Category Archives: Uncategorised

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.

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

SCO meeting in Tajikistan disappoints observers

SEPT.13 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Other than providing a forum for bilateral get-togethers and photoshoots it is difficult to see what makes the Shanghai Cooperation multilateral.

To much fanfare, the six members plus observers of the organisation met in Dushanbe, releasing what can only be described as a nondescript Dushanbe Declaration at the closing of the summit.

Containing both Russia and China, the SCO remains the most notable intergovernmental organisation in the region but places no binds on members, several of whom have significant bilateral tensions with one another.

Outcomes of the 13th summit are open to interpretation. The Dushanbe declaration’s blanket statement supporting “continued negotiations” to achieve peace in Ukraine was presented by Russian media as support for Moscow’s controversial policies in the civil war, despite the organisation’s general opposition to separatism.

Neither Pakistan, who Beijing favours as a member, or India, who Russia favours, were admitted to the club, although this may happen in the SCO’s 14th summit held in Ufa, Russia, next year. Islamabad and New Delhi’s rivalry may add further complication within the organisation’s disunited membership.

One big disappointment was that bilateral meetings in the summit’s backdrop failed to resolve Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan’s border conflict, or the long-standing tensions between Dushanbe and Tashkent.

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

New Russian route for Tajik migrants

SEPT. 12 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Asian Express Airline, a private airline, will fly two return flights next month to the city of Barnaul in Russia’s Siberia from Dushanbe for migrant Tajik workers, media reported. The new route shows the economic power and importance of remittances from migrant workers to the Tajik economy.

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

Kazakhstan trademarks the palace

SEPT. 10 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – It looks like the Kazakh president’s office is becoming more commercially-minded.

Media reported that it has trademarked the Akorda, or the presidential palace, and a handful of other buildings in Astana.

One of the trade-marked images of the blue-domed Akorda show the sun rising behind it, rays of light shining over its roof.

It’s unclear, currently, just what the presidential administration plan to do with the trademark other than boost the image of the building itself.

The Akorda, which means White Horde, was built in 200 and lies at the centre of Astana, the city at the focus of President Nazarbayev’s vision for Kazakhstan.

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

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(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.

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

Photos show Uzbek President’s daughter

SEPT. 16 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – More news stories have emerged to suggest that Gulnara Karimova, eldest daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov, has been charged with various economic crimes.

The most pressing of these are three photos allegedly showing Ms Karimova under house arrest in Tashkent. These were released by her PR agent in London.

In the photos, which are undated, three men in military style fatigues appear to be pushing and pulling a gaunt- looking Ms Karimova. Gone are her designer dresses, and expensive make-up. Instead Ms Karimova wears a tracksuit top and has her hair tied back in a simple bunch.

A statement alongside the photos said they showed that Ms Karimova was staving and that she wouldn’t face a fair trial in Uzbekistan.

“She [Gulnara] is willing to travel to any court where the rule of law is upheld so she can clear her name,” the statement said. “The fact that an Uzbek military court — which sits in secret — has already found her associates to be guilty makes it almost impossible for Gulnara tried fairly in the normal Uzbek judicial process.”

There is, no doubt, a kernel of truth in all this. It’s more difficult to see, though, who is going to come to the aid of Ms Karimova. She is reviled in Uzbekistan, where she was once touted as a successor to her father, and is liked hardly any more outside Uzbekistan.

Ms Karimova has been under house arrest for most of this year. Her close associates have already been jailed for a mix of crimes. Although it’s unclear exactly what Ms Krimova will be charged with, she is probably facing a prison sentence.

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

Uzbek car sales to Russia fall

SEPT. 11 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – GM Uzbekistan sold 20% fewer cars in Russia between January and August this year than it did during the same period in 2013, media reported. Russia is GM Uzbekistan’s main market. The data is important as a macro indicator of how the slowdown in the Russian economy, because of sanctions, is impacting Central Asia.

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

Inflation rises in Tajikistan

SEPT. 11 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan’s Central Bank expects official inflation to hit 7.5% this year, double the figure for 2013, the ASIA-Plus website reported quoting a source at the Central Bank. Rising prices will place increased pressure on the authorities. Basic services are already strained in Tajikistan.

ENDS

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