AUG.10 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian president Vladimir Putin hosted talks between Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev and his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.Fighting around Nagorno-Karabakh has intensified over the past few weeks threatening a 1994 cease-fire.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 195, published on Aug. 13 2014)
AUG.11 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili responded to criticism from US senators that Georgia was unfairly prosecuting former president Mikheil Saakashvili for abuse of power by saying his prosecution would create a more equal society.The US, Georgia’s most important ally, has said charges against Mr Saakashvili are politically motivated.
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(News report from Issue No. 195, published on Aug. 13 2014)
AUG.11 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgian defence minister Irakli Alasania flew to Kabul to meet his Afghan counterpart and sign various memorandums agreeing to broaden cooperation. The visit and the agreements underline Georgia’s desire to help Afghanistan and curry favour with the US. It wants to join NATO and is using its military as an extension of its diplomatic corps.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 195, published on Aug. 13 2014)
AUG.11 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili responded to criticism from US senators that Georgia was unfairly prosecuting former president Mikheil Saakashvili for abuse of power by saying his prosecution would create a more equal society.The US, Georgia’s most important ally, has said charges against Mr Saakashvili are politically motivated.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 195, published on Aug. 13 2014)
AUG. 5 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan’s military detained five Tajik shepherds and their livestock for a week after they strayed into Uzbek territory, media reported, briefly heightening tension between the two neighbours. Uzbekistan- Tajikistan relations are particularly important to monitor for stability in Central Asia.
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(News report from Issue No. 194, published on Aug. 6 2014)
AUG. 5 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan complained to Belarus after reports circulated it had awarded Kurmanbek Bakiyev, a former Kyrgyz president living in Minsk since fleeing in a revolution in 2010, one of its highest awards. A row with Belarus may have implications for Kyrgyzstan’s entry into the Russia-led Customs Union. Belarus and Kazakhstan are already members.
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(News report from Issue No. 194, published on Aug. 6 2014)
JULY 17 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – BP said it had hired former British PM Tony Blair for its advisory board on how best to export energy from the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea to Europe. Mr Blair has been an adviser to Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev since 2011.
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(News report from Issue No. 193, published on July 30 2014)
JULY 18 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenian PM Ovik Abramian confirmed that Armenia would join the Russia- led Customs Union by the end of October. Armenia has been looking to join the Customs Union for some time. Kazakhstan, though, raised concerns about its ongoing so-called “frozen conflict” with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh.
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(News report from Issue No. 193, published on July 30 2014)
JULY 25 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Kyrgyzstan sentenced former president Kurmanbek Bakiyev to life in prison for ordering soldiers to fire at street demonstrations in 2010. The sentence is largely symbolic as Bakiyev fled Kyrgyzstan in 2010 and now lives in Minsk.
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(News report from Issue No. 193, published on July 30 2014)
JULY 28 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakh officials travelled to Bishkek to patch up their differences before Kyrgyzstan’s expected entry into the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia in 2015.
The meeting, attended by Kazakh deputy PM Bakitzhan Sagyntayev and Kyrgyz PM Djoomart Otorbayev ended positively with Kazakhstan pledging up to $200m in grants for Kyrgyzstan’s entry into the Union and discussing a possible electricity-for-water swap this winter.
But relations between the two sides have been unusually thorny in recent months.
Since April 14, Kazakh Customs Officials have been holding up wagons carrying petrol from the Russian energy giant Rosneft to Kyrgyzstan. Kazakh officials say they are simply complying with a government ruling banning all petrol exports from Kazakhstan. Kyrgyz officials have said that they are being obtuse.
Kazakh and Russian firms are expected to further dominate Kyrgyzstan’s domestic economy when Bishkek becomes a member of the Customs Union, which is morphing into the Eurasia Economic Union, either at the end of this year or the start of next year.
The Customs Union/Eurasian Economic Union will harmonise trade customs procedures and increase tariffs against non-members such as China. This all increases Kyrgyzstan’s reliance on Kazakhstan, making this week’s meeting even more important.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 193, published on July 30 2014)
