Tag Archives: international relations

Azerbaijan and Armenia to talk Nagorno-Karabakh

OCT. 27 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan met to discuss the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh in talks mediated by French president Francois Hollande.

The official outcome of the talks — agreeing to more talks — may appear inconsequential but meetings between President Serzh Sargyan of Armenia and President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan are rare.

“Status quo is not sustainable,” Mr Hollande’s office said after the meeting. “(Azerbaijan and Armenia) have agreed to continue the dialogue, in particular with a new meeting in September 2015 in the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.”

Nagorno-Karabakh has been described as one of the world’s most dangerous frozen conflicts. Armenia and Azerbaijan fought over the region in the early 1990s and only a shaky 1994 UN-brokered ceasefire keeps the two- sides apart. Recently, though, there has been an increase in the amount of fighting around Nagorno-Karabakh.

Armenia-back rebels now control the region but there is a constant background noise of sabre rattling. Azerbaijan has been re-arming its military, buying top-of-the-range kit from Israel. Armenia has quietly been rehousing Armenians chased out of Syria in Nagorno-Karabakh.

This was the second meeting this year between Mr Aliyev and Mr Sargsyan. Russia’s president Vladimir Putin hosted a meeting in August.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 206, published on Oct. 29 2014)

Croatia minister travels to Turkmenistan

OCT. 27 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Croatia’s foreign minister Vesna Pusic began a tour of Central Asia with a stopover in Ashgabat, a rare visit to Turkmenistan by a senior member of a European Union government.

Ms Pusic was on a sales pitch to win more ship-building contracts for the yards in Croatia but the trip was also important symbolically. The more high-ranking visits by officials from Turkmenistan, the more the country enters the mainstream.

Such a visit would practically have been unthinkable under Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov’s predecessor Saparmurat Niyazov. But Mr Berdymukhamedov has opened up the country and turned it into a regional energy superpower with all the wealth that goes with it.

For Turkmenistan, Croatia’s interest confers a sort of respectability and gives it an ally within the EU. Human rights activists still describe Turkmenistan as one of the most repressive countries in the world with no free media.

Media reports were also candid on what Croatia had, apparently, offered Turkmen officials as a sweetener for contracts — visa free travel for Turkmens holding diplomatic passports and other special passports.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 206, published on Oct. 29 2014)

Uzbekistan discusses Taliban with Turkmenistan

OCT. 23 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Relations between Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan have often been strained but the challenges of dealing with a potential security void once NATO withdraws from Afghanistan is pushing the two neighbours to work together.

Uzbek president Islam Karimov made a rare visit to Ashgabat specifically to discuss how to deal with the Taliban who are hovering around the borders of Central Asia.

Reports earlier this year have said Turkmen forces have crossed the border with Afghanistan to set up more robust check points and defences. Uzbekistan also borders Afghanistan and Mr Karimov will, no doubt, have been keen to hear about the Turkmen experiences.

Uzbekistan also has to deal with a determined Islamic insurgency of its own with the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). It is worried that a resurgent Taliban will inspire the IMU.

With both Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan outside the Russia-led Collective Security Organisation, both countries appear eager to pool intelligence and experiences for what analysts have said will be a difficult few months, perhaps years, ahead once NATO completes its withdrawal from Afghanistan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 206, published on Oct. 29 2014)

Georgia to host NATO centre

OCT. 17 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – In a move that threatens to aggravate delicate relations with Russia, Georgia is planning to open up a NATO training base.

Georgian defence minister Irakly Alasania told Reuters in an interview that Georgia would not be cowed by a Russian warning not to host any NATO equipment or bases.

“Confrontation with Russia should be avoided. Georgia needs stability,” he said. “But we will never bow to the Russians.”

Relations between Russia and Georgia have improved since Mikheil Saakashvili quit as Georgian president last year but they are still icy and have been aggravated by alleged Russian action in Ukraine. Georgia supports the pro-Western Ukraine government.

Georgia has been pushing to join NATO for some years and has supported operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Earlier this month, Russia warned Georgia not to host any NATO equipment, although that warning appears to have been ignored.

“This centre will be jointly operated by NATO and Georgia and it’s going to be an additional layer of security and defensive capability for Georgia,” Mr Alasania said. “It will be a Georgia-owned facility, but planning will be jointly done with NATO.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 205, published on Oct. 22 2014)

Kazakhstan aims to diversify energy routes

OCT. 22 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan is considering diversifying its energy transit routes because of Western sanctions imposed on Russia, media reported. One option being considered is the Baku-Supsa oil pipeline that runs from the Azerbaijani capital to Supsa on the Georgian Black Sea coast.

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(News report from Issue No. 205, published on Oct. 22 2014)

Armenia to receive more gas from Iran

OCT. 18 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenian energy minister Yervand Zakharyan flew to Tehran for another round of talks with his Iranian counterpart on increasing gas supplies. Marginalised by their neighbours, Armenia and Iran have been trading gas and electricity since 2009.

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(News report from Issue No. 205, published on Oct. 22 2014)

Denmark’s Royal Highness visits Tajikistan

OCT. 21 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Denmark’s Royal Highness Crown Princess Mary will fly into Tajikistan on Oct. 23 for a three day trip as part of her role as patron of the World Health Organisation’s Europe office, WHO said. Princess Mary’s visit will throw a rare touch of royal glamour over Tajikistan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 205, published on Oct. 22 2014)

Crimea-Armenia air route opens

OCT. 21 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – A direct air route is opening up between Simferopol, the capital of Crimea, and Yerevan, making Armenia the only country other than Russia since the Kremlin annexed the Ukrainian region earlier this year to set up a connection.

Media reported that the airline, Grozny Avia would run the once-a-week flight from Simferopol from Nov. 16.

Perhaps this is the price that Armenia has to pay for Russian economic and military support. The West has levied sanctions on Russia for its annexation of Crimea. Russia has said that Crimea voted to join Russia in an independence referendum and that its actions were legitimate.

And what it craves is international recognition. Russia has had the same problem with South Ossetia and Abkhazia, rebel Georgian states whose independence it has recognised to the chagrin of most the international community.

The only countries which have followed Russia’s lead are small countries from Central America to the Pacific Ocean looking for economic support.

Armenia may be falling into that category over Crimea. It will join the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union in 2015 and looks to Russian forces in Armenia to act as a counterbalance for any Azerbaijani aggression over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Grozny Avia likely to be linked to Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-supported leader of Chechnya, provides another link between Russia and its semi-vassal states.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 205, published on Oct. 22 2014)

Uzbek security chief comes out of the shadows

OCT. 15 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – A visit by Uzbek security chief Rustam Inoyatov caused a stir. Not because a senior Uzbek official visited Beijing, such trips have become fairly commonplace over the past five years or so as China extends its influence in the region, but because of a photo from the meeting.

At the meeting on Oct. 14, Mr Inoyatov is pictured shaking the hand of Meng Jianzhu, head of political and legal affairs of the Central Committee. This is effectively a ministerial position.

The photo showed a thick-set 70-year-old Mr Inoyatov with barely a fleck of grey in his hear.

It’s also the first publicly available picture of Mr Inoyatov for some years. Searches across the internet only yielded grainy or blurred shots.

The picture is symbolic. Mr Inoyatov has been accused of being behind the campaign to purge Gulnara Karimova, the eldest daughter of President Islam Karimov, of power. This picture may represent him, literally, coming out of the shadows.

Another theory about the picture is that it shows that Mr Inoyatov and Mr Karimov are putting on a show of force to Russia and a warning that it should not try to destabilise elections planned for 2015.

The photo suggests that Uzbekistan and China have grown increasingly close and that Russia risks being left behind as a bystander.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 205, published on Oct. 22 2014)

Georgian President to visit Japan

OCT. 21 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Looking to secure more foreign direct investment (FDI), Georgian president Giorgi Margvelashvili travelled to Japan on a state visit. During his five day trip Mr Margvelashvili will meet with Japanese Emperor Akihito and PM Shinzo Abe, Georgia is heavily reliant on FDI.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 205, published on Oct. 22 2014)