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.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(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?”
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)
NOV. 21 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Barclays Pub, Kyrgyz Fried Chicken, a Burger King with a backwards ‘N’ sourced from the Russian alphabet and many others. Copyright law often seems to have passed Kyrgyzstan by.
But the faux TGI Fridays that appeared in Bishkek earlier this year was perhaps the boldest alleged violator of property rights in over two decades of Kyrgyz independence.
After the official owners of the chain launched a formal complaint against the chain, distributed in Kyrgyz media, the restaurant has been out of reach, unavailable over the telephone, while its social media, previously actively used, has been shut down completely.
“A local company without any permission from the owner of the exclusive rights [to the franchise] copied the sign of the institution, furnishings menu and even the waiters’ uniforms,” read a statement issued to Kyrgyz outlets.
The group’s lawyers said the owners of the chain, Sentinel Capital Partners and TriArtisan Capital Partners, would prefer not to sue the owners of the Bishkek restaurant, but would seek legal action.
Few doubted that the restaurant was a fake. A critic of local eateries, Enot.kg, referred humorously to the “mysterious Bishkek brother of the American restaurant chain”, in its review of the place, noting that a real TGI Fridays branch would not offer clients the opportunity to smoke oriental-style water pipes as they ate steaks and burgers.
An inspection of the restaurant by a Conway Bulletin correspondent found the restaurant was still open and that, according to a waitress who refused to give her name had no plans to close. Asked if the restaurant was related to the US chain the waitress simply said: “It should be.”
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)
NOV. 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan will spend an estimated $8b putting on the inaugural European Games next year, media reported, making it one of the most expensive international sports tournaments.
Most people in Azerbaijan support the government’s drive to host the games, which it will also use to showcase the country, but they also told the Bulletin that $8b was too extravagant and that an array of social problems, from low pensions to still crumbling healthcare and education systems needed the cash more urgently.
“This is ridiculous,” said Shahin Gasimov, 64, a retired teacher.
“I receive $200 pension a month. Spending $8b on the Games is not fair.”
Guler Hajiyeva, 22, a graduate student agreed. She said: “I’m sure that we did not need this in Baku. What we need is a better healthcare system, a quality education.”
However, Rauf Gulamov 32, an entrepreneur said that he thought the European Games will improve Azerbaijan’s international standing.
“I don’t know how much money would be fair to spend for this games. Maybe $8b is a lot, maybe not but I am sure that we need the Games and that they will be good.”
The Baku 2015 European Games will feature 16 Olympic and four non-Olympic sports. Alongside traditional sports such as athletics, swimming and gymnastics, new sports such as 3×3 basketball, beach soccer and karate will also be showcased.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)
NOV. 21 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakh bank Capital Bank signed a deal with top-tier London-based football club Arsenal to use its branding on a new debit card.The deal underlines the confidence and ambition of Kazakh companies. This is the first deal between a Premier League team and a Kazakh company.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(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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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)
NOV. 17 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Pro-Russian demonstrators in Bishkek protested against a visit to Kyrgyzstan by US billionaire philanthropist George Soros, an unusual welcome for a man who spends millions of dollars on the country each year.
Up to 170 protesters, including the head of Kyrgyzstan’s only real Communist Party, carried slogans such as “USA – Get your hands off sovereign Kyrgyzstan” and “Soros – Let us live in peace and friendship”.
Mr Soros, a US citizen, was in Bishkek for the first time in 10 years to meet with representatives of his Open Society Foundation and President Almazbek Atambayev.
The Open Society’s budget for 2013 was $2.2 million, mostly spent on health, education and governance programs. State-controlled Russian news outlet RIA Novosti made little mention of the foundation’s work but applauded the protests, noting spuriously that Soros’ last visit to the country in 2004 was accompanied by a revolution the following year.
“Of course, there is no direct proof that he came to realise different aims. However, there is no reason to believe a citizen of the United States,” the RIA-Novosti report said.
At their meeting, Mr Atambayev thanked Mr Soros for his continued contributions to the country. Kyrgyzstan’s parliament, though, appears less impressed. It is due to consider a Russia-inspired bill that will force all foreign-funded NGOs — including Mr Soros’s Open Society Foundation — to register as foreign agents.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 209, published on Nov.19 2014)
NOV. 15 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – An estimated 30,000 people crammed into the centre of Tbilisi for perhaps the largest anti-government rally since the Georgian Dream coalition defeated the party of former President Mikheil Saakashvili in a parliamentary election in 2012 and a presidential election in 2013.
The demonstrators waved Georgian flags and pictures of Mr Saakashvili, who now lives in New York and is wanted by Georgia’s prosecutors for various alleged crimes, and shouted anti-Russia slogans.
They blamed Russia for annexing the rebel states of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Importantly they also blamed their current government for not standing up to Russia.
Mr Saakashvili addressed the crowd via a Kiev video-link.
“Let’s show Georgia’s government that the nation is united against the serious threat to its independence, its future,” he said.
The importance of the rally, though, was not the appearance of Mr Saakashvili on a video-link but its size. It hasn’t taken long for the glamour of the Georgian Dream coalition to fade.
Allies in the EU and the United States have accused Georgian Dream of petty revenge tactics in pursuing former ministers and charging them with various crimes. Earlier this month PM Irakli Garibashvili also sacked the popular defence minister, Irakli Alasania, triggering a wave of resignations.
Street politics are still a major force in Georgia and the rally could be a sign that after a relatively calm 12 months, instability is returning to Georgian politics.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 209, published on Nov.19 2014)
NOV. 12 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – US burger chain McDonalds will open its first restaurant in Kazakhstan next year, the company announced. The question of if and when McDonalds would finally open a restaurant in Kazakhstan — also its first in Central Asia — has been pondered for years.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 209, published on Nov.19 2014)
NOV. 13 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – n a rare public protest against the Uzbek authorities, students at Uzbekistan’s National University published an open letter on a website which said they had been forced to pick cotton during the harvest season. Campaigners around the world have criticised Uzbekistan for using forced labour in its cotton harvest.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 209, published on Nov.19 2014)
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