JULY 8 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan is negotiating the extradition of two diplomats languishing in a German prison for smuggling cigarettes, media reported. A court in Frankfurt jailed the diplomats in April. One of the jailed men was Kazakhstan’s General Consul in Frankfurt.
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(News report from Issue No. 192, published on July 9 2014)
JULY 7 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan appears to be ramping up the pressure on Armenia over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh by holding a series of high profile military exercises along the border.
Armenian backed rebels have held Nagorno-Karabakh since a 1994 UN negotiated cease-fire but barely a week goes by without reports of isolated shootouts and casualties. Over the past decade, as Azerbaijan have become increasingly rich from oil and gas, it has also built up its weapons systems and military.
And increasingly bellicose language about war with Armenia has built up.
“Servicemen shouldn’t forget that 20 percent of the Azerbaijan’s territories are under occupation and the main task is to free these lands from invasion,” Azerbaijani Defense Minister Colonel-General Zakir Hasanov said at a ceremony to honour the militar earlier this month.
This 20% is Nagorno-Karbakh and adjacent regions.
Europe’s peace monitoring watchdog, the Organisation for Cooperation and Secutriy in Europe (OSCE) has consistently called the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh the most dangerous of the South Caucasus’ frozen conflicts.
Azerbaijani media reported that 10,000 soldiers, 300 armoured vehicles, 100 artillery pieces, 20 aircraft and 15 air defence pieces were taking part in the 3-day exercise.
This exercise is certainly large but it needs to understood in context. Earlier this year, Azerbaijan mobilised 20,000 soldiers for an exercise on the border.
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(News report from Issue No. 192, published on July 9 2014)
JULY 7 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – China has said it is keen to invest $1b building a new terminal at the Manas airport outside Bishkek, media reported. This is important symbolically. The US military was based at Manas for 13 years flying support missions to Afghanistan and Russia has also said it was interested in investing in the airport.
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(News report from Issue No. 192, published on July 9 2014)
JULY 8 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – In an effort to dampen souring corruption rates, Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambayev signed into law a bill that will force municipal governments to post in public their plans about various contraction projects. Construction is a major source of corruption in Kyrgyzstan.
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(News report from Issue No. 192, published on July 9 2014)
JULY 4 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s monetary base has grown by 11.5% in the past year, media reported quoting the Central Bank. Measuring a country’s monetary base is important to evaluate its financial stability.
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(News report from Issue No. 192, published on July 9 2014)
JUNE 30 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyz officials denied entry to the country to Uzbek human rights activist Vasila Inoyatova, media reported. Human rights groups have complained that Kyrgyzstan discriminates against Uzbeks. Ms Inoyatova has been a critic of the Kyrgyz authorities’ attitude towards Uzbeks.
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(News report from Issue No. 190, published on July 2 2014)
JULY 1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Speaking at a ceremony where government staff received free housing, Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev said that $100m of a $1.2b fund from Russia designated for Kyrgyzstan’s Customs Union entry would go towards a pot for cheap credit for citizens looking to buy homes.
“Having a roof over your head means having freedom and happiness,” said Atambayev at the ceremony. Kyrgyzstan may formally enter the economic alliance, which is set to become the Eurasian Economic Union, as early as autumn this year.
Housing is a politicised issue in Kyrgyzstan, with illegal land grabs affecting the country’s two main cities, Bishkek and Osh. Poor rural migrants have formed new settlements, often unconnected to municipal services like electricity, stretching for miles beyond both cities.
The Customs Union is also a highly politicised issue and Mr Atambayev has been at pains to emphasis the benefits of tighter relations with Russia and the joint Kyrgyz-Russian fund. With a start-up capital of $500 million in Russian credits, the fund has been heralded as a means to strengthen Kyrgyzstan’s industrial capacity and move it away from an economic model structured on re-exporting cheap Chinese goods.
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(News report from Issue No. 190, published on July 2 2014)
JULY 1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – On a visit to London, Tajik foreign minister Sirodjidin Aslov met with his British counterpart William Hague. Tajikistan and Britain have been cultivating close relations but the arrest on spying charges of a Tajik researcher linked to Exeter University in June has strained ties.
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(News report from Issue No. 190, published on July 2 2014)
JUNE 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Media in Uzbekistan reported that a drought in the south of the country means that crop expectations are low.
The uznews.net opposition website said that harvest would be 50% lower than normal on rain-fed crops.
“It did not rain this April and we expect smaller harvests,” uznews.net quoted a farmer as saying.
Officials have not commented although signs of drought are important for policymakers. Droughts and a lack of income can trigger social discontent. Throughout the year, reports have surfaced from Uzbekistan of rising prices.
Uzbekistan is particularly prone to drought. Much of its agriculture is under-resourced and lacking in investment and the land is generally arid. A government report in 2012 said that 76% of the population was living in areas at risk of drought.
And the timing of the uznews.net report is pertinent. The state’s Committee for Natural Protection organised a roundtable on June 29 specifically to discuss desertification and drought in Uzbekistan. The World Bank and the Asian Development all provide various forms of financial assistance aimed at reducing drought in Uzbekistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 190, published on July 2 2014)
JUNE 30 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s authorities have deported 25 Chinese migrants for working illegally at an oil refinery in Tokmak in the north of the country after a fight with their Kyrgyz co-workers, media reported. The incident highlights lingering tensions between Chinese workers and locals in Central Asia.
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(News report from Issue No. 190, published on July 2 2014)