Tag Archives: politics

Kazakh women protest new retirement age

APRIL 26 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Being pelted with eggs at a press conference was just the latest public humiliation for Serik Abdenov, Kazakhstan’s fresh-faced labour minister.

Mr Abdenov is in charge of explaining why the government intends to raise the retirement age for women to 63 from 58. This is in line with the age that men in Kazakhstan retire and is an entirely plausible concept.

The problem is that Mr Abdenov appears ill-equipped to explain this to a sceptical public.

Earlier this month, at a meeting in Temirtau, an industrial town in central Kazakhstan, Mr Abdenov took to the stage to explain why the reform was necessary. He faced an audience of unimpressed women factory workers.

Sitting at a desk adorned with a portrait of Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev, Mr Adbenov offered this enlightened thinking on why women needed to work longer.

“You have to work, to work,” he said triggering howls of laughter from the audience.

Mr Abdenov tried again. “Because, my dear countrymen, because, because,” he said, before tailing off into an unconvincing description of what it means to be a pensioner.

Less than a week later, Andrei Tsukanov, a protester, hurled two eggs at Mr Abdenov during a press conference to discuss the pension reforms.

One egg hit Mr Abdenov, one missed. Again, though, it was all caught on video, heaping further public humiliation on the apparently hapless minister for labour.

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(News report from Issue No. 133, published on April 29 2013)

Tajikistan’s world largest flag tears

APRIL 24 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — High winds ripped the Tajik national flag from the world’s tallest flag-pole in central Dushanbe, media reported. Tajikistan erected the 165m high flag in August 2011 to mark the 20th anniversary of independence from the Soviet Union. Azerbaijan had previously held the record with a flag-pole measuring 162m.

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(News report from Issue No. 133, published on April 29 2013)

Opposition figure released in Uzbekistan

APRIL 23 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Uzbek authorities unexpectedly released opposition activist Mamadali Makhmudov from prison ahead of a visit by a senior US official, media reported. Mr Makhmudov, 72, was imprisoned in August 1999 for attempting to overthrow the government. Uzbekistan has one of the world’s worst human rights records.

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(News report from Issue No. 133, published on April 29 2013)

Azeri foreign minister visits Israel

APRIL 23 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s foreign minister Elmar Mammadyarov completed a three day visit to Israel, cementing the two countriesí increasingly close ties. Mr Mammadyarov was the first Azerbaijani foreign minister to visit Israel since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The trip irritated Iran, Azerbaijan’s neighbour.

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(News report from Issue No. 133, published on April 29 2013)

Street politics change in Armenia

YEREVAN/Armenia, APRIL 29 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The result of Armenia’s presidential election on Feb. 18 was disputed, just like it was five years ago. And, just like in 2008, the opposition staged regular demonstrations.

This year, though, the urbane Raffi Hovhannisyan, leader of the Heritage Party, led the demonstrations against President Serzh Sarksyan. In 2008, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, the firebrand former president led demonstrations.

The two men took a very different approach. Instead of whiping up the crowd in increasingly antagonistic speeches, as Ter-Petrosyan did, a tactic that eventually lead to clashes that killed 10 people, Hovhannisyan has taken a calmer approach.

And has impressed people on the streets of Armenia’s capital.

“What the opposition leader does today is a new style for Armenia, maybe it’s a more Western style campaign,” said Laura Gevorgyan, a young activist who has followed most of the protests.

Hovhannisyan has dubbed his approach a Barevolution after the Armenian word for hello — barev. Despite Hovhannisyan’s efforts, Sarksyan took the presidential oath for his second five-year term on April 9. This disappointed some of Hovhannisyan’s supporters. For many, though, avoiding violence meant that progress has been made.

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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 133, published on April 29 2013)

European Parliament criticise Kazakhstan over human rights

APRIL 18 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The European Parliament adopted a resolution criticising Kazakhstan for not respecting political, media and religious freedoms. Its statement called for the authorities to release the leader of the banned opposition Alga! Party, Vladimir Kozlov, from prison. He was convicted last year for inciting unrest.

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(News report from Issue No. 132, published on April 22 2013)

Azeri foreign minister to visit Israel

APRIL 18 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan announced that its foreign minister, Elmar Mammadyarov, would visit Israel on April 22, risking further damage to already strained relations with its neighbour Iran. Mr Mammadyarov will become the first Azerbaijani foreign minister to visit Israel since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

(News report from Issue No. 132, published on April 22 2013)

Saakashvili rallies in Georgia

APRIL 19 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili attracted roughly 10,000 people to his first major rally in Tbilisi since his party, the United National Movement (UNM), lost a parliamentary election in October. Mr Saakashvili is locked in an increasingly acrimonious fight with Georgian PM Bidzina Ivanishvili.

(News report from Issue No. 132, published on April 22 2013)

Opposition leader attacked in Tajikistan

APRIL 19 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Unknown attackers punched and beat Mahmadali Hayit, head of the Tajik opposition group the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan, outside his home, media quoted his family as saying. Photos from hospital showed a bruised and swollen Mr Hayit lying on his bed. Tajikistan is to hold a presidential election in November.

(News report from Issue No. 132, published on April 22 2013)

Uzbek president visits Moscow

APRIL 15 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Scotching concerns over his health, Uzbek President Islam Karimov flew to Moscow for a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Officially, the two leaders discussed NATO’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. Rumours of Mr Karimov’s declining health circulated last month after he disappeared from public view for a few days.

(News report from Issue No. 132, published on April 22 2013)