JUNE 19 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The head of Russian arms manufacturer Rosoboronexport, Anatoliy Isaykin, flew to Baku to meet with Azerbaijani officials, media reported. Russia has increased sales of arms to Azerbaijan over the last couple of years despite being an ardent supporter of its arch foe Armenia.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 190, published on June 25 2014)
JUNE 18 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Georgian rebel region of South Ossetia said that it now recognised the Luhansk People’s Republic as an independent state, media reported. Luhansk is a region in east Ukraine were pro-Russia separatists are fighting central government forces. South Ossetia declared independence in 2008 after a war between Russia and Georgia.
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(News report from Issue No. 190, published on June 25 2014)
JUNE 23 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The 21-year-old son of Gulnara Karimova, Islam Karimov, confirmed in an interview with Russian TV that his mother and sister are under house arrest in Tashkent.
Mr Karimov, who shares the same name as his grandfather Uzbek President Islam Karimov, is a student at Oxford University.
He said that, contrary to previous reports, his grandfather is not behind the detention of his mother.
“This is happening behind his back,” he told REN-TV. “Our enemies could have misrepresented the facts when briefing him.”
Mr Karimov’s version of events are very clear, then. He said that the family’s enemies are trying to enflame a family rift.
The interview is important because it gives an insider’s view on the apparent demise of Ms Karimova. She has not been heard of or seen since February when security agents apparently raided her apartment. Her closest business associates have apparently been charged with various business misdemeanours.
Over the past year Ms Karimova has had a spectacular fall from power. She controlled many of the country’s biggest businesses and lived a glamorous life as a fashion designer and pop star. Slowly these have been stripped away from her.
Information for outsiders has been scant, although it appears that she is the victims of inter-clan rivalries. One of her biggest enemies was said to be Rustam Inoyatov, head of the Uzbek security services.
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(News report from Issue No. 190, published on June 25 2014)
JUNE 20 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – US defence spending in Central Asia — and in particular in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan — has been slashed by more than 90%, media reported quoting figures released by the Pentagon. The US is withdrawing from neighbouring Afghanistan and winding down operations in Central Asia.
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(News report from Issue No. 190, published on June 25 2014)
JUNE 18 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – There seems little doubt now that security along the Afghan-Turkmen border has deteriorated markedly this year.
According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) militants from Afghanistan attacked another Turkmen border post on June 4, injuring six soldiers.
Six soldiers have already been killed this year in at least two other attacks. These are the only attacks that we’ve been told about. There could be more.
Now Daulat Mawin, an Afghan regional security chief, has confirmed the worst. RFE/RL quoted him saying that security has worsened and that the Turkmen military are now patrolling the border with helicopters.
What Central Asian states fear is the march northwards of the Taliban once NATO leaves Afghanistan. Turkmenistan is an increasingly important source of gas for the Western world and targeting it would, therefore, hit the West.
The Turkmen authorities have been tight-lipped on what is going on along their borders but they are worried and senior officials have travelled to Kabul to discuss the situation with their Afghan counterparts.
Mr Mawin, the Afghan regional security chief, appeared to have confirmed the Turkmens’ worst fears. He described the attackers of the Turkmen border post as militants rather than smugglers.
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(News report from Issue No. 189, published on June 18 2014)
JUNE 12 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – A supporter of Armenia’s nationalist party Tsegakron opened fire at police with an air pistol outside a courthouse in Yerevan where the party’s leader was standing trial, media reported. The leader of Tsegakron, Shant Harutiunian, was arrested in November after clashes with police.
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(News report from Issue No. 189, published on June 18 2014)
JUNE 17 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia and Russia met for their 28th round of talks since the two neighbours fought a war in 2008. The two-day talks in Geneva are an important step towards normalising relations. Georgia- Russia ties have improved since 2012 when the party of Georgia’s former leader Mikheil Saakashvil started to lose power.
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(News report from Issue No. 189, published on June 18 2014)
JUNE 13 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Islamic extremists fighting for the al Qaeda linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have captured 16 Georgians working for an Iraqi telecoms company in Mosul, media quoted the UN as saying. Militants captured Mosul, Iraq’s second city, last week before taking cities nearer Baghdad.
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(News report from Issue No. 189, published on June 18 2014)
JUNE 6 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The authorities in southern Kyrgyzstan have evacuated 35 families from the enclave of Barak, roughly half its population, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported. Barak is surrounded by Uzbek territory and the exodus is another indicator of growing tension between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 188, published on JUNE 11 2014)
JUNE 5 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia accused Azerbaijan of killing two of its soldiers along the border of the disputed region of Nagorno- Karabakh, raising tension around one of the South Caucasus most delicately-balanced flash-points.
Shootouts are common between the two countries around Nagorno-Karabakh, where a barely discernible peace is held together by a fragile 1994 UN-negotiated cease-fire, but the heightened war-mongering rhetoric from Armenia alarmed international observers.
Azerbaijan denied the accusations.
Both sides are playing to their internal audience. The problem for Armenia is that the rhetoric has serious geopolitical implications.
It wants to join the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union which also counts Belarus and Kazakhstan as members. Armenia has the support of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Its dispute with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh has, though, caused some consternation. Media reported that Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev raised objections to Armenia’s membership because of its dispute over Nagorno- Karabakh a the signing ceremony last month.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 188, published on June 11 2014)
