NOV. 17 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan was due to visit Uzbekistan on Nov. 18 for talks with acting- president Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Mr Mirziyoyev has made improving Uzbekistan’s international relations a priority since taking over in September after the death of Islam Karimov.
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(News report from Issue No. 305, published on Nov. 18 2016)
NOV. 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev continued his tour of East Asia by travelling to Japan from South Korea, his first visit to Tokyo since 2009. On the visit, Mr Nazarbayev concentrated on boosting Kazakh-Japanese relations and also spoke to the Japanese parliament on one of his favourite themes – striving for a nuclear weapons-free world.
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(News report from Issue No. 305, published on Nov. 18 2016)
NOV. 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Russian government sent an official protest note to Georgia over Georgian-NATO military exercises which it described as a serious threat to peace and stability in the region. NATO keeps a permanent training base in Georgia. Both NATO and Georgia shrugged off the Russian complaint and said they were not aimed at Russia. Georgia wants to join NATO.
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(News report from Issue No. 305, published on Nov. 18 2016)
NOV. 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenian media reported that following an EU meeting backing a visa liberalisation deal with Georgia and Ukraine, the EU also wanted to start talks with Armenia on scrapping, or relaxing, its visa system. Specifically, Armenpress said that EU officials were waiting for “an opportunity to start negotiations on visa issues with Armenia in a timely period.”
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(News report from Issue No. 305, published on Nov. 18 2016)
NOV. 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov hosted Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas for the first time in Ashagabat for talks on bolstering bilateral relations.
Mr Abbas has never been on an official visit to Central Asia before.
After meeting Mr Berdymukhamedov, Mr Abbas opened a new Palestinian embassy. This is thefourth Palestinian embassy in the region after Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan.
A Turkmen foreign ministry delegation had travelled to Palestine earlier this year to lay the groundwork for Mr Abbas’ trip to Ashgabat. For Mr Berdymukhamedov, the visit by Mr Abbas was an opportunity to look statesmanlike.
Official media quoted Mr Berdymukhamedov as saying: “Turkmenistan, which implements its foreign policy based on the principles of positive neutrality, is interested in the development of equitable and friendly relations with all world countries, including the Middle East countries and Palestine in particular.”
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(News report from Issue No. 305, published on Nov. 18 2016)
NOV. 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — In another round of quickfire diplomacy by Uzbekistan, China’s foreign minister Wang Yi travelled to Tashkent to meet acting president Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Mr Mirziyoyev has been acting president since the death of Islam Karimov in September and is all but certain to become the full-time president after a presidential election next month.
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(News report from Issue No. 305, published on Nov. 18 2016)
NOV. 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The European Council, the EU’s political core, has said it wants to renegotiate a new bilateral deal with Azerbaijan. This is important because it sets the tone of subsequent talks between the EU and Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan and the EU have rowed over human rights.
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(News report from Issue No. 305, published on Nov. 18 2016)
NOV. 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbek and Kyrgyz officials met in Ferghana City, Uzbekistan, to agree resolutions to seven more border dispute areas, the 24.kg news website reported. The border resolution process is part of a drive by Uzbekistan since the death of Islam Karimov in September to repair damaged relations with its neighbours. 24.kg reported that the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border was 1,378km long and that nearly a third of this has been disputed.
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(News report from Issue No. 305, published on Nov. 18 2016)
NOV. 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbek deputy PM Ulugbek Rozukulov led a delegation to Ashgabat to meet with Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, official Turkmen media reported. Mr Rozukulov’s mission is part of a drive by acting president Shavket Mirziyoyev to improve Uzbekistan’s international relations since the death in September of Islam Karimov.
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(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)
NOV. 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Donald Trump, the incoming US president, has a long list of issues that need tackling in Central Asia and the South Caucasus, not least the dominance of China and Russia.
Central Asia, in particular, has traditionally been an arena where the world’s great powers have shadow-boxed, testing each other’s strengths and weaknesses. This is just as true today as it was during the 19th century’s Great Game between Russia and Britain. Now, though, China has entered the fray and the West is led by the US and not Britain.
Since NATO withdrew most of its forces from Afghanistan in 2013/14, US interest in Central Asia has waned and it has ceded diplomatic, economic and cultural influence to Russia and China.
When she was Secretary of State between 2009 and 2013, Hillary Clinton promoted a new north-south Silk Road running from Central Asia to India. This was to be US soft power in action, a commercial push to rival influences exerted by China through its loans and by Russia through its diplomatic and energy levers. It hasn’t shaped up to much, and Clinton wont now be able to see it through, but Trump, a businessman and reality TV star, may be well-placed to invigorate this north-south Silk Road.
Governments in Central Asia and the South Caucasus will also be watching his policies on NATO, Russia and Iran.
Georgia has, perhaps, the most to be concerned about. It has struck out on a determinedly Western direction and needs a strong US and NATO as a counterpoint to Russia. If the US’ commitment to NATO wanes, Georgia will be more vulnerable to Russian aggression. Certainly its two breakaway states, Russia-backed Abkhazia and South Ossetia, will feel emboldened.
Barack Obama brought Iran back into the international community by partly lifting sanctions linked to the development of its nuclear sector. Its reemergence was heralded in Central Asia and the South Caucasus as an opportunity. They will be looking to a US led by Trump to boost, and not deflate, Iran’s place in the world. They want Iran to be an economic driver.
And the US’ relationship with Russia is important too. If US-Russia relations don’t improve, and the Russian economy continues to shrink, this filters through to Central Asia and the South Caucasus.
They will be looking for an improvement in US- Russia relations to generate a boost for the Russian economy.
By James Kilner, Editor, The Conway Bulletin
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(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)
