SEPT. 17 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Regular air flights between Russia and Georgia have resumed for the first time since they were suspended in August 2008 when the two neighbours fought a brief war, media reported. The resumption of direct flights is a significant milestone in improving relations between Georgia and Russia.
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(News report from Issue No. 201, published on Sept. 24 2014)
SEPT. 17 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia will join the Russia-led Customs Union on Oct. 9, Leonid Slutsky, head of Russian State Duma Committee on CIS told Interfax news agency. Armenia has previously said that it is aiming to join the Customs Union sometime this year although it has not set a date.
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(News report from Issue No. 201, published on Sept. 24 2014)
SEPT. 19 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – A delegation from Qatar visited Tajikistan promising various investments, including setting up an Islamic bank, media reported. Islamic banking has previously been discussed in Central Asia, especially in Kazakhstan. Qatar is looking to spread its influence across the Islamic World, including Central Asia.
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(News report from Issue No. 201, published on Sept. 24 2014)
SEPT.13 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Other than providing a forum for bilateral get-togethers and photoshoots it is difficult to see what makes the Shanghai Cooperation multilateral.
To much fanfare, the six members plus observers of the organisation met in Dushanbe, releasing what can only be described as a nondescript Dushanbe Declaration at the closing of the summit.
Containing both Russia and China, the SCO remains the most notable intergovernmental organisation in the region but places no binds on members, several of whom have significant bilateral tensions with one another.
Outcomes of the 13th summit are open to interpretation. The Dushanbe declaration’s blanket statement supporting “continued negotiations” to achieve peace in Ukraine was presented by Russian media as support for Moscow’s controversial policies in the civil war, despite the organisation’s general opposition to separatism.
Neither Pakistan, who Beijing favours as a member, or India, who Russia favours, were admitted to the club, although this may happen in the SCO’s 14th summit held in Ufa, Russia, next year. Islamabad and New Delhi’s rivalry may add further complication within the organisation’s disunited membership.
One big disappointment was that bilateral meetings in the summit’s backdrop failed to resolve Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan’s border conflict, or the long-standing tensions between Dushanbe and Tashkent.
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(News report from Issue No. 200, published on Sept.17 2014)
SEPT. 10 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – An opinion poll in Armenia has highlighted support for joining the Russia-led Customs Union, despite sanctions against Kremlin-linked companies that have triggered a negative knock-on effect on the Armenian economy.
The poll carried out by Gallup last month showed that 60% of people in Yerevan still favoured joining the Customs Union later this year, media reported.
Aram Havasardyan, Gallup’s representative in Armenia, said that this was a slight drop from the 70% who favoured membership of the Customs Union in 2013.
Clearly support for Russia has held up in Armenia despite the sanctions against Russia imposed on it by the US and the EU because of its meddling in Ukraine. This is important for President Serzh Sargsyan who has been pushing for membership.
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(News report from Issue No. 200, published on Sept.17 2014)
SEPT. 13 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – China will boost its total investment in Tajikistan to $3b within four years, a massive amount for the country, media reported quoting the Tajik presidential press service. Tajikistan’s entire annual GDP is roughly $3b. The leaders of Tajikistan and China met after the SCO summit in Dushanbe.
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(News report from Issue No. 200, published on Sept.17 2014)
SEPT. 10 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Israeli defence minister Moshe Ya’alon visited Baku for a two day trip aimed at bolster military ties and trade.
This was the first trip by an Israeli defence minister to Azerbaijan for 22 years, media reported.
“I’m happy to be hosted here in the first historic visit by an Israeli defense minister to Azerbaijan,” Mr Ya’alon said.
“We have bilateral strategic relations and cooperation in different areas.”
Azerbaijan has become an unlikely ally for Israel over the past few years. For Azerbaijan the attraction is two-fold. It wants to buy military equipment that Israel produces to bolster its own military and it wants Israel as an energy client.
For Israel, the attraction is mainly military. A couple of years ago it emerged that Israel had drawn up contingency plans to set up a forward airbase in Azerbaijan if war ever broke out with Iran. Israel and Iran are sworn enemies. Azerbaijan lies next to Iran.
Last month Iranian media said that Iran had shot down an Israeli drone that had taken off from an airbase in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan’s situation has grown slightly more complicated over the past year as ties with Iran have improved. Its links with Israel, though, appear solid.
SEPT. 15 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan named its first ambassador to Kyrgyzstan as Batyr Niyazliev, media reported. Under president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, Turkmenistan has adopted a more open international outlook.
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(News report from Issue No. 200, published on Sept.17 2014)
SEPT. 15 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Although he is no longer Georgia’s PM, Bidzina Ivanishvili is still — probably — the most influential person in Georgian politics.
Mr Ivanishvili put together the Georgian Dream coalition that wrestled full control of Georgian politics from former president Mikheil Saakashvili, first in parliament, then in the presidential palace and then in town halls across the country.
In a rare newspaper interview published on Sept. 15, Mr Ivanishvili underlined his importance to the Georgian political scene by revealing that current PM Irakli Garibashvili had asked for his advice before reshuffling his government cabinet earlier this year.
“Before the government reshuffle, Garibashvili asked for my opinion, but I did not show interest and did not tell him to act this or that way,” Mr Ivanishvili said.
But, despite this apparent disinterest, Mr Ivanishivili is still, clearly, planning on playing a major role in Georgian politics through two major new projects.
“I want to participate in analysing the ongoing processes and to engage in discussions about the Georgian society’s development strategy,” he said.
Georgia has been vocal in its support for Ukraine and its condemnation of Russia’s alleged aid to the separatist forces. Mr Ivanishvili underlined this viewpoint. He was also quick to compare what he described as the measured response of the current government to what he has previously described as the hot-headed responses of the Saakashvili administration.
“God saved us that they [Mr Saakashvili and his United National Movement Party] are no longer in power or else we could have seen Georgia involved in this war” he said.
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(News report from Issue No. 200, published on Sept.17 2014)
SEPT. 13 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan started a week-long military exercise with its closest ally Turkey. The military exercise acted as a major show of force by Azerbaijan which is still officially at war with neighbouring Armenia over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
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(News report from Issue No. 200, published on Sept.17 2014)
