JUNE 19 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia’s parliament ratified a security deal with the Georgian rebel region of South Ossetia which will see Russian soldiers stationed permanently in the region. Although the deal is symbolic, as Russian soldiers have been posted in S.Ossetia since the end of a 2008 war, it still rankled Georgia.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 237, published on June 25 2015)
JUNE 22 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbek defence ministry has ordered four C295W military transport planes manufactured by Airbus at its plant in Seville, Spain, Tashkent-based news agency uzdaily.com reported.
There has been no official confirmation from the Uzbek government but for
Uzbek media to report on a deal like this is a nod to its veracity. Plane spotters in Seville have also posted photographs online of a C295W plane carrying an Uzbek flag on its wing tail.
Airbus, which is headquar- tered in Paris and is part owned by Germany, France and Spain, has also dodged commenting on the deal although one of its representatives was quoted by Uzbek media in June at an airshow in France.
“For Airbus is a great honour to participate in the modernisation of Uzbekistan Airways,” the director for Airbus sales in Central Asia and eastern Europe, Stefan Konkoly, told the website jahonnews.uz.
Mr Konkoly, apparently, didn’t mention a deal with the Uzbek military.
Europe has only recently patched up its relationship with Uzbekistan. A few years ago, it considered Uzbekistan a pariah state. Human rights groups had accused the Uzbek government of shooting dead hundreds of protesters in 2005 in the town of Andijan in the east of the country.
More recently, though, Europe and NATO needed Uzbek support to pull its military out of Afghanistan.
Part of the deal was to sell or leave behind so-called non-lethal military equipment to fight Islamic extremism and drug trafficking.
Each Airbus C295W military transport plane can carry 70 soldiers and 10 tonnes of kit.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 237, published on June 25 2015)
JUNE 25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Apparently aimed at showing off their determination to crack- down on the drugs trade from Afghanistan, Uzbek security officials burnt 1.4 tonnes of drugs — including opium and heroin — at a factory outside Tashkent in front of foreign diplomats.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 237, published on June 25 2015)
JUNE 15 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A Russian soldier was found stabbed to death in the city of Gyumri, Armenia, home to one of Russia’s largest overseas military bases. Media reported that another Russian soldier has been detained on suspicion of killing the man.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 236, published on June 18 2015)
JUNE 12 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia launched military exercises involving 1,500 soldiers in South Ossetia, angering Georgia. In 2008, Russia and Georgia fought a war over the region. Russia defeated Georgia and S.Ossetia declared independence although this was only recognised by the Kremlin and a handful of other states.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 236, published on June 18 2015)
JUNE 15 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia-France missile deal Georgia signed a deal with France to buy an air defence missile system, framed as a much needed modernisation. The deal has been in the making for several months. Finalising the details had been delayed because of a change of Georgian defence minister last year.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 236, published on June 18 2015)
JUNE 18 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – In a new report on malnutrition and food security, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation highlighted several areas of concern in Azerbaijan. These included stunted growth for under 5-year-olds because of poor diet and anaemia among pregnant women.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 236, published on June 18 2015)
JUNE 14 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Taliban released four Tajik soldiers it had captured in December in a deal brokered by Qatar.
Tajikistan’s National Security Committee confirmed the release of the soldiers but neither it nor the Qatari mediation team gave any details on what sort of deal had been struck.
According to Taliban sources, quoted by various media, the release of the border guards was achieved because of “good neighbour relations”.
The Taliban, however, remain a chief national security problem for Tajikistan. General Rajabali Rakhmonali told a press briefing that 1,500 Islamic militants were massing near the border of Afghanistan. Tajikistan has warned previously of a Taliban attack.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 236, published on June 18 2015)
YEREVAN/ARMENIA, JUNE 18 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Liana Pakhdigian, 32, was pregnant when she arrived with her husband in Yerevan from Aleppo, Syria, with just one piece of luggage three years ago.
They intended to stay for a fortnight but it has, instead, become their new home.
“War was worsening in Aleppo, forcing us to settle in Yerevan. We didn’t have enough money, shelter or even clothing. So we hired an apartment and intensively searched for a job,” she said.
They left behind their home in Aleppo as well as a furniture manufacturing business.
“We lost everything we had earned in our lives. But what is important is that we’re alive, healthy and looking forward,” the again pregnant Liana said.
She smiled but the tears welling in her eyes betrayed her sadness.
As the war in Syria has worsened, so the number of ethnic Armenians fleeing has increased. Armenians have, generally, been accepting. Armenia’s Ministry of Diaspora now estimates that
it has taken in 12,000 Armenians from Syria since the start of the conflict, most from Aleppo, which was home to more than 80% of Syria’s 100,000 Armenians.
Despite some grumbling, the refugees have generally integrated well. They speak the same language, are the same Orthodox religion and have many of the same customs.
And they are happy to be out of Syria. Gevorg Yepremian, 41, moved to Armenia from Syria 2-1/2 years ago with his wife and two children.
“My salary here is very low and life conditions are far from those in Syria where I have my own home,” he said. “But my children feel good here and they play with many toys. Also, there is no shooting in the streets.”
Then, rather wistfully, more in hope than expectation, he said: “If things improve in Syria I think we’ll go back.”
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 236, published on June 18 2015)
JUNE 16 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Police in Georgia detained four people on suspicion of working for the radical group IS and trying to recruit people to head out to Syria, media reported. The Georgian government has said it is worried about people living in its Pankisi Gorge, which has a reputation for lawlessness, heading out to join IS.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 236, published on June 18 2015)
