JULY 29 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev in Baku to discuss the countries’ close economic and military ties. The trip was Erdogan’s second overseas trip since winning an election in June and underlined both strong Azerbaijani-Turkish links and recent setbacks in talks between Armenia and Turkey.
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(News report from Issue No. 51, published on Aug. 2 2011)
JULY 27 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Washington Times quoted two US intelligence officers saying a confidential report linked Russian military intelligence to a blast against the wall of the US embassy in Tbilisi last year. Georgian officials had also previously blamed Russia for the blast. Russia denies the allegations.
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(News report from Issue No. 50, published on July 27 2011)
JULY 22 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Georgia freed on probation 4 photographers accused of spying for Russia. One of the photographers was the personal photographer of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. The authorities had previously said they would be freed after they handed over information on Russian operations in Georgia.
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(News report from Issue No. 50, published on July 27 2011)
JULY 26 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov visited Baku on July 25 to discuss renewing the lease on the Qabala radar station which is considered essential for monitoring missile sites in the Middle East and South-East Asia, local media reported. Russia pays around $10m/year for the station in a 10-year lease which runs out in August 2012.
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(News report from Issue No. 50, published on July 27 2011)
JULY 25 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia and the US plan to hold their first joint military exercise by 2013, local media quoted Armenia’s defence ministry as saying, bolstering the two countries’ links. This year Armenia has signed a deal with Russia to extend a lease on a military base in and bolstered economic ties with Iran.
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(News report from Issue No. 50, published on July 27 2011)
JULY 18 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Three Georgian photographers accused of spying for Russia have confessed, news agencies quoted officials as saying. One of the photographers is Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili’s personal photographer. Police arrested the photographers on July 7, triggering protests by other journalists.
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(News report from Issue No. 49, published on July 20 2011)
JULY 5 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – India has agreed to help train Kyrgyzstan’s army and to teach the soldiers English, Indian media reported after a trip to Bishkek by Indian defence minister AK Antony. India has been looking to boost its presence in Central Asia this year.
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(News report from Issue No. 48, published on July 12 2011)
JULY 11 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Central Asian countries need to improve cooperation along the Amu Darya, the region’s longest river, to avoid future conflicts over water supply, the United Nations Environmental Programme said in a new report. Overuse and climate change have diminished the river which mainly irrigates Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 48, published on July 12 2011)
JULY 8 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Police in Georgia arrested four high profile photo-journalists, including President Mikheil Saakashvili’s personal photographer, and charged them with spying for Russia. The photographers deny the accusations. One of the group said he is being punished for selling photos of a violent anti-government protest in May.
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(News report from Issue No. 48, published on July 12 2011)
JUNE 30 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian gas monopoly Gazprom appointed Timur Kulibayev, the favoured son-in-law of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, as one of its directors. Mr Kulibayev was appointed head of Kazakhstan’s $80b sovereign wealth fund earlier this year.
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(News report from Issue No. 47, published on July 6 2011)
