NOV. 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia will install an air defence missile system in Armenia, RIA- Novosti news agency reported quoting a statement from the Kremlin, a rival, perhaps, to the US missile system in Eastern Europe. By stationing missiles in Armenia, Russia is pulling it tighter into its field of influence.
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(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)
NOV. 12 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajik president Emomali Rakhmon travelled to Islamabad for a two-day visit that will culminate with talks with Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif on plans to create a regional power market.
Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan hope to supply Pakistan and Afghanistan with power generated by their hydropower stations in a project dubbed CASA- 1000. The project is viewed as vital for increasing trade and diplomatic links between the neighbours.
And CASA-1000 already appears to be having a positive impact on relations between Tajikistan and its neighbours. This trip to Pakistan, will be Mr Rakhmon’s sixth.
An official at the Tajik embassy in Islamabad also said that wider trade relations would be discussed.
“During the Tajik president’s visit, they will discuss energy import, transit trade and linking the region through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which will bring prosperity in the entire area,” the unnamed official told the Express Tribune newspaper.
Electricity is one of Tajikistan’s and Kyrgyzstan’s main exports. Pakistan and Afghanistan are deficient in electricity.
Tajikistan and Pakistan don’t share a land border. A sliver of Afghanistan separates the countries.
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(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)
NOV. 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – On a visit to Tbilisi, Federica Mogherini, the EU’s foreign policy chief, praised Georgia’s contribution to EU-led military peace operations in Africa but also warned the country that it shouldn’t take media freedom for granted.
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(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)
NOV. 4 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – South Korea wants to boost further its investments in Uzbekistan, local media reported quoting government officials. South Korea and Uzbekistan have developed close relations over the past few years. There are thousands of ethnic Koreans living in Uzbekistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 255, published on Nov. 6 2015)
NOV. 4 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Almaty-based Eurasian Development Bank is close to agreeing a deal to lend the Armenian government $300m to help it through the economic malaise enveloping the Central Asia and South Caucasus region.
If it is agreed, the first $100m is due at the end of this year with the outstanding $200m handed over by the end of 2017.
Like other countries in Central Asia and the South Caucasus, Armenia has been trying to deal with the fallout of the drop in oil prices and a recession in Russia which have combined to tip the entire region into an economic depression.
“Current macroeconomic actions have been agreed with the Armenian government,” Dmitry Pankin, the EDB CEO, told the Armenpress news agency.
“The project has been approved by the expert council and is now being considered by the Eurasian Stabilisation and Development Fund. After the official decision, the final conditions will be agreed upon.”
The Eurasian Development Bank is an overtly political organisation. It’s membership mirrors the membership of the Kremlin-led Eurasian Economic Union — Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia — with the addition of Tajikistan.
It was set up before the Eurasian Economic Union to give the trade bloc extra weight.
It also acts as a kind of sweetener. Armenia is reliant on Russia for economic and political support. It joined the Eurasian Economic Union at the start of this year under duress from Russia but can now access cheap loans to keep its economy running.
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(News report from Issue No. 255, published on Nov. 6 2015)
OCT. 31 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A newspaper in Australia reported that the government was in talks with the Kyrgyz authorities to resettle refugees and asylum seekers in Kyrgyzstan. Under a hardline policy, Australia refuses entry to all migrants and refugees. Neither the Australian nor the Kyrgyz government have commented.
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(News report from Issue No. 255, published on Nov. 6 2015)
OCT. 31 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan and Indonesia established a 30-day visa free regime which they said would promote tourism between the two countries. The visa-free regime with Indonesia contrasts with Azerbaijan’s constraints on European travellers. Over the past few years, Azerbaijan has increased restrictions on European travel.
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(News report from Issue No. 255, published on Nov. 6 2015)
NOV. 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia’s trade with Russia, its most important partner, has fallen sharply this year compared to the same period in 2014, official data showed. Exports to Russia were down 28% to $158.5m and imports were down over 10% to $712.7m between Jan-Sept. A recession in Russia has hit Central Asia and South Caucasus.
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(News report from Issue No. 255, published on Nov. 6 2015)
NOV. 3/4 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev flew to Britain and France to sign a series of headline grabbing deals and pose for useful photo-ops.
In London, Mr Nazarbayev met with PM David Cameron and the Queen. The two sides signed 40 deals for £3b ($4.6b).
Importantly, Mr Nazarbayev’s eldest daughter Dariga, a deputy PM, accompanied him on the trip and was part of the official photo with the Queen. In Soviet and post-Soviet iconography, featuring in official photographs sends a strong signal and being photographed next to her father at an official engagement with the Queen will have boosted any presidential ambitions that Ms Nazarbayeva harbours.
In Paris, Mr Nazarbayev met with President Françoise Hollande and signed another set of deals worth over $5b, according to state media in Kazakhstan.
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(News report from Issue No. 255, published on Nov. 6 2015)
OCT.31/NOV. 3 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – US Secretary of State John Kerry visited Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan as part of a tour of Central Asia. In Bishkek, Mr Kerry wanted to persuade the government that despite quitting its airbase, the US was still interested in Kyrgyzstan. In Dushanbe, Mr Kerry told the government to ease up on its crackdown of opposition parties.
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(News report from Issue No. 255, published on Nov. 6 2015)
