FEB. 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The countries developing the planned 1,800km pipeline to run from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to Pakistan and India failed to announce a company to lead its construction as had been expected at a meeting in Islamabad. Media had said that France’s Total would be announced as the TAPI consortium leader.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 219, published on Feb. 18 2015)
>>Peace accords had been in front of parliament>>
FEB. 16 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan withdrew a series of peace accords relating to the country’s long-running dispute with Turkey.
The move is a major setback for the region as the Armenia-Turkey spat is a hindrance to improved ties and trade with Europe. The two countries’ argue about the alleged mass killings by Turkish Ottoman soldiers of Armenians who were fleeing their land around Lake Van in the east of Turkey.
Mr Sargsyan blamed Turkey for the cancellation.
“We were ready for a fully-fledged settlement in our relations with Turkey by ratifying these protocols, but we were also ready for failure,” media quoted him as saying.
The two countries signed declarations in 2009 to establish diplomatic relations and open a land border.
The problem is that neither the Turkish nor the Armenian parliaments have approved the deals. Nationalists on both sides have instead slowed progress and frustrated efforts.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 219, published on Feb. 18 2015)
FEB. 16 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan’s energy minister, Kubanychbek Turdubayev, has accused Russia of working too slowly on upgrades to hydropower projects, eurasianet.org reported. Upgrades to the Kambar-Ata 1 dam and the Upper-Naryn Cascade were part of a 2012 deal that saw Moscow secure an extension to leases on military bases in Kyrgyzstan.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 219, published on Feb. 18 2015)
FEB. 17 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmenistan’s President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has pardoned 10 Iranian prisoners, Iran’s media reported. This is significant as the state-controlled Tehran Times described the release as part of a move by Turkmenistan to improve ties.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 219, published on Feb. 18 2015)
>>Appointment angers Tbilisi who want him extradited>>
FEB. 13 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — In a surprise move, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko appointed Russia’s arch foe, Mikheil Saakashvili, as an adviser and an official overseas representative of the government.
The appointment has irritated Georgia’s government who want Mr Saakashvili, a former Georgian president, extradited.
They accuse him of various crimes and have placed him on the Interpol wanted list. Since leaving office in 2013, Mr Saakashvili has lived in New York.
“For a long time, we’ve been thinking how to use the knowledge, experience and unique know-how of Mikheil Saakashvili in the best way,” Mr Poroshenko’s press service said. “Until recently, Mikheil was, in fact, a freelance consultant of Ukraine on reforms. And now, finally, he gets official status.”
His arch rival in Georgia, the head of the coalition which chased him from power after nearly 10 years, Bidzina Ivanishvili, saw it differently. He said several members of Mr Saakashvili’s government now worked in Ukraine and that most are wanted on corruption charges in Tbilisi.
“Now they have found asylum in Ukraine, but let us wish for them that events develop in a better way there,” he said in an interview with Georgian media.
The appointment of Mr Saakashvili to the Ukraine government will also anger Russian president Vladimir Putin. The men were locked in a personal battle during their presidencies which culminated in a brief war in 2008.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 219, published on Feb. 18 2015)
FEB. 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan jailed two men for spying for Iran, media reported, potentially ramping up tension with its neighbour. Investigators said the two men worked with Iranian intelligence offices in 2013. Relations between the two countries had been dire but have improved over the past year.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 218, published on Feb. 11 2015)
>>Rouble devaluation makes Russian goods cheap>>
FEB. 6 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Local authorities in Kazakhstan said they are worried about cheap goods from Russia flooding its northern markets. The rouble has halved in value, making goods from Russia cheap for Kazakhstanis.
Duisenbai Turganov, vice-governor of the Pavlodar province, directed his concerns to Kazakh deputy PM, Bakhytzhan Sagintayev.
He said Russian goods flooding the Kazakh market could be classified as a dumping practice.
“Prices of Russian competitors are 30-60% lower than Kazakh suppliers can offer. This has a negative impact on the activities of the local industrial enterprises,” the tengrinews.kz website quoted him as saying.
The row piles more pressure on to the Eurasian Economic Union which has become tainted by commercial wars among the members. Belarus and Armenia are also members.
And we’ve seen this issue before. Since December, Kazakhs are crossing the border to buy cheap goods in Russia. Although quantities may be risible for Moscow, on the other side of the fence, buying Russian goods makes a difference for Kazakhs.
From cars, to poultry, to petroleum products, the large-scale entry of cheap goods from the north into Kazakhstan creates an imbalance in the Kazakh economy and puts local factories under stress.
The governor in Pavlodar may be talking peanuts to Russia, but these are vital components of the socio-economic makeup of the northern regions of Kazakhstan.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 218, published on Feb. 11 2015)
FEB. 10 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Despite an antagonistic stand-off between Washington and the Kremlin over the civil war in Ukraine, media reported that Kazakhstan has organised a military exercise with the US. The US has held military exercises with Kazakhstan for several years. Kazakhstan is also a close ally of Russia.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 218, published on Feb. 11 2015)
FEB. 6 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Viktor Khristenko, chairman of the Kremlin-lead Eurasian Economic Union, said the final barriers to Kyrgyzstan’s entry to the group had been removed. He was talking to press after a meeting of the Eurasian Economic Union. Kyrgyzstan aims to join the EEU, which includes Belarus, Kazakhstan and Armenia, later this year.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 218, published on Feb. 11 2015)
FEB. 4 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan detained four Uzbek nationals on their shared border, media reported. Relations between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan have been strained over the last few years by rows over border rights and hydro-electric dams. The rows have the potential to destabilise the region.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 218, published on Feb. 11 2015)
