FEB. 27 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s President Giorgi Margvelashvili visited his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan to reaffirm strong relations between the two countries despite their divergent foreign policy. Georgia is close to the West while Armenia is increasingly close to Russia.
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(News report from Issue No. 174, published on March 5 2014)
MARCH 4 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — If Georgia’s support for the revolution in Ukraine was no surprise, Uzbekistan’s apparent concern about the territorial integrity of Ukraine is.
Uzbekistan was the first from the block of former Soviet states that you would have bet on supporting Russia to break ranks.
“Events in Ukraine … create a real threat to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country and have caused deep anxiety and concern in Uzbekistan,” the Uzbek foreign ministry said in a statement on its website.
Uzbekistan has a reputation for isolationism. It has awkward relations with its neighbours and has stayed clear of the Russian-led Customs Union.
Even so, Uzbekistan is part of the military orientated Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) which includes Russia, China and most of Central Asia. Russia is also an important economic partner for Uzbekistan.
For Uzbekistan to issue such a statement criticising the Russian military’s deployment in Ukraine is risky. Uzbekistan’s relations with its former colonial master have been patchy and, after this proclamation, may be even patchier.
Perhaps spurring Uzbekistan on in the background is its current ties to NATO. NATO is paying Uzbekistan handsomely to shift its kit from Afghanistan back home. Uzbekistan, possibly, had one eye on their current benefactors when issuing the statement.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 174, published on March 5 2014)
FEB. 20 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s delegation at the Sochi Winter Olympic Games in Russia took the chance to plug Almaty for the 2022 event. The Kazakh delegation pledged that they would not spend hugely on new facilities as Sochi had. Almaty is competing against Lviv in Ukraine, Oslo, Beijing and Krakow in Poland.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 173, published on Feb. 26 2014)
FEB. 20 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The revolution that swept Viktor Yanukovich from power in Ukraine has reverberated, gently, around the former Soviet Union.
In Almaty, the financial capital of Kazakhstan, roughly two dozen people gathered outside the Ukrainian consulate last week after news emerged that snipers had shot dozens of people in Kiev. They lit candles and sang the Ukrainian national anthem. Social media filled with statements of solidarity and posts that shared the latest news, both in Russian and in Kazakh.
Although analysts have said that the revolution in Ukraine may trigger anti-government demonstrations in other parts of the former Soviet Union, apart from the vigil outside the Ukrainian consulate in Almaty, the reaction on the streets was muted.
This was partly, said political observer Adil Nurmakov of blogbasta.kz, because most legal forms of protest in Kazakhstan had been extinguished.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 173, published on Feb. 26 2014)
FEB. 19 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan rejected criticism from human rights groups that it violates the right to religious freedom, media reported. The New York-based Human Rights Watch has previously reported that Uzbekistan has arrested more than 200 people since 2012 on religionr-elated charges.
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(News report from Issue No. 173, published on Feb. 26 2014)
FEB. 23 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan’s government has allocated another $280m to the construction of a railway line linking the Ferghana Valley to the rest of the country, media reported.
The loan from the Uzbek Reconstruction and Development Fund to Uzbekistan Railways is to be specifically spent on mining machinery needed for the project.
It’s an ambitious project designed to allow trains to cross — over and under — the mountains straddling the Ferghana Valley with the rest of the country.
It’s also important, not only for reducing journey times, but also politically. Currently the main road linking the Ferghana Valley to the rest of Uzbekistan is often closed during winter because of snow, forcing people to travel through Tajikistan. Uzbekistan’s relations with Tajikistan are strained.
Although the Uzbek government has offered some cash for the project, much of the funding is coming from China. This is revealing. China has becoming increasingly active in Central Asia through the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) military alliance and through funding various projects.
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(News report from Issue No. 173, published on Feb. 26 2014)
FEB. 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s foreign ministry has complained to Russia about comments made by politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky who said Central Asia should become a federal Russian region, media reported. Mr Zhirinovsky is known for his outspoken comments and, although relatively high profile, is considered a fringe politician.
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(News report from Issue No. 173, published on Feb. 26 2014)
FEB. 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s parliament approved sending roughly 100 Georgian soldiers to the Central African Republic on an international peacekeeping mission due to start next month. Georgia has been eager to curry international favour by sending soldiers on NATO and EU peacekeeping missions.
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(News report from Issue No. 173, published on Feb. 26 2014)
FEB. 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili met US President Barack Obama at the White House on Feb. 24, underlining Georgia’s status as a favoured US ally in the former Soviet Union. Mr Garibashvili took over as Georgian PM in November 2013. Georgia is the most staunchly pro-United States of the former Soviet countries.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 173, published on Feb. 26 2014)
FEB. 21 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan has banned the sale of Uzbekistan-made GM Daewoo cars, media reported, triggering a potential trade row between the two neighbours.
Officially, Kazakhstan said Customs Union rules stated that imported cars must have at least one front airbag, ABS braking, child safety seat attachment points, daytime running lights and an immobiliser.
Unofficially, the suspicion is that Kazakhstan may be using the Customs Union to protect its own car industry.
The Customs Union has been in existence since 2011. It is led by Russia and so far includes also Kazakhstan and Belarus, although Armenia and Kyrgyzstan plan to join later this year. Uzbekistan has no plans to join.
Its rules and regulations, though, are some-what murky but what we do know is that, by instinct, it is a protectionist organisation.
What is clear is that last year GM-Uzbekistan, which produces its cars at a factory in Andijan in eastern Uzbekistan sold around 23,000 of its cheaper car models in Kazakhstan and around three times that many to Russia.
GM took over the Daewoo factory in Uzbekistan in 2008.
Visitors to Shymkent, a city of 600,000 people in Kazakhstan on the border with Uzbekistan, will notice that many of the cars on the roads being driven there are Daewoo.
Both Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan have been talking up their car industries. Uzbekistan’s main car markets are Russia and Kazakhstan and the GM Daewoo factory is its biggest producer.
Losing Kazakhstan, and Russia, as an export market will be a major blow and have, potentially, far reaching implications.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 173, published on Feb. 26 2014)
