FEB. 27 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Armenian authorities have started discussing setting up Farsi learning centres, installing bill- boards aimed at Farsi speakers and a Farsi information hotline. Media reported the Farsi-language drive was a tactic to encourage more Iranians to visit Armenia.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 319, published on March 3 2017)
MARCH 1 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The next round of talks aimed at ending a civil war in Syria are planned for Astana on March 14, media reported. This is the continuation of a series of talks this year in Astana involving Syrian rebels, forces loyal to Syrian president Bashir al-Assad, Russia, Turkey and Iran. For Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev the talks have been useful in bolstering Kazakhstan’s international profile.
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(News report from Issue No. 319, published on March 3 2017)
FEB. 23 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The first secretary of Russia’s embassy in Bishkek fled Kyrgyzstan days after driving his car through a red light and smashing it into a lorry, killing the driver. Bishkekers reacted with anger after news that Viktor Pukhov had been allowed to leave Kyrgyzstan for Russia was reported in local media.
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(News report from Issue No. 318, published on Feb.24 2017)
FEB. 20 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — In an interview with Euronews, Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambayev directly criticised his neighbour Kazakhstan for imposing what he described as an economic blockade in 2010. He was discussing why Kyrgyzstan joined the Kremlin-lead Eurasian Economic Union, a trade group that has grown unpopular in Kyrgyzstan. Kazakhstan responded to the accusation of an economic blockade by filing an official complaint. Relations between Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan have become fraught over trade rows.
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(News report from Issue No. 318, published on Feb.24 2017)
DUSHANBE, FEB. 20 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — After months of build- up and a successful dry-run, the start of a regular commercial flight between Dushanbe and Tashkent was cancelled at the last minute.
Both sides blamed the other for cancelling what would have been the first regular service between the Tajik and Uzbek capitals for 25 year and a tangible sign that relations between the two countries had started to improve after years of feuding.
Somon Air, Tajikistan’s main airline, was due to make the flight, a repeat of a one-off flight it made earlier this month. It said that Tashkent airport had contacted it and said that permission to make the flight had been withdrawn for security reasons. Tashkent airport denied this and said that the flight had been cancelled because Somon Air had failed to submit the correct paper- work in time.
Having tried to pin the blame on Tashkent airport for the flight failing to fly, Somon Air then admitted it had been at fault and promised to make the flight over the “next few days”.
Media later report that Somon Air had fired Alisher Rustamov, director of commercial operations, for failing to ensure that the flight took off.
Relations between Uzbekistan and its neighbours have improved markedly since Shavkat Mirziyoyev became president at the end of last year. His predecessor, Islam Karimov, was known to be cantankerous and relations with his neighbours had soured during his presidency. He died in September 2016 and his daughter, Gulnara, who had harboured ambitions to succeed him, was sidelined.
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(News report from Issue No. 318, published on Feb.24 2017)
BISHKEK, FEB. 20 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning to visit Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan on Feb. 27/28.
In Astana Mr Putin will bolster President Nursultan Nazarbayev who has taken an increasingly tough line on opposition figures and also against the media. In Dushanbe, Mr Putin is likely to discuss Tajikistan’s eventual membership of the Krem- lin-lead Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) with President Emomali Rakhmon.
But Bishkek will be the most complicated stopover for My Putin. There he will discuss a presidential election in November and the EEU.
“Possibly, the Kyrgyz authorities’ candidate will be chosen with the Kremlin, as loyalty to the President of Russia is important,” Bishkek based political analyst Mars Sariyev told media.
And then there is the issue of the EEU which Kyrgyzstan grudgingly joined in 2015. It’s popularity has waned as an economic downturn has bitten. Businessmen said import tariffs and sanitary certificates needed to export to EEU members had become a barrier for exports of clothes, meat, vegetables, and dairy products.
At Bishkek’s Dordoi bazaar, one of the biggest in Central Asia, opinion was mixed. Most complained but one trader saw it differently. He said that the EEU was also positive for some aspects of business.
“The only benefit is the fast growth of local textile manufacturers,” he said.
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(News report from Issue No. 318, published on Feb.24 2017)
FEB. 21 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said that cooperation with Georgia needed to improve significantly before Russia would consider dropping visa requirements for Georgians. Georgia and Russia have been working on improving relations since a war in 2008 over the Georgian break-away regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
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(News report from Issue No. 318, published on Feb.24 2017)
FEB. 18 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Looking to facilitate Iran-Azerbaijan trade, Iranian justice minister, Mostafa Pourmohammadi told journalists in Baku that he wanted to set up a joint arbitration court. Relations between the two neighbours has been improving steadily over the past few years and both sides have said that they want businesses to follow their lead and bilateral trade to increase.
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(News report from Issue No. 318, published on Feb.24 2017)
FEB. 14 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Continuing his outreach to neighbours, Uzbek president Shavkat Mirziyoyev said that he would also visit Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev in the first half of 2017. The potential emergence of Uzbekistan as an economic powerhouse in Central Asia under Mr Mirziyoyev, who took over from the presidency after Islam Karimov died in September, may challenge Kazakhstan’s dominance.
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(News report from Issue No. 317, published on Feb.17 2017)
FEB. 15 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbek president Shavkat Mirziyoyev will make his first visit to Moscow as Uzbekistan’s leader in April, media reported quoting his press team. The trip is likely to include a meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Mr Putin met with Mr Mirziyoyev during the funeral of former president Islam Karimov in September. He backed Mr Mirziyoyev as president.
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(News report from Issue No. 317, published on Feb.17 2017)
