FEB. 13 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — A 41-year-old man set himself alight in Azerbaijan, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported, the fifth self-immolation in the country since December. The man, Huseyn Mammadov, reportedly set himself alight outside the interior ministry office in Nakhchivan region after his taxi permit had been withdrawn by officials.
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(News report from Issue No. 172, published on Feb. 19 2014)
FEB. 16 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Around 1,000 people protested in Azerbaijan against government compensation for homeowners due to lose their home as part of an urban re-generation scheme. The authorities in Azerbaijan want to demolish and re-build parts of Baku but residents say they are being offered only a fraction of the market price for their homes.
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(News report from Issue No. 172, published on Feb. 19 2014)
FEB. 10 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s new power duopoly is in its infancy but unrest in the Georgian prison system has given it an early test.
Media has reported that around 1,000 prisoners in the west of the country have been on hunger strike since Feb. 7 complaining about conditions which they have described as abusive.
The government dismissed their hunger strike as being organised by criminal bosses but on Feb. 10 17 inmates apparently intensified their protest by cutting themselves.
The rather ominously named Georgian Ministry of Correction said that the prisoners had stabbed themselves multiple times in the chest and arms.
“The injured inmates received medical treatment and were brought back to the prison in a normal condition. No force was used against them by the prison administration which is fully in control of the situation,” media quoted a ministry statement as saying.
The previous administration, under former president Mikheil Saakashvili, was accused of torturing prison inmates. Now Georgia’s new PM, Irakli Garibashvili, and president, Giorgi Margvelashvili, who both took office in November, have to show that they can handle the politically sensitive issue of prison unrest more deftly.
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(News report from Issue No. 171, published on Feb. 12 2014)
JAN. 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Police arrested eight demonstrators in Tashkent 48 hours after they held a protest in support of the Euromaidan demonstrations in Kiev.
A court later jailed three of the protesters for 15 days and fined the others.
The story underlines Uzbekistan’s reputation as one of the most repressive countries in the world.
The demonstration may have been small but it was important as it showed the support for the Euromaidan anti-government protests in the former Soviet Union. Among those demonstrating was the relatively well-known Uzbek photographer Umida Akhmedova and her son.
The Uzbek authorities’ reaction is just as indicative.
They came down hard and fast on the demonstrators. For governments in Central Asia and the South Caucasus, the Euromaidan protest is bad news as it shows that the might of the Russia-centric leaders can be challenged.
This may have been a rare pro-Euromaidan demonstration in Central Asia but it is still important to monitor the region for any more signs of unrest. It’s extremely rare for protests in Tashkent to surface. Judging by the authorities reaction, they don’t want to see another one.
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(News report from Issue No. 170, published on Feb. 5 2014)
JAN. 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Police in Tashkent arrested eight people 48 hours after they had held a protest outside the Ukrainian embassy in support of the pro-EU Euromaidan demonstrations in Kiev. A court later sentenced three of the activists to 15 days in jail.
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(News report from Issue No. 170, published on Feb. 5 2014)
JAN. 18 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — An estimated 4,000 people protested in central Yerevan against planned changes to the pension system. The protest dispersed quietly. The change in the pension law means that people aged 40 or under will have to pay 5% of their salary into a pension. Like other states in the former Soviet Union, Armenia needs to reform a pension scheme now considered overly generous.
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(News report from Issue No. 168, published on Jan. 22 2014)
DEC. 29 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — On Dec. 25, Zaur Ahmadov sat outside an Azerbaijani government ministry in Baku, doused himself in fuel and set himself on fire. He died of 70% burns four days later.
Mr Ahmadov, 42, was protesting at the perceived injustice of not receiving compensation for the bulldozing of his restaurant nearly 20 years ago by a pro-government official.
His frustration was the frustration of the little man. In Azerbaijan, like most places in former Soviet Central Asia and the South Caucasus, power and contacts often means immunity.
The World has seen this before — and with immense consequences.
Frustrated by bullying from government officials, in December 2010 in Tunisia Mohamed Bouazizi set himself alight. He died a few days later. His immolation captured the attention of the Arab World, triggering street protests that ultimately changed regimes in North Africa.
Mr Ahmadov’s immolation last week also triggered small street protests and the authorities were predictably tough on the demonstrators. Police arrested 22 demonstrators when they tried to hold a protest immediately after Mr Ahmadov’s funeral. Six were imprisoned for a few days.
Mr Ahmadov’s frustrations are shared by many in Azerbaijan and it is important to monitor just how the authorities will react to dampen any signs of further discontent.
Importantly, the authorities clearly recognise the danger of the situation. After Mr Ahmadov died, the government paid his family around $125,000 in compensation. A Conway Bulletin correspondent in Baku also said the government had told Mr Ahmadov’s family not to politicise his death.
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(News report from Issue No. 166, published on Jan. 8 2014)
DEC. 25 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Zaur Ahmadov, 42, set himself on fire outside an Azerbaijani government ministry. Mr Ahmadov, who blamed bullying government officials for destroying his business nearly two decades ago, died four days later. His death triggered protests.
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(News report from Issue No. 166, published on Jan. 8 2014)
DEC. 3 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Hundreds of protesters clashed with police in Osh, in the worst violence in the south of Kyrgyzstan since fighting between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in 2010. The protesters were angry at the arrest of a southern Kyrgyz MP for alleged corruption. Reports said the protesters briefly captured a government building.
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(News report from Issue No. 163, published on Dec. 4 2013)
DEC. 3 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s government increased the price of petrol by about a third, its first increase in seven years, media reported. It’s too early to say what impact the price rises will have on communities as they will come into force on Jan. 1 2014, but local media has already reported several small scale protests.
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(News report from Issue No. 163, published on Dec. 4 2013)
