NOV. 22 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia brought back the bodies of three crew members of a helicopter shot down by Azerbaijan earlier this month, media reported. The shooting down of the helicopter over the disputed region of Nagorno- Karabakh has heightened tension between the two neighbours.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)
NOV. 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The local authorities in Kyrgyzstan have started a public education campaign to try to stop people from heading to Syria to join up with the extremist group Islamic State, media reported. Central Asian states have been alarmed at the increase in the number of recruits heading to Syria.
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(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)
NOV. 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Seemingly trying to rile the West, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an enhanced military and strategic partnership with Abkhazia, one of Georgia’s two breakaway regions.
NATO immediately accused Russia of trying to annex the region which only Russia and a handful of its allies have recognised as independent.
Under the deal, Russia will defend Abkhazia’s borders and strengthen its military partnerships as well as give Abkhazia around $110m.
According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the new de facto Abkhazian president Raul Khajimba said the deal recognised “equal relations between two sovereign states”.
As well as various economic and military deals, Russia has around 4,000 soldiers stationed in Abkhazia.
Western countries suspect that Russia only encourages Abkhazia and South Ossetia to seek independence from Georgia to act as an irritation to Tbilisi. They also suspect that the Kremlin may have similar ideas for eastern Ukraine which is in the middle of a civil war, focused around Donetsk.
Russia and Georgia fought a brief war over South Ossetia in 2008. Relations are only normalising now.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)
NOV. 21 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The deputy head of Tajikistan’s National Security Council, Akram Amonov, said there were around 300 Tajiks fighting in Syria for the extremist Islamic State group, more than previously thought. Mr Amonov said that most travel to Syria through Afghanistan or Moscow.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)
BAKU/Azerbaijan, NOV. 26 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kamal Hasanov is the owner of small tea house in a back street of Baku. His thick eyebrows and grey hair make him appear older than his 42 years. As a war veteran he’s holds particularly strong views on the Armenian helicopter shot-down by Azerbaijan on November 12.
“My TV set here is always on,” he said. “We come together for every news bulletin to see what’s going in Garabagh (Azerbaijani new for the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh). The helicopter incident made us even angrier at Armenians. Why did they dare to fly over our territory? What’s there purpose? They well-deserved this lesson.”
Baku said the helicopter was probing Azerbaijani defences along the frontline, while Armenia insists it was on a training mission. The truth, as is usual around the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, is hard to decipher but, wherever it lies, the incident has triggered one of the most serious crises between Azerbaijan and Armenia for years.
In Azerbaijan, there was an air of triumph. On social media some people changed their profile pictures to the photo of the officer who shot downed the helicopter.
Vahid Guliyev, 28, was drinking tea. He said that he was sorry for the incident and for the officers who died, but that it was the fault of the Armenian government. “Armenia should be more careful,” he said.
Gulzar Muradova, 54, said he hoped the incident would not provoke conflict. He said: “Armenia should consider that Azerbaijan’s military budget is growing but, of course, nobody wants war.”
However, some people are expecting Armenia to retaliate. Arzu Quliyeva, 34, said that even if Armenia decided to retaliate, was within its rights to shoot down the helicopter. He said: “Why should the helicopter come that close? Isn’t there enough space in Armenia for training sessions?”
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)
NOV. 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The extremist Islamic State (IS) released a propaganda video featuring a Kazakh child going through weapons training and proclaiming he wants to become a jihadist fighter. Kazakh policymakers have been warning about an exodus of recruits from Kazakhstan to IS.
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(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)
NOV. 14 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – A suicide bomber injured three Georgian soldiers guarding the Bagram air base in Afghanistan, media quoted Georgia’s ministry of defence as saying. Georgia has been an enthusiastic supporter of the US-led war in Afghanistan. It sees support as building momentum towards NATO membership.
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(News report from Issue No. 209, published on Nov.19 2014)
NOV. 18 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The head of Kazakhstan’s National Security Council, Nurtai Abyakyev, said there were over 300 Kazakhs, half of them women, fighting in Syria and Iraq for the extremist group Islamic State. Policy makers in Central Asia are increasingly worried about how easily Islamic State has recruited people from the region.
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(News report from Issue No. 209, published on Nov.19 2014)
NOV. 12 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – In a ratcheting up of tension, Armenia promised “grave consequences” after Azerbaijan shot down one of its military helicopters. Azerbaijan said that the Armenian helicopter had attacked its positions. Armenia said it had been on a training exercise.
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(News report from Issue No. 209, published on Nov.19 2014)
NOV. 13 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbek border guards shot and killed a Kyrgyz man on their shared border, US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported, only a few days after two other men were injured in a similar incident. Tension has been rising along the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border, threatening stability in Central Asia.
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(News report from Issue No. 209, published on Nov.19 2014)
