APRIL 7 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The US State Department has criticised its embassy in Tajikistan for filing sanitised reports on civil violence in the south of the country in 2012 which ended with Tajik US-trained Special Forces shooting dead 20 civilians, the eurasianet.org website reported. The US State Department said its confidence in the embassy had been undermined.
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(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)
APRIL 6 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Thirty-six Armenian soldiers flew to Germany for a NATO military exercise, Armenian media reported. Armenia is the only former Soviet state to send a contingent to the exercise. Its participation shows that despite being a close ally of Russia, Armenia is still cooperating with the West.
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(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)
APRIL 7 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Community leaders in Georgia’s Pankisi Gorge have asked the government for more help to stop teenagers heading to Syria to join the militant group IS, media reported. The Pankisi Gorge is an Islamic stronghold in Georgia and has strong ethnic and cultural ties to Chechnya in Russia.
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(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)
APRIL 6 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s air force took part in what media said was its first ever night exercise. Azerbaijan has spent millions of dollars upgrading its military over the past few years. The night air exercise may be part of a bigger show of strength aimed at Armenia.
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(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)
APRIL 3 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Former Georgian defence minister Irakli Alasania accused his successor, Mindia Janelidze, of ditching a deal to buy air-to-ground missiles from France, media reported. Mr Alasania, sacked last year, said scrapping the deal weakened Georgia.
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(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)
MARCH 27 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan has asked the US for military aid to help it stop the spread north of the Taliban in Afghanistan, Eurasianet reported quoting a US general’s statement to Congress. Turkmenistan has been warning for months about Taliban activity on its border.
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(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)
MARCH 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Valery Permyakov, the Russian solider who confessed to killing an Armenian family in January, will be tried in a Russian military court, the Interfax news agency reported (March 29). The murders angered Armenians who wanted Mr Permyakov tried by Armenia.
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(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)
MARCH 27 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – With a conflict in Yemen between a pro-government alliance that includes various Arab states and Iran-backed rebels worsening, Tajikistan has asked Russia for help repatriating 44 Tajik doctors.
Abdulfaizov Atoyev, a Tajik foreign ministry spokeman, said: “The country is taking all relevant measures to evacuate our citizens.”
Media has reported that Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE are preparing for a ground invasion of Yemen.
Doctors and nurses from Tajikistan often travel abroad to work in hospitals and clinics. Remittances from these migrant workers keep the Tajik economy afloat. Russian companies like Zdraveksport and Tekhnoeksport specialise in sending Tajik doctors to Gulf countries. In Yemen, they mostly work for the Red Cross/Red Crescent.
Last October a Tajik nurse was kidnapped in Yemen.
Medical studies represent a climbable social ladder in Tajikistan, as well as providing a route to work abroad. Moving to another country has been a lucrative option for Tajik medics who also want to support their family at home.
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(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)
MARCH 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Azerbaijan began the trial of six men accused of fighting with the extremist IS group in Syria, media reported. The men are part of a group of 26 people arrested last year.
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(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)
MARCH 312015 (The Conway Bulletin) – In his annual address to the nation, Georgian President Georgy Margvelashvili said Russia’s annexation of Crimea and alleged support for rebels in eastern Ukraine threatened to destabilise the region. These were some of the strongest comments yet from Georgia on Ukraine.
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(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)
