Tag Archives: Armenia

US diplomat leaves Azerbaijan post

JAN. 1 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – The United States has started 2012 without a permanent ambassador in Azerbaijan.

US senators have to approve new ambassadors and a pro-Armenia group blocked the permanent appointment of Matthew Bryza, an experienced south Caucasus diplomat, as President Barack Obama’s envoy in Baku.

Mr Bryza was able to serve one year as temporary ambassador in Azerbaijan but he left the country on Jan. 3 2012 after his supporters failed to persuade the pro-Armenia group to drop its objections.

At the heart of the issue is Nagorno-Karabakh, the mountainous slither of land wedged between Azerbaijan and Armenia which the countries fought over after the 1991 break-up of the Soviet Union.

A 1994 ceasefire holds but Azerbaijan and Armenia are still technically at war and although Mr Bryza specialised in the South Caucasus as US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Eurasian Affairs between 2005 and 2010, the pro-Armenia lobby say he and his Turkish wife are too close to Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan’s president, to be unbiased.

The international spotlight falls on Azerbaijan, and inevitably its human rights record, in 2012 when it hosts the Eurovision Song Contest and, with its increasing importance to European energy supplies and NATO logistics in Afghanistan, the US needs to decide on a permanent representative in Baku soon.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 71, published on Jan. 5 2012)

Armenia’s 2012 budget sees tax rises

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DEC. 11 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia will raise taxes to 25% from 20% for people earning over $5,250 per month in a 2012 budget which aims to reduce the national deficit and increase spending, local media reported. Detractors say tax increases will hit small and medium-sized businesses. Armenia holds elections in 2012.

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(News report from Issue No. 69, published on Dec. 14 2011)

Prominent Azerbaijani journalist murdered in Baku

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NOV. 30 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Rafiq Tagi, a 61-year-old widely respected Azerbaijani journalist, died of stab wounds in a Baku hospital on Nov. 23, four days after an unknown assailant attacked him.

He wrote articles critical of both the state and hard line Islam. Muslim extremists, though, are suspected of organising Tagi’s murder.

Whether or not the authorities or Muslim extremists are the main threat, for local journalists the former Soviet South Caucasus and Central Asia states are often both difficult and dangerous to report on.

In Turkmenistan police this year tracked down and imprisoned journalists who reported on an explosion at an arms depot. In Uzbekistan most local correspondents from international news agencies have been chased out and in Tajikistan the BBC’s reporter was jailed.

Southern Kyrgyzstan remains dangerous for ethnic Uzbek journalists and in Kazakhstan in October attackers armed with baseball bats and a gun beat a camera crew covering protests in the west of the country against the state oil company.

A 2010 press freedom index compiled by the US-based NGO Reporters Without Borders scored the countries of the South Caucasus and Central Asia poorly. Armenia, Georgia and Tajikistan ranked slightly better but Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan were in the bottom quarter of the index.

The report card for 2011 may well be even worse.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 67, published on Dec. 1 2011)

Russia boosts military support to Armenia

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NOV. 25 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Through the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) Russia agreed to boost military support to Armenia by increasing training and helping to modernise its army, media reported. The CSTO is a military pact involving many ex-Soviet states but not Azerbaijan, Armenia’s enemy. Russia has a large military base in Armenia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 67, published on Dec. 1 2011)

Iranian foreign minister visits Armenia

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NOV. 8 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – In a another sign of improving relations between Armenia and Iran, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan held talks with Iranian foreign minister Ali Akbar Salehi in Yerevan. This year Armenia and Iran have strengthened energy and trade links.

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(News report from Issue No. 64, published on Nov. 8 2011)

Mayor of Armenia’s capital resigns

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OCT. 28 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – The mayor of Yerevan, Karen Karapetyan, resigned after less than a year in one of the most powerful jobs in Armenia. Mr Karapetian said he had resigned because of another job opportunity but speculation mounted that he had been forced to resign because of his support for the opposition.

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(News report from Issue No. 63, published on Nov. 1 2011)

Armenia averts nuclear power strike

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OCT. 24 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Around a third of the 450 workers at Armenia’s nuclear power station stopped work for three days over a pay dispute, triggering safety concerns at the plant. They returned to work after the government agreed a 10% pay rise. The Soviet-era Metsamor nuclear plant produces around 40% of Armenia’s power.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 62, published on Oct. 25 2011)

Iran wants to mediate between Armenia and Azerbaijan on Nagorno-Karabakh

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OCT. 16 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Iran is prepared to help mediate a peace deal between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, the official Fars news agency reported. Iran has steadily improved relations with both Azerbaijan and Armenia as it looks to project its influence in the South Caucasus and Central Asia.

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(News report from Issue No. 61, published on Oct. 18 2011)

Azerbaijani minister pays rare visit to Armenia

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OCT. 14 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s interior minister, Ramil Usubov, visited Yerevan for a conference, local media reported. Azerbaijan and Armenia are still officially at war over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Mr Usubov’s visit attracted anger from the more nationalist Azerbaijani groups which called it an affront that he had gone to Yerevan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 61, published on Oct. 18 2011)

Sarkozy’s whirlwind visit to the South Caucasus

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OCT. 7/8 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – French President Nikolas Sarkozy visited all three countries in the South Caucasus during a two-day tour. He used the trip to call for fresh momentum for stalled talks towards a peace deal between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 60, published on Oct. 11 2011)