MAY 26 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia confirmed it will send a team to the inaugural European Games in Baku next month. Azerbaijan and Armenia are officially at war over the disputed region of Nagorno- Karabakh, now controlled by Armenia-backed forces. Some athletes wanted to boycott the event.
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(News report from Issue No. 233, published on May 28 2015)
MAY 28 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Wearing a black scarf wrapped around his head and cradling a sniper rifle, Colonel Gulmurod Khalimov, Tajikistan’s paramilitary police chief, appeared in a video for IS to confirm that he had defected to the extremist group.
Colonel Khalimov’s defection is a major blow to Tajikistan and a major victory for IS. It has targeted Central Asia as a prime recruiting ground and has released videos showing Central Asian recruits training and also of a Kazakh boy shooting dead Russian captives.
In the slickly-made 12 minute video, 40-year-old Colonel Khalimov explained that he had defected from Tajikistan because of the authorities’ crackdown on Islamic dress and prayers.
He called on other Tajiks to join him in Syria and described Americans as pigs.
“Listen, you dogs, President and ministers, if only you knew how many of our boys, our brothers are here, waiting, eager to return to Tajikistan to establish sharia law,” he said.
At the end of the video, Colonel Khalimov shows off his skills as a trained sniper by shooting a ripe tomato.
Colonel Khalimov has been missing since late April and rumours had been flying around Dushanbe that he had headed to Syria to join IS.
And he is high-profile recruit for IS. As head of Tajikistan’s paramilitary police force, Colonel Khalimov wielded large powers and responsibilities.
His defection poses more problems for Central Asian states which say they are already struggling to fight against the IS recruitment drive.
The International Crisis Group has estimated that there are 4,000 men from Central Asia fighting for IS in Syria.
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(News report from Issue No. 233, published on May 28 2015)
MAY 25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia’s military said it had started drills with drones in Tajikistan’s mountains aimed at potentially stopping Taliban forces, media reported. Russia and Central Asian countries are increasingly concerned about the threat from the Taliban.
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(News report from Issue No. 233, published on May 28 2015)
MAY 25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Russia met in Moscow to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral relations, once again underlining how Azerbaijani foreign policy has shifted away from the West.
At the meeting Azerbaijani foreign minister and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov signed a commitment to hold a series of consultations and meetings over the next couple of years.
Mr Lavrov described Azerbaijan as a strategic partner and said that trade between the two countries had increased by 16% last year.
Of course, Russia has to tread a fine diplomatic line in the South Caucasus where Azerba- ijan and Armenia are still officially at war over the disputed region of Nagorno- Karabakh. Armenia is a firm Russian ally and hosts a major Russian military base. It is also a member of the Kremlin-led Eurasian Economic Union.
Perhaps as a teaser, Mr Mammadyraov said in an interview after the meeting that although Azerbaijani would consider joining the Eurasian Economic Union, it could never actually become a member if Armenian-backed forces occupied Nagorno-Karabakh.
“If Armenia withdraws its troops, if the borders are opened, if there is a normali- zation of the situation, if there is an economic component between Armenia and Azerbaijan, who knows what will happen tomorrow,” he told the Russia 24 TV channel.
The Eurasian Economic Union is a Kremlin pet project. Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Belarus are also members.
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(News report from Issue No. 233, published on May 28 2015)
MAY 19 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s weapons manufacturers have developed a drone, media reported. Azerbaijan, which is still officially at war with Armenia, has been increasing military spending. It has close links with the Russian and Israeli defence sectors.
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(News report from Issue No. 232, published on May 20 2015)
MAY 19 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Online reports have said that one of Tajikistan’s most senior police chiefs Gulmurod Halimov, who has been missing since April, has tried to cross into Syria to fight for the extremist group IS. These reports cannot be confirmed but, if they are true, it will embarrass the Tajik government.
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(News report from Issue No. 232, published on May 20 2015)
MAY 17 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia’s government approved a plan to split the country’s much-loathed interior ministry in two.
The idea is to spin off the security and intelligence responsibilities of the interior ministry and unravel a merger created by former president Mikheil Saakashvili. He joined the two ministries together in the early part of his 2004-13 administration under the premise of cutting costs. Since then, though, its unpopularity has grown and opposition parties have pledged to break it up.
The most eye-catching part of the reform is placing the new State Security Service under parliamentary control to increase surveillance over it. The head of the State Security Service will be elected for one six year term only.
These reforms will, probably, prove popular with ordinary Georgians. They are also important at a former Soviet Union level too as they once again show Georgia’s ambitions.
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(News report from Issue No. 232, published on May 20 2015)
MAY 19 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – In an interview with the AP news agency, Georgian president Giorgi Margvelashvili said Russia would use its military to grab more territory in the former Soviet Union. Georgia has been warning about excessive Russian aggression since the two neighbours fought a brief war in 2008.
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(News report from Issue No. 232, published on May 20 2015)
MAY 12 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – One of Tajikistan’s most senior police chiefs has gone missing, Radio Free Europe/Radio liberty reported. Gulmurod Halimov, commander of the interior ministry’s special forces unit OMON, has not been seen since leaving home in Dushanbe on April 23.
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(News report from Issue No. 231, published on May 13 2015)
MAY 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s government scrubbed the Armenian flag from a photo posted on its website of a parade in Moscow to mark the 70th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany by the Soviet Union, media reported. Azerbaijan and Armenia are still officially at war over Nagorno-Karabakh.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 231, published on May 13 2015)
