JUNE 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan and Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev will meet for talks on the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh in St Petersburg on June 20, a Kremlin spokesman said. Russian president Vladimir Putin will also host the talks. His presence increases the chances that a meaningful deal may be drawn up.
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(News report from Issue No. 285, published on June 17 2016)
JUNE 7 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmenistan and Afghanistan signed a 10-year agreement for the supply of electricity, a sign of enhanced cross-border cooperation for the two countries’ power sectors. State-owned Turkmenenergo and Afghanistan’s DABS extended the current agreement to the end of 2017 and signed a new agreement, which will last until the end of 2027. Turkmenistan aims to export electricity to Tajikistan and Pakistan via Afghanistan. It holds ambitions to turn itself into a regional power generation hub.
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(News report from Issue No. 284, published on June 10 2016)
JUNE 9 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia will meet in St. Petersburg later in June for a tripartite negotiation on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, a source in the Russian foreign ministry told local media. Azerbaijan’s Ilham Aliyev and Armenia’s Serzh Sargsyan met in Vienna in May and agreed to maintain the ceasefire over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region where clashes erupted at the beginning of April.
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(News report from Issue No. 284, published on June 10 2016)
JUNE 7 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Ambassadors representing Germany, France and Italy at the European Union gave the strongest indication yet that Georgia would fail to win visa-free travel to Europe this year after they voted against the motion at a meeting in Brussels.
Perhaps reflecting wider concerns about allowing more migrants from Syria, Turkey and other countries to enter Europe, German politicians said they were against Georgia being given visa-free access because of worries over crime.
“Georgian asylum seekers are more heavily involved in organised crime than any other group of foreigners,” Armin Schuster, MP for the ruling CDU party, told the Der Spiegel magazine. This view was reflected at the ambassadors’ meeting.
Failing to win visa-free travel to Europe would be a major blow to the ruling Georgian Dream coalition only four months before what is likely to be a tight parliamentary election. Georgia wants to join the European Union and sees visa-free travel as a major step towards achieving that aim.
Georgian PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili told media that he was disappointed about the messages coming out of the European Union.
“Georgia has completed its own part and now it’s up to the European countries to take decision,” he was quoted as saying. “It’s not easy and we understand that, but all these issues, the migration crisis, internal challenges have nothing to do with Georgia’s technical readiness. We are ready institutionally, legislatively.”
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(News report from Issue No. 284, published on June 10 2016)
JUNE 9 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Sergei Shiogu, the Russian defence minister, travelled to Turkmenistan for talks with Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, opening the door to improved military cooperation. Turkmenistan has long professed a policy of neutrality and has kept a distance from Russia-led military blocks in the region. Now Turkmenistan could be looking to import military kit from Russia, according to Russian media.
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(News report from Issue No. 284, published on June 10 2016)
DUSHANBE, JUNE 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Saudi Arabia has agreed to build a new parliament building in the centre of Dushanbe, seen as an effort to curry influence.
Plans for the new parliament involve tearing down several Soviet- era buildings such as the current parliament building, the city administration, the ministry of agriculture and apartment blocks. The Iranian embassy will also be demolished to create space for the Saudi-financed parliament. Iran and Saudi Arabia are major regional rivals.
Saudi Arabia agreed in principle to fund the new parliament building when Tajik President Emomali
Rakhmon visited Riyadh in January. Media has now reported that this was confirmed in May when Abdullah Ibn- Muhammad al Ash-Sheikh, the speaker of Saudi Parliament, visited Dushanbe.
Mr Rakhmon is keen on constructing extravagant buildings in Dushanbe including a flagpole that had at one time been the world’s tallest and Central Asia’s largest library. The largest theatre and biggest mosque in Central Asia are also planned. But with the economy stalling, remittances from Russia drying up and the financial system creaking, ordinary Tajiks are angry.
Romiz, a 34-year-old construction worker, told the Conway Bulletin that the authorities should be building something more useful.
“For instance, hospitals, schools, children’s centres, sport complexes, elderly houses. Is it necessary to build a palace for these idlers?” he said.
A Dushanbe-based analyst, who asked to remain anonymous, said that constructing a new building is part of Saudi Arabia’s attempt to play a more important role in the region.
“Tajikistan itself is not interesting for Saudi. They do all this only as part of their regional game against Iran,” he said.
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(News report from Issue No. 284, published on June 10 2016)
JUNE 6,7 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev travelled to Berlin on his first trip to Europe since releasing from prison a number of journalists and opposition activists often described by European Union leaders as political prisoners.
Mr Aliyev’s objective appeared to be to encourage German investment in Azerbaijan. He met with several business leaders and policymakers, including Chancellor Angela Merkel.
But Emin Milli, director of Meydan TV, an Azerbaijani opposition Berlin- based media outlet, said Azerbaijan needs loans to fill budget gaps created by a collapse in oil prices.
“With the fall of the oil price and the looming economic crisis which causes some socio-economic unrest in the country, the government needs more legitimacy among the public,” Mr Milli told the Conway Bulletin.
“They can’t get it through falsified elections, so they try to extend their influence abroad, through handshakes and photo opportunities with Western leaders, such as Angela Merkel or Barack Obama.”
He also said this may have been the motivation behind the release of investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova last month.
The visit came four days after the German parliament recognised the 1915 mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide. The move angered Turkey, but also prompted a harsh reaction in Baku, Ankara’s closest ally.
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(News report from Issue No. 284, published on June 10 2016)
JUNE 7/9 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Czech president Milos Zeman made a state visit to Armenia during which he promised to bolster trade and diplomatic ties between the two countries and also push the Czech parliament to recognise the genocide of 1.5m Armenians by Ottoman Turks a century ago. Recognition of the Armenian Genocide is a cornerstone of Armenian foreign policy. Earlier this month, Germany’s parliament recognised the genocide, angering Turkey which rejects the charge.
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(News report from Issue No. 284, published on June 10 2016)
MAY 30 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — At a meeting in Astana, leaders of the Russia-backed Eurasian Economic Union delayed the establishment of a single energy market to 2025. Previously, the EEU’s plan was to roll out a barrier-free single market for oil and gas by 2024. The parties did not comment on the reasons for the delay.
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(News report from Issue No. 283, published on June 3 2016)
MAY 31 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajikistan completed the construction of a power line that will link two Afghan villages to the Tajik grid, bringing electricity to around 3,000 Afghans for the first time. The US Embassy in Dushanbe and the Aga Khan Foundation jointly funded the $1.5m project. The power line will bring electricity from Tajikistan’s Gorno– Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast across the Panj river which marks the boundary with Afghanistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 283, published on June 3 2016)
