Tag Archives: politics

Kazakhstan releases activist

FEB. 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Serikzhan Mambetalin, a Kazakh opposition activist, was freed from prison after issuing an apology for inciting ethnic hatred. Mambetalin and his colleague, Ermek Narymbayev, were jailed at the end of January. Mambetalin’s lawyer told RFE/RL that his appeal process was still ongoing. The Kazakh authorities have clamped down on the country’s beleaguered opposition as the economy has worsened.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 266, published on Feb. 5 2016)

EU sends 15m euro to Kyrgyzstan

JAN. 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The European Union said it had released the second tranche of a 30m euro loan and grant to Kyrgyzstan designed to support and promote stability and democracy. Of the final 15m euro payment, 5m euro was a grant and 10m euro was a loan. The EU said the payment was “to support the restoration of a sustainable external financial situation for the Kyrgyz Republic.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)

Tajik President promotes his daughter

JAN. 27 2016, DUSHANBE (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajik president Emomali Rakhmon appointed his daughter, Ozoda, as head of the Presidential Administration, drawing accusations of nepotism.

Mr Rakhmon has form with appointing family members and friends to important government posts. One of his two sons, Rustam, is head of the government’s anti-corruption agency and had been head of the Tajik football association.

Earlier this month, Tajik MPs also voted to change the country’s constitution and lower the minimum age that a person can stand to be president to 30 from 35. This would allow Rustam, aged 28, to stand for president in 2020.

As for Ozoda, little is known about her. She had previously been a deputy foreign minister and her husband is the deputy head of the Central Bank. She has also studied in the United States.

Mr Rakhmon has been in power in Tajikistan since the end of a civil war in the mid-1990s. He is accused of setting up an authoritarian state. Last year Mr Rakhmon effectively closed down the only legal opposition party, consolidating his grip on power.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)

Turkmen President signs new military doctrine

JAN. 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov signed a new military doctrine that confirmed Turkmenistan’s neutral status. There had been speculation that, under a potential threat from the Tablian, Mr Berdymukhamedov would reduce the importance of Turkmenistan’s neutrality in its military doctrine. He didn’t but official media reported that he did want to boost Turkmenistan’s defence measures.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)

Spanish parliamentarian describes Georgian political prisoner

JAN. 25 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – At a speech at his swearing-in ceremony as the new president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Pedro Agramunt, a Spanish parliamentarian, described Gigi Ugulava, the former mayor of Tbilisi, as a “political prisoner”. The description will irritate the current Georgian government. Ugulava was imprisoned in 2015 for 4-1/2 years for misspending public money, charges he has said are politically motivated.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)

Georgian PM gives $185,000 to Church

JAN. 16 2016, TBILISI (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgian PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili gave $185,000 to the Georgian Orthodox Church the day after taking office at the end of last year, local media reported by quoting official documents, attracting derision from opponents.

The donation was taken from the President’s Reserve Fund, a cash stockpile used for natural disasters and other emergencies such as the Tbilisi flood in 2015.

The President’s Reserve Fund totals $2m, meaning that the amount donated to the Church measured nearly 10% of its total value.

“The money-flow from the state to the Church is unstructured and we need to support the Church’s educational infrastructure,” the PM’s office said in a statement.

His opponents, though, have accused him of using funds ear- marked to save lives and rebuild homes and businesses after emergencies for his own political needs.

Eka Chitanava, Director of the Tolerance and Diversity Institute, an NGO working on religious freedom in Georgia, said: “The latest $185,000 donated by the PM is significant. The money was taken from the natural disaster budget, a fund they are not supposed to use for this.”

The Georgian Orthodox Church is one of the most powerful institutions in Georgia and its support would be useful to Mr Kvirikashvili and his Georgian Dream coalition in helping to win a parliamentary election scheduled for October.

It holds great sway over Georgia’s traditionally conservative society.

There was also frustration among ordinary Georgians over Mr Kvirikashvili’s donation.

“I understand the church is important,” Khatuna Gvelesiani, 30, said. “But to take it from a fund which should cover natural disaster, like the flood we had in June, can’t be justified. I am outraged.”

The Georgian Dream was the first political party ever to be endorsed by the Church in 2012 although this support has waned. It faces a tough battle to win the October election.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)

Protesters and police clash again in regional Azerbaijanji town

JAN. 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Police and protesters angry about worsening economic conditions in Azerbaijan clashed briefly in the town of Quba, north of Baku, three days after demonstrations sprung up in several regional towns.

Media reports from Quba said that police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to control the demonstration. Protesters are angry at a sharp rise in prices after a devaluation of the manat at the end of last month.

Similarly to the earlier protests, police moved in after the end of the stand-off and detained dozens of demonstrators.

There have been no other demonstrations since.

These were the most serious civil disturbances this year in Central Asia and the South Caucasus linked to the economic slowdown and have worried the Azerbaijani government.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)

Kazakh leader’s nephew gets KNB post

JAN. 20 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Samat Abish Nazarbayev, the 37- year-old nephew of president Nursultan Nazarbayev, was appointed deputy head of the KNB, Kazakhstan’s intelligence service, the eurasinet.org website reported. Samat Abish Nazarbayev is the son of Bolat Nazarbayev, President Nazarbayev’s brother. By appointing him to a senior position in the KNB, Pres. Nazarbayev is strengthens his control over it.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)

Azerbaijan imposes capital barriers

JAN. 19 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan imposed some of the most stringent currency controls in the region to try and halt the slide in its manat currency and to stop a feared wave of capital outflows as the economic storm that has hit the region strengthens.

The most draconian measure was an immediate 20% tax on purchases of property, securities and other investments in foreign currencies.

“People should know that the central bank, other government agencies are in a position to prevent the manat from falling sharply,” Azerbaijan’s Central Bank chief, Elman Rustamov, said in televised comments clearly aimed at shoring up public support. Last week sporadic clashes broke out in regional towns between angry protesters and police.

The Azerbaijani manat has lost 50% of its value in six months and people have lost confidence in the country’s financial system.

Mr Rustamov also said that the Central Bank held enough currency reserves to support the manat, despite a series of reports which suggested that it was running out of money after trying to defend its value unsuccessfully throughout 2015, and that several smaller banks would soon have to merge.

Other measures unveiled by Mr Rustamov to try to boost public support in the manat included allowing people to pay back loans of up to $5,000 at the manat/$ exchange rate prior to the last devaluation on Dec. 21 and cancelling tax on manat bank deposits and dividends.

Azerbaijan has been one of the hardest hit by the economic slowdown that has hit the region. Its economy is dependent on oil which has sunk in price to around $28/barrel from around $115/barrel in July 2014.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)

Tajik authorities tighten internet access

JAN. 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajik president Emomali Rakhmon signed a decree forcing all internet traffic into Tajikistan to pass through a single entry point controlled by state-run Tajiktelecom, media reported. The authorities in Tajikistan regularly turn off access to social media websites which they say are being used by Islamic radicals to infiltrate Tajik society.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)