Tag Archives: international relations

Azerbaijan and US argue over new embassy

>>The US says Azerbaijan has made the issue political>>

JAN. 28 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Azerbaijani government cancelled a property agreement with the US on construction of a new embassy building in Baku because of criticism of its election in 2013, a US State Department report released this month said.

Relations between Azerbaijan and the US have nose-dived recently. Last month, Azerbaijani police raided the office of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which is funded by the US government.

The State Department’s report adds more evidence that relations between the two countries has worsened.

“The mission’s top management priority is the construction of a new embassy building to replace the overcrowded and physically vulnerable 100-year-old chancery and a separate commercial annex one mile away,” the US State department report wrote.

“The Azerbaijani Government has frustrated at least seven US site acquisition efforts over the past decade. Most recently, the government cancelled a signed property agreement after the United States criticised the 2013 election.”

Azerbaijan has pressured human rights activists and independent media over the past few years, attracting heavy criticism from the US and Europe.

Azerbaijani political analyst Zardusht Alizade agreed the Azerbaijani authorities were using the row over the building of a new US embassy in Baku to frustrate the US.

“The Azerbaijani government does not want American embassy to extend here and to hire more people,” he said.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 216, published on Jan. 28 2015)

Turkmen-orientated oil company cuts spending

JAN. 21 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — London-based energy company Dragon Oil said it would reduce its capital expenditure in Turkmenistan by 26% this year because of the decrease in oil global price, media reported. Dragon Oil’s slashing of its capital expenditure budget in Turkmenistan highlights the pressures that energy-focused economies are under.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 216, published on Jan. 28 2015)

UN suspends Kyrgyz voting rights

>>Kyrgyzstan has not paid membership fees for two years>>

JAN. 28 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The United Nations has suspended Kyrgyzstan right to vote at meetings because it has not paid its membership fees for two years.

Also included on the list of nonpayers, published on January 15, were Grenada, the Marshall Islands, Rwanda, Macedonia, Tonga, Vanuatu and Yemen. An updated note a few days later said that Rwanda and Yemen had been re-instated as voting members after their bills had been paid off.

The UN’s rules state that if a country is two years behind its membership payment, it loses its voting rights.

The actual amount that Kyrgyzstan owed the UN was small, just $6,731, but that’s not really the point. For Kyrgyzstan, the non-payment of its membership fees to the UN is an embarrassment, whether or not the amount is large or small and whether it has been missed through a clerical error or not.

If its wants to be taken seriously as a place for foreign investment and engagement, Kyrgyzstan simply can’t afford to be highlighted on this list of countries in arrears. It needs to get the basics right.

For Kyrgyzstan, the embarrassment is even more acute as only a few of years ago it was applying to take on one of the rotating chairs of the UN Security Council.

In 2011, Kyrgyzstan didn’t win enough support to take on the Arab-Asia position at the UN Security Council. Now it’s lost all voting rights altogether, at least temporarily, because of an unpaid bill of $6,731.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 216, published on Jan. 28 2015)

Afghan president flies to Ashgabat

>>Regional links increasingly important>>

JAN. 21 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Afghan president Ashraf Ghani flew to Ashgabat for a two-day visit, an important trip focused on developing economic and transport links.

Afghanistan and Turkmenistan are steadily improving their ties. They have plans to build a gas pipeline across the countries, connecting Turkmenistan with markets in Pakistan and India.

During the talks, media quoted Turkmen leader Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov as saying that business between the two sides reached $1b in 2014 and would double in 2015.

Turkmenistan, enriched by various energy deals, has become an beacon of wealth and stability in the region.

Turkmenistan, though, is increasingly concerned about the spread of Islamic militants north into Central Asia. It has placed its soldiers along the border with Afghanistan on high alert.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 216, published on Jan. 28 2015)

Turkmen FM travels to Slovenia for meetings

JAN. 26 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmenistan’s foreign minister Rashid Meredov visited Slovenia for meetings with his Slovenian counterpart, Karl Erjavec (Jan. 26). The talks focused on how to improve business ties between the two countries and are more evidence of stronger links between EU members and Turkmenistan.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 216, published on Jan. 28 2015)

Tajikistan is eyeing up EEU membership -Russia

>>Tajikistan is heavily linked to Russia economy>>

JAN. 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajikistan is actively considering applying for membership of the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union, Belarusian news agency BelTA quoted Vasily Nebenzya, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, as saying at a meeting of the Russian parliament.

This is the first major statement this year that Tajikistan still intends to join the trade bloc. It’s also significant because it implies Russia wants Tajikistan in the club.

The Eurasian Economic Union came into existence at the start of the year, replacing the Customs Union. It’s a trade bloc although analysts have said that the Kremlin is looking to use it to promote its own political agenda.

Armenia joined the Eurasian Economic Union on Jan. 1. Kazakhstan and Belarus were already members and Kyrgyzstan is due to join later in the year.

“Tajikistan is also interested and is mulling over the prospects of joining the Eurasian integration processes,” BelTA quoted Mr Nebanzya as saying.

Tajikistan’s economy is closely linked to Russia. It relies on jobs in Russia for its workers, who send back remittances which make up roughly half the country’s GDP.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 216, published on Jan. 28 2015)

US sends more military kit to Uzbekistan

>>US says that the vehicles are non-lethal>>

JAN. 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The US Defence Department started delivering to Uzbekistan 300 vehicles designed to withstand ambushes and mines, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Central Asia, Daniel Rosenblum, told the Voice of America’s Uzbek language service.

This is controversial because it appears to go beyond a previous deal made between Washington and Tashkent which said that the United States would deliver non-lethal military equipment to Uzbekistan in exchange for help in withdrawing its forces from Afghanistan.

Ambush-resistant vehicles are, technically, non-lethal but these troop carriers can be mounted with machine-guns and are designed to be used during combat operations.

Uzbekistan has a dubious human rights record and activists have complained heavily about the US’ deal with Uzbekistan. Still, realpolitik meant that the US had to turn to Uzbekistan for help in extracting its kit from Afghanistan. Uzbekistan’s Soviet-era railway system is the quickest and safest way out of the country.

In the interview with Voice of America, Mr Rosenblum said Uzbekistan needed the vehicles to fight Islamic extremist groups and also for counter-narcotic operations.
“We consider them (the vehicles) to be non-lethal. They are intended to protect personnel, crews and passengers in areas that there might be explosive devices, mines, so on,” he said.

“Under those circumstances and for the purposes of counterterrorism and counter-narcotics, we thought that it was a legitimate request and decided to fulfil it.”
Technically Mr Rosenblum may be right. In reality, though, the line between so-called lethal and non-lethal equipment is becoming more blurred with this latest deal.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 216, published on Jan. 28 2015)

Another ex-Georgia minister joins Kiev government

>>Ukraine’s government has taken on a very Georgian face>>

JAN. 14 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — A third former Georgian minister has signed up to work for the anti-Russian government in Ukraine. This time Gia Getsadze, who held various high ranking positions under former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili, is to become Ukraine’s deputy justice minister, media reported.

Mr Getsadze follows Georgia’s former healthcare minister Alexander Kvitashvili and former deputy interior minister Eka Zguladze to Kiev.

And this is important. Georgia’s relations with Russia have much improved since Mr Saakashvili left office in 2013 but these ties are still fragile.

What Georgia wants to avoid is the relatively new government in Kiev appearing heavily populated by Georgians. If it does, relations between Georgia and Russia could be damaged once again.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 215, published on Jan. 21 2015)

Anti-Charlie Hebdo protest in Bishkek

>>Crowds attracted across much of the region>>

JAN. 20 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — An estimated 1,000 people demonstrated in a Bishkek park against the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo for publishing cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed.

Eyewitness accounts from the city centre park said that protesters held posters declaring: “I am not Charlie. I love my Prophet.”

Other posters read: “We’re against cartoons of our Prophet”.

The “I am Charlie” slogan swept across much of the Western world after Islamic radicals murdered 12 people during an editorial meeting at the magazine’s headquarters in central Paris earlier this month.

Much of the Islamic world, though, has been far more reticent. Reports from Baku and other cities across Central Asia have also suggested that anti-Charlie Hebdo demonstrations have drawn relatively large crowds.

The protests are a reminder that for all the rhetoric of Westernising and of supporting Western military action in Afghanistan, that Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan, and other countries where anti-Charlie Hebdo demonstrations emerged, are predominantly Islamic countries.

And these countries are not simply nominally Islamic, as they are often pictured in the West. There is a strong strain of fairly pious Muslim thought running through these societies.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 215, published on Jan. 21 2015)

Spain releases Ketebayev

JAN. 16 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Spanish authorities
released from detention Kazakh opposition figure Muratbek
Ketebayev. Kazakhstan wants Mr Ketebayev extradited to face
criminal charges, including rebellion. Reports said Spain had still
not made a decision on his extradition.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 215, published on Jan. 21 2015)