FEB. 11 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that he is ready to meet Georgia’s leaders, Georgian media reported. This is a major step forward in Russia-Georgia relations which have been so strained over the last few years. Mr Putin and former Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili, hated each other.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 171, published on Feb. 12 2014)
FEB. 11 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The US has extended military aid to Uzbekistan despite human rights concerns, eurasianet.org reported. Over the last couple of years, Uzbekistan has become a key NATO ally helping it to extract kit out of neighbouring Afghanistan. The US Congress has to agree on military support for Uzbekistan every six months.
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(News report from Issue No. 171, published on Feb. 12 2014)
FEB. 11 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The row over a scheduled visit to Prague by Uzbek president Islam Karimov has intensified.
The day after receiving a letter signed by a group of human rights activists calling for the visit to be cancelled, Czech President Milos Zeman posted a response on the internet. And he didn’t pull any punches.
He accused human rights lobbyists of hypocrisy and of not understanding the geo-political nature and the niceties of diplomatic relations.
“I wish you had more awareness and less hypocrisy,” he wrote after explaining that the invitation for Mr Karimov to visit Prague between Feb. 20-22 was because the Czech president in 2004 had been invited to Tashkent.
Mr Zeman also said that Uzbekistan had recently held talks with the EU and was helping NATO extract its military kit out of neighbouring Afghanistan.
All this may be true but it won’t placate the human rights lobby which considers Mr Karimov leader of one of the most repulsive regimes in the world. They accuse him of torture and locking up his enemies.
Mr Karimov’s trip to Prague is set to be, politically, explosive.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 171, published on Feb. 12 2014)
FEB. 11 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkish economy minister Nihat Zeybekci flew into Ashgabat for talks with Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, underlining the close nature of Turkmenistan-Turkey linked. Turkish construction companies have generally run large projects in Turkmenistan, including the construction of an Olympic village.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 171, published on Feb. 12 2014)
FEB. 9 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — From July 1 2014, Uzbek citizens will only be able to travel abroad with a newly issued biometric passport, media reported. Biometric passports are being introduced across the world but the issue is probably more sensitive in Uzbekistan where controls on the movement of people are more stringent.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 171, published on Feb. 12 2014)
JAN. 30 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan has spent the last couple of years opening up diplomatic outposts in increasingly far flung capitals of the world. Now it has published a policy paper on what it wants out of this diplomatic push and where it sees itself in the world.
The Concept, as it is called in post-Soviet diplomatic lingo, draws similarities with a 2013 Russian foreign policy document.
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed off on the paper in January but it was published only last week.
The Concept lies inside the broader Strategy-2050 which aims to bring Kazakhstan into the top 30 most developed countries. The document states unambiguously that Kazakhstan will pursue its national interest abroad, under three key principles: pragmatism, mutual benefit and equality.
Nargis Kassenova, a Kazakh foreign policy professor, told the Conway Bulletin that she thought an important feature of The Concept was the emphasis on the “preservation of the national identity”.
The document also described Kazakhstan’s various bilateral relations.
Russia is described as an “ally, a so-called “strategic cooperation” is in place with China, while the US and Europe are strategic partners.
Presenting The Concept, Kazakh foreign minister Yerlan Idrissov also told the official Kazakhstanskaya Pravda newspaper he wanted to broaden Kazakhstan’s diplomatic outposts further still.
“Kazakhstan’s growing authority and economic capabilities have laid foundations for expanding cooperation with Africa, Central and Latin America,” he said.
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(News report from Issue No. 170, published on Feb. 5 2014)
JAN. 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Police in Moscow arrested a French businessman linked to Gulnara Karimova, the eldest daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov.
The Frenchman was named as 48-year-old Eric Cokini. Reports said he was arrested at an airport in Moscow.
Mr Cokini had worked in Uzbekistan for several years, the AFP news agency reported. One of his roles included importing perfume for shops run by Ms Karimova but he is thought to have had far wider and deeper links with her businesses.
A photo dated from 2010 on Ms Karimova’s website showed the pair chatting.
The Russian interior ministry said the Uzbek authorities wanted to charge Mr Cokini with a series of financial crimes including money laundering, tax evasion and theft. They have asked the Russian authorities to extradite him to Tashkent.
His potential extradition could trigger an international row. Information on Mr Cokini and his links to Ms Karimova is still patchy but his arrest is more evidence that people and businesses connected to her are coming under increasing pressure.
Once thought of as a potential presidential successor, Ms Karimova is locked in a battle for influence against her detractors in Uzbekistan. These are mainly people linked to the rival Samarkand clan.
And she doesn’t seem to be winning. This is bad news for her allies, including Mr Cokini.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 170, published on Feb. 5 2014)
FEB. 4 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan temporarily reduced gas supplies to southern Kazakhstan leaving thousands of people in the south Kazakh city of Shymkent unable to heat their homes or cook, local media reported. Uzbek officials said pipeline repair work had caused the gas supply shortage. Central Asia’s energy system is complex and interconnected.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 170, published on Feb. 5 2014)
JAN. 30 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh foreign minister Yerlan Idrissov unveiled the government’s new foreign policy paper. This is the first Kazakh foreign affairs policy paper since 2001. Mr Idrissov said that promoting Kazakhstan’s identity and expanding into increasingly further flung countries was the driving principle behind the paper.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 170, published on Feb. 5 2014)
JAN. 31 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russia is sending several batteries of their S-300 air defence missiles to Kazakhstan, Russian media quoted Russian defence minister Anatoly Antonov as saying. Russia is trying to increase its control over its neighbours through economic and defence deals. Kazakhstan has signed a defence deal with Russia.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 170, published on Feb. 5 2014)
