AUG. 21 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan introduced a second political party for the first time in its 21-year post-Soviet history. The Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan is likely to officially end the one-party state after parliamentary elections in 2013. In reality, though, it will not be a genuine opposition party.
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(News report from Issue No. 102, published on Aug. 24 2012)
AUG. 23 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Dushanbe sentenced Ravshanbek Mirzoakhmadov, a senior Tajik anti-drug smuggling official, to 18 years in jail for drug smuggling, media reported. The sentence highlights just how invasive drug smuggling has become through Tajikistan’s bureaucracy.
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(News report from Issue No. 102, published on Aug. 24 2012)
AUG. 21 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgia’s richest man, officially declared himself the PM candidate for the opposition Georgian Dream coalition, at parliamentary elections on Oct. 1, media reported. The day before president Mikheil Saakashvili’s governing United National Movement party, said current PM, Vano Merabishvili, would be its PM candidate.
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(News report from Issue No. 102, published on Aug. 24 2012)
AUG. 14 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s PM, Omurbek Babanov, has denied allegations that he accepted a racehorse as a bribe in exchange for granting government contracts to a construction firm, media reported. The opposition wants a no-confidence motion against Mr Babanov, which could collapse the ruling coalition.
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(News report from Issue No. 101, published on Aug. 17 2012)
AUG. 10 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Georgia fined Kakha Kaladze, a Georgian ex-international footballer, $10.3m for withdrawing $2m without explaining how he was going to spend the cash, media reported. Mr Kaladze, Georgia’s most famous living footballer, supports Georgia’s opposition. Last month, the authorities froze his bank accounts on fraud allegations.
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(News report from Issue No. 101, published on Aug. 17 2012)
AUG. 30 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Opposition groups in Azerbaijan have promised to increase protests next year ahead of presidential election planned for October, the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported. The election is almost certain to re-instate Ilham Aliyev as Azerbaijan’s president.
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(News report from Issue No. 099, published on Aug. 3 2012)
JULY 27 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – A bank in Georgia froze the account of one of the country’s most famous footballers, ex-AC Milan player Kakha Kaladze, for alleged money laundering. The 34-year-old Mr Kaladze, who won 84 caps for Georgia, said the charges are politically motivated. He openly supports Georgia’s opposition.
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(News report from Issue No. 099, published on Aug. 3 2012)
JULY 12 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – The deputy head of Azerbaijan’s banned Islamist Party, Vagif Abdullayev, has died in prison from a heart attack, his colleagues said. In January 2011 police arrested Mr Abdullayev and six other members of the Islamist Party for possessing weapons and plotting revolution. In October, a court sentenced him to 11 years in jail.
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(News report from Issue No. 097, published on July 20 2012)
JULY 9 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Ayaz Mutalibov, Azerbaijan’s first post-Soviet president, returned to Baku after a 20 year exile. Mr Mutalibov was the Communist chief in Baku in Jan. 1990 when soldiers shot dead dozens of protesters. He became president of independent Azerbaijan in 1991 but fled in 1992. A new law gives ex-presidents immunity.
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(News report from Issue No. 096, published on July 13 2012)
JULY 19 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Voters in Nagorno-Karabakh, a region disputed by Armenia and Azerbaijan, voted in a presidential election, a vote unrecognised by the international community. Since a war in the 1990s, ethnic Armenians have predominantly populated Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan has called the election a “provocation” and analysts have warned the vote may destabilise the area.
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(News report from Issue No. 097, published on July 20 2012)
