APRIL 27 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia said that Azerbaijani forces shot dead three of its soldiers in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan vowed revenge, triggering one of the most serious stand-offs over Nagorno- Karabakh this year.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 086, published on May 4 2012)
MAY 3 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – The US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty published an investigation into the UK gold mining company AIMROC which it says is owned by the family of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev through a series of Panama-registered companies. In 2007, the Azerbaijani government awarded AIMROC a lucrative gold mining contract.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 086, published on May 4 2012)
APRIL 22 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Anti-government protesters held their second sanctioned rally of the year in Baku, demanding the resignation of President Ilham Aliyev. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that several thousand people attended the rally. Demonstrations are scheduled in Baku until the Eurovision Song Contest on May 26.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 085, published on April 27 2012)
APRIL 23 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Anglo Asian Mining, which is listed on London’s AIM stock market, announced it has found a new gold deposit in Azerbaijan. The find, around 350km west of Baku, is significant as its boosts Azerbaijan’s overall gold reserves. The Azerbaijani government owns a 49% stake in Anglo Asian Mining.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 085, published on April 27 2012)
APRIL 23 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan, now a temporary member of the UN Security Council, asked the UN to close the nuclear power station in Armenia because it was unsafe, media quoted Agshin Mekhdiyev, Azerbaijan’s UN envoy, as saying. Armenia dismissed the demand as propaganda.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 085, published on April 27 2012)
APRIL 17 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s state energy company SOCAR and BP agreed an important engineering and design step towards the 2nd phase development of the Shah Deniz gas field in the Caspian Sea. Shah Deniz’s development is vital both for the expansion of Azerbaijan’s energy sector and for hitting European gas demand.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 084, published on April 20 2012)
APRIL 17 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – The family of award-winning Azerbaijani investigative journalist Idrak Abbasov alleged that security guards beat him when he tried to film the demolition of houses in Baku. The allegations will further damage Azerbaijan’s already tarnished media image ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest next month.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 084, published on April 20 2012)
APRIL 14 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Underlining its global ambitions, Baku was one of five cities to present a bid for the 2020 summer Olympic Games. This initial presentation to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) played on Baku’s ancient heritage. The IOC will pick between Baku, Tokyo, Madrid, Doha and Istanbul in Sept. 2013.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 084, published on April 20 2012)
APRIL 5 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Wendy’s, the US fast-food chain, said it would team up with the Georgia-based Wissol Group to open 25 restaurants in Georgia and Azerbaijan over the next 10 years. The first restaurant will open in Tbilisi in 2013. The announcement is a boost to Georgia which has been pushing for more foreign investment.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 083, published on April 13 2012)
APRIL 9 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Socar, Azerbaijan’s state oil company, said its oil exports through the pipeline running from Baku to Ceyhan in Turkey (BTC) dropped 7.8% in Q1 2012 compared to Q1 2011. Socar gave no reason for the oil output drop through BTC, an important energy route to Europe. In 2011 Azerbaijan’s oil production fell by 10%.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 083, published on April 13 2012)