Tag Archives: international relations

Azerbaijan appoints first ambassador to Israel

JAN. 11 2023 (The Bulletin) — Azerbaijan appointed its first-ever ambassador to Israel. The appointment came as its relations with Iran continued to sour. It has boosted relations with Israel over the past few years, trading oil for weapons. Israel has previously said that in the event of war with Iran, it will use air bases in Azerbaijan.

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— This story was published in issue 532 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Jan. 16 2023

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2023

Kazakh government sets up “yurts of invincibility” in Ukraine

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JAN. 6 2023 (The Bulletin) — The Kazakh government set up two so-called “yurts of invincibility” in Kyiv and Bucha to give people warm food and drinks and allow them to power up their mobile phones. Ukraine’s government has set up various “points of invincibility” to help people cope with a bombing campaign by Russia aimed at knocking out civilian heat and power sources. Russia has accused Kazakhstan of siding with its enemies.

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— This story was published in issue 532 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Jan. 16 2023

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2023

Turkey lifts ban on sending cargo flights to Armenia

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JAN. 6 2023 (The Bulletin) — Turkey lifted a ban on cargo flights to Armenia, part of its package to “normalise” relations. The move was agreed in July 2022 and is designed to lay the foundations for the slow opening of the Armenia-Turkey border. There have been no diplomatic or trade relations between Turkey and Armenia since 1993 when the border was closed. Armenia and Turkey have agreed to open the border to citizens of third countries although they have not put a timeline on this.

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— This story was published in issue 532 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Jan. 16 2023

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2023

China stops processing cargo from Central Asia

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ALMATY/BISHKEK/OCT. 27 2021 (The Bulletin) — China has stopped processing rail cargo to and from Central Asia at its Khorgos terminal on the Kazakhstan-China border because it is prioristing a backlog of wagons heading to Europe.

A Beijing-based official from Kazakhstan’s national railway company Temir Zholy told media that there were 3,000 railway wagons stuck at the border trying to get into Kazakhstan and 7,000 trying to get into China.

“The main demand from the Chinese side is for container trains to the EU,” the official was quoted as saying. “They account for 90% of all traffic, while in the direction of Central Asia only 10%.”

Freight networks in Central Asia are under increasing pressure. Kyrgyz officials have also said that their usual border crossings directly into China at the Torugart and Irkeshtam passes are either closed or reduced to a fraction of their pre-coronavirus traffic, forcing most truck drivers to cross into Kazakhstan and head for Khorgos.

Not only is this a major detour but Kyrgyz truck drivers have said that Kazakh officials harass them. The head of the Kyrgyz Freight Carriers Association Temirbek Shabdanaliev said that he thought that Kazakh customs officials had been told to harass Kyrgyz drivers to put Chinese companies off using the Kyrgyzstan route into Central Asia.

“Our drivers have to unload and load several times, often in bad weather. This takes five or six days,” he said.

Kazakh officials have said they are trying to clamp down on smuggling.

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— This story was published in issue 505 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Oct. 28 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Turkmen foreign minister flies to Kabul for Taliban meeting

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OCT. 27 2021 (The Bulletin) — Turkmen officials were preparing to fly to Kabul after the Taliban government said that it supported its moves to build a gas pipeline, dubbed TAPI, across the country.

The project is important to Turkmen leader Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov because he wants to diversify Turkmenistan’s gas clients away from an over-reliance on China. The Western-backed government in Afghanistan had supported the TAPI plans but there were some concerns that the Taliban, which took control of Afghanistan in August, might ditch it.

Turkmen officials, though, have taken a comparatively soft line towards the Taliban since they took power, opening up lines of communications and sending aid. Now, it seems, the Taliban have decided to back TAPI.

In a statement, the acting Taliban minister for mines and petroleum, Mohammed Issa Akhund, said that the project would now go ahead, although he didn’t give dates.

“We have been working hard for some time and we are ready to take pride in starting work on the TAPI project,” he said.

The pipeline is slated to carry 33b cubic metres of gas across Afghanistan to Pakistan and India from Turkmenistan’s giant Galkynysh field once it is completed, an ambitious plan by Turkmenistan to turn itself into the region’s main gas exporter.

Under the current plans, Afghanistan would keep about 5% of the gas supplies and also earn hundreds of millions of dollars in transit fees.

Separately, the Taliban government also said that it will pay Uzbekistan millions of dollars in fees it owes for electricity purchases. Like Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan has looked to engage with the Taliban government in Afghanistan since it took control of the country, hosting its officials in Termez and sending envoys to Kabul.

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— This story was published in issue 505 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Oct. 28 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Tajikistan approves construction of Chinese military base

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BISHKEK/OCT. 22/27 2021 (The Bulletin) — — Tajikistan approved the construction of a Chinese military base and Kyrgyzstan ordered military drones from Turkey, deals that challenge Russia’s traditional security dominance in Central Asia.

Under this new agreement, China will build a military base on Tajikistan’s border with Afghanistan and publicly acknowledge a base that it has operated in the Pamir mountains for the past couple of years, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported by quoting what it described as a “communique sent from the Chinese Embassy in Dushanbe to Tajikistan’s Foreign Ministry”.

These are the only Chinese military bases in Central Asia and show just much influence China has built up in Tajikistan over the past few of years. Neither the Tajik nor Chinese governments have commented on the Chinese base expansion.

Kyrgyz officials were more open about their military deals with Turkey.

Kamchybek Tashiev, deputy PM and chairman of the Kazakh National Security Committee, said that the Kyrgyz military had placed an order for the Bayraktar TB2 drone.

“ Turkey is currently constructing Bayraktar drones for us,” media quoted him as saying. These drones are credited with helping Azerbaijan defeat Armenia in a war for Nagorno-Karabakh last year.

A couple of days later, Kyrgyz interior minister Ulan Niyazbekov flew to Istanbul to meet his Turkish counterpart. Turkish media reported that a bilateral security deal was imminent. The deals highlight Pres. Sadyr Japarov’s policy of cosying up to hardmen leaders since he took power in a coup last year.

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— This story was published in issue 505 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Oct. 28 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Erdogan opens new Nagorno-Karabakh airport

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OCT. 26 2021 (The Bulletin) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan flew to Nagorno-Karabakh, the region recaptured by Azerbaijan in a war last year against Armenia, for the third time in the past 12 months to open a new airport alongside his ally, Azerbaijani Pres. Ilham Aliyev. The new airport at Fizula is being promoted as one of the highlights of Azerbaijan’s infrastructure push in Nagorno-Karabakh.

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— This story was published in issue 505 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Oct. 28 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan agree border deal

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OCT. 25 2021 (The Bulletin) — On a visit to Ashgabat, Kazakh Pres. Kassym Jomart Tokayev said that he signed several agreements that delimitinated Kazakhstan’s shared border with Turkmenistan. The Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan border has been a source of tension in previous years. Mr Tokayev also said that he had also signed an agreement over fishing rights in the Caspian Sea with Turkmen Pres. Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov.

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— This story was published in issue 505 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Oct. 28 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Armenia and Iran agree to build road bypassing Azerbaijan

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OCT. 25 2021 (The Bulletin) — Armenia and Iran agreed to build a stretch of road that avoids crossing through territory now controlled by Azerbaijan and to smooth customs regulations, Iranian media quoted Iranian officials as saying. The deal is considered significant as it underlines the neighbours’ commitment to each other despite pressure from Azerbaijan to break up the alliance. It now controls a 20km stretch of road that it captured after defeating Armenia in a war for Nagorno-Karabakh last year.

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— This story was published in issue 505 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Oct. 28 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Britain reduces tariffs on Uzbek goods

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OCT. 25 2021 (The Bulletin) — Britain agreed to admit Uzbekistan into its Enhanced Framework system which will reduce tariffs. Starting from Nov. 1, British importers and Uzbek exporters will pay less tax. Britain’s Enhanced Framework system is part of its post-Brexit global trade negotiations.

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— This story was published in issue 505 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Oct. 28 2021