Category Archives: Uncategorised

Iran and Turkmenistan extend partnership deals

MARCH 10 2015 (The Bulletin) – Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani flew to Ashgabat for the start of a two-day state visit that underlined the improved relations between the two neighbours.

Turkmenistan and Iran have been developing their ties over the past few years. Iran is a client for Turkmenistan’s gas.

At a round table meeting at the presidential palace in Ashgabat on Wednesday, Mr Rouhani and Turkmen leader Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov shook hands, smiled and exchanged pleasantries.

“Iranian and Turkmen governments have always tried in the path of development and welfare of their countries as well as preserving and expansion of peace and security in the world,” Mr Berdymukhamedov said according to Iranian media reports from the meeting.
News reports were vague but they suggested that Turkmenistan and Iran had signed a series of deals that extended their trade and energy cooperation.

Mr Rouhani said: “Officials of both countries are aware of the importance of such relations and both believe in bringing into play all capacities to expand the ties comprehensively.”

The meeting was important because the international community is currently trying to decide to what extent it should deal with Iran. Some consider Mr Rouhani to be a more moderate and reasonable leader to work with, others have said that Iran is still a rogue state that wants to build a nuclear weapon.”
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 222, published on March 11 2015)

China to build refinery in Tajikistan

MARCH 10 2015 (The Bulletin) – China is preparing to begin work on building the first oil refinery in Tajikistan, media reported. China says that work is about to begin and that it should be operational by the end of the year. The refinery is important because it will reduce Tajikistan’s reliance on Russian oil products.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 222, published on March 11 2015)

Tajik opposition leader killed in Istanbul

MARCH 5 2015 (The Bulletin) – Umarali Kuvatov, leader of the banned Tajik opposition Group 24, was shot dead in Istanbul after leaving a dinner which his family later said had also been poisoned.

Opposition groups immediately accused Tajik president Emomali Rakhmon and his associates of being linked in the murder. He has not commented.

Turkish police later detained three Tajik nationals in connection with the murder.
A successful businessman, Kuvatov had once been an ally of President Rakhmon. He fled Tajikistan in 2012. Last year, the authorities in Tajikistan banned Group 24 from holding an anti-government rally and also accused it of trying to stage a coup. Its activists in Tajikistan have been arrested and jailed.

Facts around Kuvatov’s murder are murky but he is thought to have died from a single gunshot to the head after leaving a dinner at the home of another Tajik. His family said they had also been poisoned at the dinner.

Kuvatov’s murder comes only a few days after the murder of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov in Moscow. Unlike Nemtsov, though, Kuvatov was considered far more of a fringe player in Tajik opposition circles.

Even so, for Tajikistan’s opposition, the murder rids it of a characteristic and wealthy figure to challenge President Rakhmon and his iron-like grip on power.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 222, published on March 11 2015)

Turkmen gas production rises

MARCH 11 2015 (The Bulletin) – Gas production in Turkmenistan, critical for the country’s economic welfare, jumped by 5.2% during the first two months of the year, media reported quoting the Turkmen energy ministry. Turkmenistan has the fourth largest gas reserves in the world. Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has said that he wants to boost gas production to offset the impact of a growing financial crisis.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 222, published on March 11 2015)

Russia starts war games in S.Ossetia

MARCH 6 2015 (The Bulletin) – Russia started military exercises in the Georgian breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, a show of force that Georgia’s government said was provocative. The Kremlin earlier this year signed a military pact with Abkhazia that also ratcheted up tension in the region.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 222, published on March 11 2015)

Uzbekistan and UAE sign $120m deal

MARCH 5 2015 (The Bulletin) – Uzbekistan has signed an investment deal with the United Arab Emirates worth a reported $120m, media said. The deals, reports said, would focus on joint investment projects. Uzbekistan has been looking to tap into the Gulf States for investment.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 222, published on March 11 2015)

Kyrgyzstan wants to attract skiers

MARCH 10 2015 (The Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan wants to attract more tourists to its ski resorts, media quoted the deputy tourism minister Aynura Temirbekova as saying. She said that Kyrgyzstan’s relaxation of its visa regime had already given it a boost. Tourism is a sector that western businesses have said Kyrgyzstan could better exploit.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 222, published on March 11 2015)

Leading Uzbek cleric dies

MARCH 10 2015 (The Bulletin) – Muhammad-Sodiq Muhammad-Yusuf, Uzbekistan’s most prominent Islamic scholar, died aged 63. Reports said he died while playing basketball in Tashkent. Muhammad-Sodiq was influential because he was Uzbekistan’s first post-independence religious leader.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 222, published on March 11 2015)

Azerbaijan wants EU to speed up gas deal approval

MARCH 11 2015 (The Bulletin) – Azerbaijani officials have asked their EU counterparts to speed up the authorisation of Azerbaijan’s purchase in 2013 of a 66% stake in DESFA, Greece’s gas pipeline network, for $423m. The European Commission is investigating the potential takeover for any breeches of competition rules.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 222, published on March 11 2015)

Pakistan leader to fly to Azerbaijan

MARCH 11 2015 (The Bulletin) – Pakistan’s President Mamnoon Hussain was due to fly into Baku for talks with Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev. Media said that several bilateral deals would be signed. Pakistan is looking for extra energy resources and views Central Asia and the South Caucasus as potential suppliers.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 222, published on March 11 2015)