of fairly major battles.

Spring marks the start of the fighting season in Afghanistan after the snow melts away allowing mountain passes to be crossed. This year’s season is being particularly closely watched to see how both government forces and the Taliban respond to the official end of the NATO combat mission.

Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan have said that they are all increasing security along their borders with Afghanistan.

Russia has also pledged more support along Central Asia’s borders. It wants to pull Central Asia more closely into its wider security reach.

ENDS