Tag Archives: international relations

Qatar oil meetings miss Kazakhstan

MARCH 17 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan has not been invited to a meeting in Qatar set for April 17 where major world oil suppliers are due to discuss freezing output levels at their current rates, energy minister Vladimir Shkolnik said. The apparent snub for the FSU’s second biggest oil producer underlines its role as an oil price taker rather than an oil price maker. Oil producing nations are trying to coordinate a response to drag oil prices off record lows.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 272, published on March 18 2016)

Kyrgyzstan to host SCO wargames

MARCH 17 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan will host the main military exercise for members of the Russia and China led Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) later this year. Media said that the military exercise, involving soldiers from all the SCO’s members will be the biggest held in Kyrgyzstan. Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are also members of the SCO which has an economic, social and military agenda.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 272, published on March 18 2016)

Armenian President visits Athens

MARCH 17 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan travelled to Athens for a high-profile meeting with Greek PM Alexis Tsipras where both sides pledged to increase bilateral support and trade. Greece is, potentially, a natural ally for Armenia in Europe. Both countries have strong Christian roots and are both able to grumble about past grievances with their larger shared neighbour, Turkey.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 272, published on March 18 2016)

Turkmen Pres. flies to Islamabad to boost bilateral ties and talk about TAPI

MARCH 17 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov flew to Islamabad for talks on the TAPI gas pipeline shortly after a high-level delegation from Tajikistan had met up with senior Pakistani officials, a sign of just how important Pakistan has become to Central Asian affairs.

According to reports from Islamabad, the talks between Mr Berdymukhamedov and Pakistani PM Sharif Nawaz were friendly and wide- ranging, focusing not just on the proposed TAPI gas pipeline that is supposed to run to India across Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The two leaders signed eight documents, on a number of different issues such as blocking funds to terrorism and fighting money laundering, and also praised progress on developing road links under the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation

And this is important. The TAPI pipeline has brought Pakistan and Turkmenistan closer together, just as the CASA-1000 power transit route plan has brought it closer towards Tajikistan, facilitating discussions on a range of bilateral issues.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 272, published on March 18 2016)

Turkmen President hosts UAE Sultan

MARCH 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov hosted Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, state minister of the United Arab Emirates and director general of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, for talks in Ashgabat only a few days after he had met up with a senior member of the Qatari government. The two consecutive meetings in Ashgabat underline Mr Berdymukhamedov’s desire to open up a transit route south to the Persian Gulf. Turkmenistan sees itself as a regional gas producer and wants to reach new markets.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 272, published on March 18 2016)

Qatari leader visits Turkmenistan

MARCH 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani flew into Ashgabat for talks with Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, media reported. The talks focused on developing links, trade primarily, between Qatar and Turkmenistan. Mr Berdymukhamedov has courted the Middle East and tried to promoted the idea of a north-south trade route from Central Asia to the Persian Gulf.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 271, published on March 11 2016)

Pakistani military chief visits Tajikistan

MARCH 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – General Raheel Sharif, Pakistan’s military chief, made his first trip to Tajikistan, pledging his full support for defeating terrorism in the region. This is important as it shows the growing bonds between Central and South Asia. Tajikistan is part of the CASA-1000 plan to generate electricity in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan which is then exported to Pakistan, via Afghanistan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 271, published on March 11 2016)

Afghan security advisor meets Turkmen officials

MARCH 2 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Hanif Atmar, an Afghan National Security Adviser, met officials in Turkmenistan to discuss security around the TAPI pipeline, media reported, a pipeline that Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov hopes will pump gas to India, across Afghanistan, by 2019. The main focus of the talks was the growing strength of Taliban militants in the region.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 270, published on March 4 2016)

Russian bank sponsors Georgia’s football team

MARCH 2 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Georgian subsidiary of Russia’s VTB Bank will sponsor Georgia’s football team, media reported. The deal highlights, once again, just how improved relations are between the two countries. This sort of deal would have been unthinkable only a few years ago. Georgia and Russia fought a brief war over the breakaway state of South Ossetia in 2008.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 270, published on March 4 2016)

Egypt’s Sisi visits Kazakhstan

FEB. 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al- Sisi flew to Astana for talks with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, a rare visit to Kazakhstan from a Middle Eastern leader. A few days before Mr Sisi’s visit, Kazakhstan restored air links to Egypt. It cut them at the end of last year after an alleged bomb planted by Islamic radicals blew up a Russian Plane. There was no news of any agreements signed at the meeting.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 270, published on March 4 2016)