Tag Archives: society

Tajik footballer returned home

SEPT. 23 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajik footballer Khurshed Beknazarov has test positive for a banned substance at the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, media reported. Reports said that the 20-year-old defender had been sent home. The Asian Games are a showcase for countries and the ruling will be an embarrassment to Tajikistan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 201, published on Sept. 24 2014)

Tajiks fighting for IS

SEPT. 19 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Around 200 Tajiks are fighting in Syria and Iraq for the extremist group Islamic State, President Emomali Rakhmon said according to media. Mr Rakhmon has long said he is facing pressure from Islamic extremist recruits who are attracting disaffected young Tajiks.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 201, published on Sept. 24 2014)

Kazakh city’s healthcare crumble

SEPT. 20 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – An influx of migrants to Almaty looking for jobs has reduced the quality of public healthcare in the city, Kazakhstan’s deputy PM, Gulshara Abdykalikova, told media. Ms Abdykalikova specifically said that the quality of doctors and nurses needed to be improved.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 201, published on Sept. 24 2014)

Azerbaijan to host Euro 2020 football matches

SEPT. 19 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan has scored its second major football success of the year.

In May Athletico Madrid played in the Champions League final against its inter-city rivals Real Madrid, one of the most-watched sports events in the world. Emblazoned across its shirt was “Azerbaijan: Land of Fire”, a logo designed to promote the country as a tourist destination.

Athletico Madrid may have lost that match, but for Azerbaijan’s international image it was a storming success.

Now UEFA, European footballs’ governing body, has said Baku will be one of the host cities for the Euro 2020 football tournament. More precisely, Baku will host three group games and one of the quarter-final matches in the first trans-continental Euro football championship (Sept. 19).

This is a major coup for Azerbaijan as hosting four of Euro 2020 football matches guarantees blanket TV coverage and kudos.

It’s even more impressive given the context. The other four host cities for Euro 2020 are London, Munich and Rome — cities with long football lineage — and St Petersburg.

Baku has been pushing hard to promote itself through sport. This year it secured the right to host a Grand Prix race in 2016 and it is hosting the inaugural European Games in 2015. Hosting the quarterfinal of Euro 2020 will probably top the list though.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 201, published on Sept. 24 2014)

Qatar to set up Islamic Banking in Tajikistan

SEPT. 19 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – A delegation from Qatar visited Tajikistan promising various investments, including setting up an Islamic bank, media reported. Islamic banking has previously been discussed in Central Asia, especially in Kazakhstan. Qatar is looking to spread its influence across the Islamic World, including Central Asia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 201, published on Sept. 24 2014)

Fuel shortage to stay in Kazakhstan

SEPT. 16 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s deputy energy minister, Uzakbai Karabalin, has said fuel shortage will continue despite government attempts to buy extra petrol from Azerbaijan and other neighbours, media reported. He said a third of Kazakhstan’s petrol came from Russia which was dealing with an economic slowdown.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 200, published on Sept. 17 2014)

Azerbaijan inks Man United deal

SEPT. 16 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s football federation has signed a deal with English football club Manchester United to help it develop grass-roots interest in the sport, media reported. Azerbaijan has been developing links with various football clubs.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 200, published on Sept.17 2014)

Kazakh Post Office not to cut rural branches

SEPT. 10 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – KazPost, the Kazakh Post Office, will not close hundreds of rural branches as it had said it would do earlier this year, KazPost chairman Bagdat Musin told media. There had been a outcry when KazPost had said it wanted to close branches, which deliver a spectrum of services, to cut costs.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 200, published on Sept.17 2014)

Opinion poll in Armenia backs Customs Union membership

SEPT. 10 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – An opinion poll in Armenia has highlighted support for joining the Russia-led Customs Union, despite sanctions against Kremlin-linked companies that have triggered a negative knock-on effect on the Armenian economy.

The poll carried out by Gallup last month showed that 60% of people in Yerevan still favoured joining the Customs Union later this year, media reported.

Aram Havasardyan, Gallup’s representative in Armenia, said that this was a slight drop from the 70% who favoured membership of the Customs Union in 2013.

Clearly support for Russia has held up in Armenia despite the sanctions against Russia imposed on it by the US and the EU because of its meddling in Ukraine. This is important for President Serzh Sargsyan who has been pushing for membership.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 200, published on Sept.17 2014)

Uzbek cotton harvest begins

SEPT. 17 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Opposition Uzbek websites reported that the annual cotton harvest had begun. This is important as human rights groups have accused Uzbekistan of using forced human labour to pick the cotton. One news outlet, uznews.net, said 40% of medical staff in one region had been sent out to pick cotton.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 200, published on Sept.17 2014)