Tag Archives: security

Russia pulls out of Tajikistan base

NOV. 19 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Media in Tajikistan reported that the Russian military had started to pull out of its base in Kulyab, near the border with Afghanistan, a potentially destabilising move in a fragile border region.

There was no explanation as to why the Russian military would pull out of Kulyab but relations have become increasingly strained with locals.

Russian soldiers have been accused of getting drunk and fighting with locals as well as not paying local workers their full salaries, an accusation the Russian base has refuted.

Still, whatever the underlying reason for the withdrawal, Kulyab is one of three bases that Russia uses in Tajikistan and quitting it will change the dynamics.

Russia has 7,000 soldiers stationed in Tajikistan, its largest deployment outside Russia.

It has warned that Taliban activity in northern Afghanistan could threaten Central Asia and encouraged the region’s governments to strengthen their militaries.

The Kremlin, though, has ruled out taking back responsibility for patrolling Central Asia’s borders.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 257, published on Nov. 20 2015)

Georgian lawyer says police beat him

NOV. 9 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A Georgian lawyer accused police of beating him for several hours after he visited a client at a Tbilisi police station, sparking outrage across Georgia’s social media and jibes of hypocrisy against the authorities.

Police brutality is a sensitive political issue in Georgia. The ruling Georgian Dream coalition has accused the previous administration of Mikheil Saakashvili’s United National Movement of presiding over a regime built around repression and fear.

Giorgi Mdinaradze, the lawyer, said that he had been to hospital with bruises and cuts to his face after the beating.

“They [policemen] put my hands in cuffs and I could not even cover face with hands as they were beating me for five or ten minutes,” media quoted him as saying.

Mr Mdinaradze works for Legal Aid, a government funded group that gives legal advice and support to people who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford it.

One of the ruling Georgian Dream’s main challenges against the United National Movement party was a case against former defence minister Bacho Akhalaia. He was sent to prison last year for ordering inmates at a prison to be tortured in 2006 when he was the prisons minister.

Police said that they have opened an investigation into the alleged beating of Mr Mdinaradze, the lawyer. On Nov. 13, Georgian media reported that they had arrested a senior policeman in the case.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)

LiveJournal comes back to Kazakhstan

NOV. 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The social networking site LiveJournal will be available again in Kazakhstan, the government said. LiveJournal, which is popular in the former Soviet Union, was banned in August 2011 for “propagating terrorism and extremism.” Kazakhstan has been criticised for cracking down on free speech.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)

Ukraine supports Georgia over SOssetia

NOV. 9 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – In a show of support for Georgia, Ukraine said it will fine anybody driving a car with a South Ossetian or Abkhazian number plate, media reported. Ukraine is locked in a war with Russia for control of the eastern part of its country. It counts Georgia as a strong ally. S.Ossetia and Abkhazia are Russia- backed Georgian rebel states.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)

Tajikistan rejects Russian patrol

NOV. 12 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia is not going to send guards back to patrol Central Asia’s border with Afghanistan, said Russian Colonel-General Alexander Manilov, despite worries the Taliban is spreading northwards. Russian border guards used to patrol the Tajik-Afghan border until 2005. Tajikistan has said it doesn’t want foreign border guards patrolling its frontiers.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)

Turkmenistan signs Afghan power deal

NOV. 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan’s President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has signed a decree paving the way for Turkmen electricity supplies to Afghanistan until 2027, a move seemingly designed to increase stability in its southern neighbour as well as lock in a long-term client.

The Turkmen government announced the agreement through one of its official websites turkmenistan.ru.

It said that the contract now being finalised between Turkmenenenergo and their Afghan counterparts would run from Jan. 1 2018 until Dec. 31 2027.

It’s important because it highlights both Turkmenistan’s ability to negotiate long-term power deals for its neighbours and also its determination to help Afghanistan stabilise.

Turkmenistan needs a stable Afghanistan for two main reasons. It wants the Afghan government to be strong enough to be able to control a resurgent Taliban and it also needs Afghanistan to be a stable transit partner for the proposed TAPI pipeline running from its gas fields to consumers in India.

TAPI is vital for Turkmenistan. It needs to diversify its client base for gas as it is over-reliant on China.

Turkmenistan has been investing heavily in its power generating infrastructure. It sees the sector as another way of projecting itself on the international stage.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)

Russian to install missiles in Armenia

NOV. 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia will install an air defence missile system in Armenia, RIA- Novosti news agency reported quoting a statement from the Kremlin, a rival, perhaps, to the US missile system in Eastern Europe. By stationing missiles in Armenia, Russia is pulling it tighter into its field of influence.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)

Kyrgyz-Tajik border row lingers

NOV. 6 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A land transfer deal between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan which was supposed to solve the neighbour’s long-running border dispute has been postponed, media reported. The row has flared into violence over the past couple of years and could even destabilise the region.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)

Two Tajik officers die of knive attacks

NOV. 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Unknown assailants armed with knives attacked four Tajik army officers in Dushanbe, killing two of them. The army has not given a motive for the attack although the officers were involved with Tajikistan’s military draft. Officially at least, all Tajik men have to serve two years in the army.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)

Kerry visits Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan

OCT.31/NOV. 3 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – US Secretary of State John Kerry visited Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan as part of a tour of Central Asia. In Bishkek, Mr Kerry wanted to persuade the government that despite quitting its airbase, the US was still interested in Kyrgyzstan. In Dushanbe, Mr Kerry told the government to ease up on its crackdown of opposition parties.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 255, published on Nov. 6 2015)