Tag Archives: international relations

Abdullayev visits Turkmenistan, again

NOV. 20 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijani media reported on yet another trip to Ashgabat by the head of Socar, Azerbaijan’s oil and gas company, Rovnag Abdullayev.

Mr Abdullayev was in Ashgabat for the opening of major gas conference. It’s an important time for Azerbaijan- Turkmenistan relations because Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has agreed to sign up to a new pipeline running from Baku, the Azerbaijani capital, to Europe.

Visits by Mr Abdullayev to Ashgabat may appear fairly routine but each trip brings the two countries closer together.

Europe sees Turkmen gas as critical for reducing its reliance on Russian energy and considers the pipeline running from the Caspian Sea to central Europe to be the easiest way to supply the gas.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)

Latvia President flies to Georgia

NOV. 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Latvian president Andris Berzins flew to Tbilisi for a two-day visit that will culminate in laying a wreath at a Georgian war memorial and a declaration of Georgia’s territorial integrity. This is important for Georgia because Latvia will hold the EU’s rotating presidency for the first half of 2015.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)

Pakistan aims to import Tajik electricity

NOV. 22 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Pakistan wants to export Tajik electricity on to other consumer countries, Pakistani media quoted a senior government official as saying. The announcement is, potentially, good news for Tajikistan which is looking for markets for its hydropower. Tajikistan and Pakistan are working on a grid system called CASA-1000.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)

Georgia takes Guantanamo inmates

NOV. 21 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The United States transferred three Yemen prisoners from Guantanamo Bay to Georgia, the second transfer since 2010, media reported. The prisoner renditions are controversial and have been banned in many countries. Georgia is one of the United States’ most staunch allies and hopes to join NATO.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)

Iran president visits Azerbaijan

NOV. 12-13 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Iranian president Hasan Rouhani visited Baku on his first official trip to Azerbaijan since becoming Iran’s leader in 2013. The trip was friendly, a turnaround in Iran-Azerbaijan relations. Under former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the two neighbours had seemingly edged close to war.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 209, published on Nov.19 2014)

A suicide bomber injured Georgian soldiers

NOV. 14 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – A suicide bomber injured three Georgian soldiers guarding the Bagram air base in Afghanistan, media quoted Georgia’s ministry of defence as saying. Georgia has been an enthusiastic supporter of the US-led war in Afghanistan. It sees support as building momentum towards NATO membership.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 209, published on Nov.19 2014)

Prince Andrew meets Azerbaijan’s President

NOV. 14 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Prince Andrew, fifth-in-line to the English throne, flew out to Baku for talks with President Ilham Aliyev, the Daily Mail newspaper reported. It’s unclear why Prince Andrew made the trip although he was Britain’s special trade representative.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 209, published on Nov.19 2014)

Iran to build Armenia hydro site

NOV. 17 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Iran is to build a hydro-electric plant in Armenia, one of the strongest signals yet that the two neighbours are developing ever closer relations.

The Iranian state-run news agency, Fars News quoted Iran’s energy minister Hamid Chitchian as saying that a memorandum of understanding had been signed between the two sides and that construction of the hydro-electric plant will start shortly.

The two neighbours have been working on the deal for some time.

In many ways, both Armenia and Iran have been forced to work with each other because of their various geo- political scenarios.

Armenia borders Azerbaijan and Turkey, both enemies, and is short of friends in the region. Iran is looking for allies to bolster its position during the current US- imposed sanctions.

Over the past few years Armenia and Iran have widened their cooperation, particularly with energy swaps.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 209, published on Nov.19 2014)

Russia and Kyrgyzstan to agree on defence deal

NOV. 11 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan and Russia are close to agreeing an air defence deal, Russian news agency ITAR-Tass reported quoting officials after a meeting between the two countries’ defence ministries. Russia already has a similar agreement with Kazakhstan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 208, published on Nov.12 2014)

Uzbek guards shoot Kyrgyz man

NOV. 11 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbek border guards shot and injured a Kyrgyz man along the Uzbekistan- Kyrgyzstan border, media reported. The Uzbekistan- Kyrgyzstan border is one of the most fragile border zones in the region. Analysts have said that any spark could destabilise Central Asia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 208, published on Nov.12 2014)