Tag Archives: international relations

Ex-Georgian PM shows influence

SEPT. 15 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Although he is no longer Georgia’s PM, Bidzina Ivanishvili is still — probably — the most influential person in Georgian politics.

Mr Ivanishvili put together the Georgian Dream coalition that wrestled full control of Georgian politics from former president Mikheil Saakashvili, first in parliament, then in the presidential palace and then in town halls across the country.

In a rare newspaper interview published on Sept. 15, Mr Ivanishvili underlined his importance to the Georgian political scene by revealing that current PM Irakli Garibashvili had asked for his advice before reshuffling his government cabinet earlier this year.

“Before the government reshuffle, Garibashvili asked for my opinion, but I did not show interest and did not tell him to act this or that way,” Mr Ivanishvili said.

But, despite this apparent disinterest, Mr Ivanishivili is still, clearly, planning on playing a major role in Georgian politics through two major new projects.

“I want to participate in analysing the ongoing processes and to engage in discussions about the Georgian society’s development strategy,” he said.

Georgia has been vocal in its support for Ukraine and its condemnation of Russia’s alleged aid to the separatist forces. Mr Ivanishvili underlined this viewpoint. He was also quick to compare what he described as the measured response of the current government to what he has previously described as the hot-headed responses of the Saakashvili administration.

“God saved us that they [Mr Saakashvili and his United National Movement Party] are no longer in power or else we could have seen Georgia involved in this war” he said.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 200, published on Sept.17 2014)

Azerbaijan and Turkey started military exercise

SEPT. 13 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan started a week-long military exercise with its closest ally Turkey. The military exercise acted as a major show of force by Azerbaijan which is still officially at war with neighbouring Armenia over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 200, published on Sept.17 2014)

Vatican FM visits Georgia

SEPT. 14/15 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Vatican’s foreign minister, Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, visited Georgia for talks with the Georgian leadership and with the head of the Georgian Orthodox Church Patriach Ilia II. Archbishop Mamberti’s trip was the first by a Vatican foreign minister for 11 years. Pope John Paul II visited Georgia in 1999.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 200, published on Sept.17 2014)

The World Nomadic Games strike a Kyrgyz chord

CHOLPON-ATA/Kyrgyzstan, SEPT. 17 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — In front of a packed hippodrome in this provincial town of shores of the mountain-ringed Lake Issyk Kul, Kyrgyzstan A beat Kyrgyzstan B to win gold in the main event of Kok-Boru at this inaugural Nomadic Games.

Amid the enthusiastic roars of local Kyrgyz, foreign diplomats cheered on half-heartedly between snipes about graft and the hippodrome’s overloaded portaloos.

While the World Nomadic Games was designed to unite all countries of the Turkic-speaking world, it retained a very local flavour throughout, with the hosts cruising to victory in the medal table — the majority of the competitors were Kyrgyz — and poor planning abounding. None of the presidents of the competing states — Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan — showed up as hoped before the games began.

The Kok-Boru on July 14 was spectacular, however. Exhibition games of Kok-Boru, a polo-like game played with a dried goat carcass, are common at tourist-focussed festivals throughout the country. This one was far more competitive, with the captain of Kyrgyzstan’s A team sporting a battle-inflicted gash across his forehead as he lead his team to victory over the B team.

Russia’s federal Altai Republic and Turkey claimed silver and bronze in the event respectively. Following a reported disagreement over the rules of Kok-Boru — or Kokpar to the Kazakhs — neighbouring Kazakhstan refused to send a team.

Also on Sept. 14, to the chuckles of local spectators, horses belonging to former Prime Minister Omurbek Babanov claimed the bronze and silver medals for the 2.5 km flat race. Babanov’s weakness for stallions is legendary.

He was jettisoned from the government amid rumours he had accepted a racehorse a bribe for securing a foreign investment for a Turkish businessmen in 2013.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 200, published on Sept.17 2014)

Iran and Turkmenistan to boost defence cooperation

SEPT. 15 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – At a meeting in Ashgabat, the Turkmen and Iranian defence ministers, declared that they would boost cooperation between the two countries. Perhaps most important when considering Turkmenistan-Iran military cooperation is the issue of the Caspian Sea which they border.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 200, published on Sept.16 2014)

Azerbaijan’s SOCAR to complete Greek deal

SEPT. 11 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s state energy company SOCAR is expected to complete the deal to buy the Greek state gas operator DESFA by the end of this month, SOCAR head Rovnag Abdullayev said. SOCAR agreed to buy a 66% stake in DESFA in 2013. The EU is currently considering it.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 200, published on Sept.17 2014)

Georgia takes another step towards NATO

SEPT. 4-5 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – NATO took, yet another, tentative step towards admitting Georgia to its club at its conference in Cardiff.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Danish head of the US-led military group, said that a substantive package had been drawn up to help aspiring members join.

“Each aspirant has work to do in different areas and we will give them support they need,” he said. “We agreed on substantive package of measures for Georgia that will help Georgia advance in its preparations towards membership of NATO.”

This is good news for Georgia, and probably as good as it could realistically have expected. Ukraine is another country that wants to join NATO, as well as Australia, a more easy country for NATO to accept.

The 28-member NATO also agreed to boost Georgia’s military defences.

Georgia fought a brief war with Russia in 2008 and is dealing with two frozen conflicts in South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The problem for the NATO member states is that they want to show a strong face against Russian aggression in the former Soviet Union but they also want to avoid inheriting a load of problems that could well drag them into somebody else’s war.

All-in-all, the NATO summit probably lived up to expectations from Georgia.

“We will have very important steps taken in regard of NATO standards by the next summit (in Poland in 2016),” said Georgian president Giorgi Margvelashvili.

It remains to be seen if Mr Margvelashvili is being realistic or just optimistic.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 199, published on Sept. 10 2014)

China invests in Kyrgyz army

SEPT. 4 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – China pledged to invest $16m in Kyrgyzstan’s, a move to shore up its support in Bishkek, media reported. Much of the cash will be used to build officers’ quarters in Bishkek. China has invested heavily in militaries around Central Asia over the past few years.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 199, published on Sept. 10 2014)

Kazakh soldiers prepare for UN ops

SEPT. 5 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s military has chosen 20 soldiers to travel to Haiti, Western Sahara, Ivory Coast and Liberia on UN missions, media reported. These are the first UN missions that Kazakhstan has supported. They are designed to support its candidature to win a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 199, published on Sept. 10 2014)

Hagel visits Georgia

SEPT. 7 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Chuck Hagel, the US defence secretary, flew into Tbilisi for a high profile visit to pledge support for Georgia and its NATO ambitions. Mr Hagel’s trip was designed as much to send a message to Russia as it was to bolster Georgian morale. He also discussed selling US Blackhawk helicopters to Georgia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 199, published on Sept. 10 2014)