JAN. 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia met in Paris to continue their glacier-slow peace talks over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. In the region, though, reports said that there had been an increase in the number of shootouts between the two sides. Both sides reported casualties.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 169, published on Jan. 29 2014)
JAN. 20 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh defence minister Adilbek Dzhaksybekov flew to Tel Aviv to sign a military deal with his Israeli counterpart Moshe Ya’alon. Media reported the two states would hold joint military exercises and that Kazakhstan would buy various Israeli-made weapons. Kazakhstan has said it wants to modernise its military.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 168, published on Jan. 22 2014)
JAN. 16 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan cut gas supplies to Russia, potentially inflaming relations between the two neighbours. SOCAR, Azerbaijan’s state-owned energy company, said it had suspended gas flowing along a pipeline to Russia because of construction work. Importantly it didn’t give an expected re-start date.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 168, published on Jan. 22 2014)
JAN. 15 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbek officials flew to Moscow to attend an inter-government committee on economic cooperation. At the meeting they signed a deal to improve relations and encourage cross-border investment. This is more significant than usual as, last month, Uzbekistan ratified a deal to join a CIS free trade zone.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 168, published on Jan. 22 2014)
JAN. 21 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgian officials accused Russia of pinching territory by shifting its border 11km inside the disputed region of Abkhazia. Russia recognises the independence of Abkhazia which it supported in a brief war in 2008. Georgia says Abkhazia is still part of its sovereign territory.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 168, published on Jan. 22 2014)
JAN. 20 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Reports from the Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan border said tension remained high between the two sides following a shootout that injured several soldiers earlier this month. Radio Free Europe also reported that Kyrgyzstan had called up reservists living in the area for a three day military exercise.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 168, published on Jan. 22 2014)
JAN. 13 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — SOCAR, Azerbaijan’s state-owned energy company, is considering buying a network of petrol stations in Turkey, media reported. Media said it was eyeing up the Petrol Ofisi filling stations, owned by Austria’s OMV, the largest network in Turkey. If the sale does materialise it will be one of SOCAR’s biggest overseas investments.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 167, published on Jan. 15 2014)
JAN. 11 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Border guards from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan fired at each other in a relatively rare skirmish. Several soldiers from both sides were injured in the firefight, media reported, and Kyrgyzstan later recalled its ambassador from Dushanbe. Tension has been escalating along the Kyrgyz-Tajik border for months.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 167, published on Jan. 15 2014)
JAN. 15 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Highlighting improved relations between Georgia and Russia, Airzena Georgian Airways will resume flights to Sochi in time for the start of the Winter Olympic Games next month. Georgian Airways plans to fly twice a week from Tbilisi to the resort town on the Black Sea coast.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 167, published on Jan. 15 2014)
JAN. 14 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — In a speech at a military parade, Uzbek President Islam Karimov said the withdrawal of NATO soldiers from Afghanistan would increase tension along the Uzbek-Afghan border and could give Islamic militants the chance to attack. NATO soldiers are planning on withdrawing steadily through 2014.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 167, published on Jan. 15 2014)