Category Archives: Uncategorised

Kyrgyzstan strengthens border

APRIL 21 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan has built a 22,000km barb wire fence along its borders with Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, media reported, highlighting the often strained border issues in Central Asia.

AKIpress, a Bishkek-based news agency, said that most of the barb was erected along the border with Uzbekistan.

Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan have a long-standing quarrel over borders and over the last few years there has been an increase in the number of incidents between the two neighbours along their shared border. These could be locals wandering into no-go areas, or a stand-off between soldiers. The tensest area is around the city of Osh in south Kyrgyzstan, which is part of the Fergana Valley in Uzbekistan.

The borders of Central Asia are complex. Historians have said that Soviet officials deliberately drew the borders to divide people.

Analysts have also said that tension over borders is one of Central Asia’s most serious flashpoints.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 228, published on April 22 2015)

Kazakhstan builds up an election

APRIL 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan prepared for a presidential election on April 26 that will extend the 26-year rule of Nursultan Nazarbayev, the country’s only post-Soviet leader. He called an election to impose his authority during an economic downturn.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 228, published on April 22 2015)

Tajik staff at Russian base strike

APRIL 16 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Dozens of local contractors working at the Russian military base in south Tajikistan have gone on strike over unpaid wages, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported (RFE/RL). RFE/RL quoted an official at the base blaming a local contracting company.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 228, published on April 22 2015)

Uzbekistan bans Child 44 movie

APRIL 19 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan followed Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan and banned the new Hollywood movie Child 44 because of the apparent negative way that it portrays the Soviet Union.

Child 44 was based on a book about the hunt for a serial killer in 1950s Soviet Union. It was produced by Ridley Scott, famed for several blockbuster films including Aliens, Blade Runner and Gladiator.

Last week, the Russian culture ministry said: “The distortion of historical facts and original interpretations of events before, during and after the Great Patriotic War is why we decided to ban this movie on the eve of the 70th anniversary of the Victory.”

Victory refers to the annual May 9 celebrations of the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945.

In the past few years, Central Asian countries have been at the centre of controversies around celebrations for the end of World War II.

Preferring to favour their own national building efforts above Soviet symbolism, Central Asian leaders have striven to tear down Soviet symbols, statues of the founder of the Soviet Union Vladimir Lenin being a particularly favoured target.

The movie Child 44, though, appears to have had the opposite impact and former Soviet states have been quick to spring to the defence of the USSR.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 228, published on April 22 2015)

Military alliance exercises in Kyrgyzstan

APRIL 22 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Special forces from Kyrgyzstan, China, Russia, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan — all members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) — began exercises in Kyrgyzstan, the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported. Analysts say the SCO is a military alliance.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 228, published on April 22 2015)

Iran’s defence minister travels to Azerbaijan

APRIL 20 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Iranian defence minister Hossein Dehghan travelled to Baku for talks with Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev in a ground-breaking diplomatic initiative.

The neighbours have been fierce regional rivals over the past few years and at times it has looked as if the rhetoric was going to lead to war.

But since President Hassan Rouhani came to power in Iran in 2013, relations have soothed. Perhaps, also, the diplomatic push by the United States and Iran to patch up their differences has helped.

Iranian news agencies quoted Mr Dehqan as saying: “The two countries enjoy common geopolitics and their common interests and threats have increased the necessity for the expansion of multilateral cooperation more than ever.”

But it’s not all that straight forward. Azerbaijan supports Saudi Arabia-led efforts in Yemen where its forces are leading a counter- attack against rebels backed by Iran, and Baku has also improved relations with Israel, Iran’s sworn enemy.

Still, realpolitik may prevail and the rivals could patch up their differences.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 228, published on April 22 2015)

Azerbaijan’s court sentences activist

APRIL 16 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Baku sentenced Azerbaijani human rights activist Rasul Jafarov to 6-1/2 years in prison for tax evasion and embezzlement. Jafarov’s supporters say the charges are jumped up and the authorities are using the courts to crush opposition.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 228, published on April 22 2015)

Kazakh mobile operator income drops in Q1

APRIL 21 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kcell, Kazakhstan’s largest mobile operator, said that Q1 income had fallen by 15% and its customer based had dropped by 3% because of an increase in competition.

Strikingly, Kcell’s CEO Arti Ots didn’t make an reference to the general economic downturn that has hit Kazakhstan in his comments on the Q1 results. This is important because most consumer orientated businesses in Kazakhstan have reported a drop in sales over the past few months.

“In the first quarter of 2015 we have seen continued growth in data services and increased revenue from handset sales driven by demand for smartphones,” he said. “Voice revenues have declined in the face of intensifying competitive pressure.”

Kcell is listed on the London stock exchange but controlled by TeliaSonera, a Nordic company.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 228, published on April 22 2015)

Turkmenistan created new telecom company

APRIL 21 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan’s Ministry of Communications and its subsidiary, Turkmen Telecom, have created a new telecoms company called Ashgabat Shaher Telefon Ulgamy (ASTU).

ASTU, which means Ashgabat Urban Telephone Network, is tasked with improving the efficiency of the network and appears to be a part of Turkmenistan’s strategy to boost its telecoms networks.

“High-quality communication services, as well as high-speed channels to connect to broadband Internet and data transmission are ensured,” media quoted the government owned Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper as saying.

“Laying of transnational fibre-optic communication lines continues with the aim of expanding the interstate telephone traffic.”

The government-approved press release on the creation of the new company was the only information available.

Last month, the government also approved an ambitious plan to construct a fibre- optic line between the Caspian port of Turkmenbashi and Baku, Azerbaijan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 228, published on April 22 2015)

Azerbaijan’s press freedom remains low

APRIL 21 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan is one of the top 10 most repressive states in the world for journalists, the New York-based lobby group Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said. Azerbaijan is the only former Soviet state to feature on the list.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 228, published on April 22 2015)