SEPT. 3 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — US forces started joint annual exercises with forces from Georgia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Latvia, Romania and Ukraine. This is the seventh year running that Georgia has hosted the multilateral war games. The US has said that its main ambition from the exercises is to give Georgian forces a boost.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)
SEPT. 4 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry issued an official complaint to the Canadian foreign ministry after two Canadian MPs visited Nagorno-Karabakh as guests of Armenia. Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper said that Tony Clement and Rachael Harder had also been banned from travelling to Azerbaijan. They said that they had accepted an invitation to help make a documentary about the disputed region by a Toronto-based group called One Free World International.
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(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)
AUG. 25 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan wants to further increase its exports of wine to China over the next few years, Chinese media reported by quoting Azerbaijani officials. China is seen by both Azerbaijan and Georgia as a key growth market. Both governments and their exports agencies have been ploughing money into marketing their wine in China. Earlier this year, Azerbaijani Pres. Ilham Aliyev extolled Azerbaijani wine producers to boost sales.
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(News report from Issue No. 341, published on Aug. 27 2017)
AUG. 25 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Turan news agency, described as the last independent news outlet in Azerbaijan, said it would close on Sept 1 after its director and owner was detained on tax evasion charges.
Human rights groups said that the charges levelled at Turan’s director, Mehman Aliyev, were false and should be dropped. He was detained and officially charged with tax evasion on Aug. 24.
“Who at this point can seriously believe that this is not a politically motivated case to silence a strong, independent voice in Azerbaijan’s deserted independent media landscape,” Rachel Denber, deputy Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
Turan and Aliyev, no relation to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, are accused of owing around $21,500 in unpaid taxes from 2014/16.
Azerbaijan has one of the worst records for independent media in the world. It has clashed with the European Union and the US, who accuse the Azerbaijani government of a systematic campaign to subvert the media, over the past few years.
And the US released a strongly worded statement describing the arrest of Aliyev, considered to be one of the post-Soviet pioneers of journalism in Azerbaijan, as an “Assault on media freedom”.
“These actions by the government of Azerbaijan to curtail freedom of press and to further restrict freedom of expression are the latest in a negative trend that includes the government’s May decision to block access to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and other independent media websites,” the statement said.
“We urge the government of Azerbaijan to immediately release Mehman Aliyev, and all those incarcerated for exercising their fundamental freedoms, in accordance with its international obligations and OSCE commitments.”
The Azerbaijani government has not commented.
There are dozens of Azerbaijani journalists in jail for various reasons including various financial crimes, drug smuggling and gun possession.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 341, published on Aug. 27 2017)
AUG. 27 (The Conway Bulletin) — At least six people were injured when a weapons depot at a military base around 70km north of Baku exploded, hospital sources in Azerbaijan told media (Aug. 27).
In 2016, a blast at an arms factory near Baku killed at least two people and injured 22 more.
Eyewitness reports described a series of massive explosions at the base. Emergency services closed off nearby roads and evacuated two villages.
Azerbaijan’s defence ministry declined to comment on reports that a number of people had been injured.
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(News report from Issue No. 341, published on Aug. 27 2017)
AUG. 14 2017 (The Bulletin) — Italian confection-maker Ferrero Rocher started talks with the Azerbaijani government on sourcing hazelnuts for is chocolates.
News reports said senior Ferrero Rocher executives had traveled to Baku for meetings.
Azerbaijan has previously said it wants to increase its hazelnut production. It produces around 4% of the world’s total hazelnut production. Turkey is the biggest producer of hazelnuts.
Ferrero Rocher is well-known for its gold packaging and 1980s TV adverts which linked the chocolate to lavish, and glamorous, diplomatic parties, featuring the catchphrase: “Ferrero Rocher. A sign of good taste”.
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Copyright ©Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 340, published on Aug. 20 2017)
AUG. 18 2017 (The Bulletin) — Prosecutors in Sweden said that would charge a Stockholm-based employee of Canadian plane and train maker Bombardier with bribing Azerbaijani officials. According to news reports, the unnamed Russian national bribed to win a $340m contract. He has, reportedly, denied the charges.
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(News report from Issue No. 340, published on Aug. 20 2017)
AUG. 17 2017 (The Bulletin) — BP said that the Azeri-Chirag- Guneshli (ACG) in the Azerbaijani section of the Caspian Sea produced 14m tonnes of oil in the first half of 2017, 12.5% less than during the same period in 2016. The drop will irritate Azerbaijani officials who have been pressuring BP to stop a production slippage at ACG, its biggest oil producer. In the first half of 2013, ACG had produced nearly 22m tonnes of oil.
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Copyright ©Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 340, published on Aug. 20 2017)
AUG. 18 2017 (The Bulletin) — The authorities in Azerbaijan froze the bank accounts of the Turan news agency, often described as the last independent Azerbaijani news outlet. Media quoted Turan’s managing director, Mehman Aliyev, as saying that the authorities were investigating alleged tax evasion of $22,000. He said that allegations were false.
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Copyright ©Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 340, published on Aug. 20 2017)
AUG. 9 2017 (The Bulletin) — Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov flew to Baku for talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev that focused on efforts to feed Turkmen gas into the South Caucasus Energy Corridor that will pump supplies to Europe from the Caspian Sea. Turkmenistan is looking for more export routes for its gas. Officially the two leaders signed a document promising to further their strategic partnership.
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(News report from Issue No. 339, published on Aug. 13 2017)