Tag Archives: international relations

Azerbaijan improves ties with Iran

SEPT. 18 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Hassan Rouhani’s presidency in Iran is still in its infancy but there are signs that relations with Azerbaijan are improving.

This is important because over the past couple of years ties between the two neighbours have worsened dramatically and have, at times, threatened to destabilise the region.

Azerbaijan has moved increasingly close to Israel, Iran’s sworn enemy, supplying it with oil and buying military kit. Last year Azerbaijan-Iran relations hit a nadir when a leaked report suggested that Israel had negotiated a deal to use Azerbaijan as a base for its warplanes if a war with Iran broke out.

Azerbaijan’s government denied the report but the diplomatic damage had already been done. A series of spy scandals on either side of the border also added to the increasingly toxic relations.

This appears to have changed with Mr Rouhani’s election victory on June 15 and inauguration as president on Aug. 3.

Reports said the number of people using a major border crossing between Iran and Azerbaijan has increased this year. Official visits between the two sides have also accelerated. On Sept. 18, the head of Iran’s border police was in Baku. There he said that Iran supported Azerbaijan’s position on Nagorno-Karabakh, the region of the South Caucasus it disputes ownership of with Armenia.

2013 is an election year for both Azerbaijan and Iran and improved cross-border relations appears to be in the interests of both governments.

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(News report from Issue No. 153, published on Sept. 25 2013)

Azerbaijan opens new shipyard

SEPT. 20 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliyev, and Singapore’s minister for industry, Lee Yi Shyan, opened a new shipyard in Baku. The new yard will turn Azerbaijan into a major shipbuilder. Keppel O&M, a Singapore-based marine construction company, owns a 10% in the $480m project. The rest is owned by Azerbaijan.

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(News report from Issue No. 153, published on Sept. 25 2013)

Turkmenistan seals deals with Japan

SEPT. 11 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmenistan’s President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov travelled to Tokyo where he signed a series of deals with Japanese PM Shinzo Abe to boost cooperation. The deals, and the trip by Mr Berdymukhamedov, again underline Turkmenistan’s increasingly large clout as a major regional energy supplier.

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(News report from Issue No. 152, published on Sept. 18 2013)

Kokpar enjoys a revival in Kazakhstan

SEPT. 14 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Nine national teams from Mongolia, Afghanistan, Turkey, China, Russia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan convened on Astana to compete in what was touted as the first Asian kokpar championships.

Kokpar, also known as Buzkashi in Afghanistan where it is popular, is not for the feint hearted. Described as a mixture of rugby and polo, four horsemen on each team have to hustle, bustle and muscle the torso of a headless goat into the opposition’s goal.

The best players have to be tough, determined and extremely skilful horsemen.

Kokpar’s historical heartland has been the steppe and mountains of Central Asia, Afghanistan and Mongolia where nomadic horsemen still roam with their livestock. The game reflects the simplicity and hardiness of the nomad’s lives.

Watching European Champions League football on satellite television may now be the favourite sporting pastime of most urban Kazakhs but skilled horsemen and the nomadic lifestyle are still venerated in Kazakhstan.

The Soviet Union banned kokpar but a confident and proud Kazakhstan looking to promote its national identity has been eager to revive it.

Fittingly, in the tournament in Astana, the Kazakhstan team beat Kyrgyzstan in the final. Third place was Tajikistan. Kazakhstan will have a chance to defend their title in Turkey in two years time.

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(News report from Issue No. 152, published on Sept. 18 2013)

New fertiliser plant to be built in Kazakhstan

SEPT. 16 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — As part of a joint Kazakh-Chinese investment programme, construction will begin on a new potash fertiliser plant in western Kazakhstan, Kazakh deputy industry minister Nurlan Sauranbayev said. Mr Sauranbayev said the initial cost of the plant would be about $1b.

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(News report from Issue No. 152, published on Sept. 18 2013)

Azerbaijan applies to host Euro 2020 matches

SEPT. 12 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan has applied to host matches at the 2020 European football championships, media reported. Last year European football’s governing body, UEFA, announced that several cities will host matches for Euro 2020, one of the biggest football tournaments in the world. Baku is building a 68,000-seat stadium.

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(News report from Issue No. 152, published on Sept. 18 2013)

Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to sell power to Afghanistan

SEPT. 16 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan signed a deal to sell spare power to Pakistan and Afghanistan. The deal, signed in Islamabad, means building power cables from Central Asia. Hydropower stations in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan generate spare electricity in the summer while both Pakistan and Afghanistan suffer shortages.

(News report from Issue No. 152, published on Sept. 18 2013)

Hyundai signs contract in Turkmenistan

SEPT. 13 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — In a consortium with two other unnamed companies, South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering & Construction won a $3.4b contract to build an ethane treatment plant in Turkmenistan, media reported. The contract, with Turkmengas, demonstrates just how wealthy Turkmenistan has become over recent years.

(News report from Issue No. 152, published on Sept. 18 2013)

Azerbaijan involved in Eurovision row

SEPT. 14 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The European Broadcasting Union is investigating allegations that Azerbaijan offered bribes to members of this year’s Eurovision jury, media reported. Eurovision is a major TV song contest. Many European countries view it as way of promoting themselves. Azerbaijan won the contest in 2011.

(News report from Issue No. 152, published on Sept. 18 2013)

Chinese pipeline to pass through Tajikistan

SEPT. 14 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Rounding off a tour of Central Asia, Chinese president Xi Jinping signed a deal with his Tajik counterpart, Emomali Rakhmon, to build a 400km gas pipeline crossing Tajikistan to China from Turkmenistan. The deal, announced on the side lines of a regional summit in Bishkek, is a major boost for Tajikistan.

(News report from Issue No. 152, published on Sept. 18 2013)