Tag Archives: international relations

Mexico takes down statue of ex-Azeri leader

NOV. 13 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — As a foreign policy it is an unorthodox one. Azerbaijan’s government has been pushing for allies and recipients of business contracts and aid to build statues of Heydar Aliyev, a former Azerbaijani president and father of the current leader.

You can admire statues of the Heydar Aliyev across the world, from Russia to Kazakhstan to Serbia, to name just a few. They’re normally fairly similar. Heydar Aliyev, dressed in a suit, stands or sits looking statesman-like.

Heydar Aliyev is considered the father of modern Azerbaijan and is generally popular in Azerbaijan although what Russians or Kazakhs or Serbians think of him is less clear.

In any case, Mexico called Azerbaijan’s bluff earlier this year and could now be facing the consequences.

In January, the authorities in Mexico City dismantled a statue of Heydar Aliyev in a park after residents signed a petition calling for it to be taken down because of Azerbaijan’s alleged poor human rights record.

Now, though, media has reported that Azerbaijan’s ambassador to Mexico, Ilgar Mukhtarov, said $3.8b of contracts may be cancelled unless the statue is resurrected.

He said the authorities in Mexico City had reneged on deal. Azerbaijan repaired and improved two inner city parks at a cost of $5m in return for giving a statue of Heydar Aliyev pride of place.

Unorthodox foreign policy indeed.

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(News report from Issue No. 160, published on Nov. 13 2013)

Kazakhstan seeks defence advice from UK

OCT. 31 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Underlining Kazakhstan’s links with NATO countries, Kazakh defence minister Adilbek Dzhaksybekov flew to London for talks with his British counterpart Philip Hammond. Kazakhstan wants British advice on how to professionalise its military. Earlier this year the Kazakh government announced that it would end conscription.

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(News report from Issue No. 159, published on Nov. 6 2013)

NATO opens training centre in Azerbaijan

NOV. 1 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Officials from NATO, the US-led Western military alliance, will open a training centre in Baku when they visit the Azerbaijani capital on Nov. 18, media reported. Azerbaijan has deployed a small detachment of soldiers to support NATO’s campaign against the Taliban in Afghanistan. Moving closer to NATO is a snub to Russia.

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(News report from Issue No. 159, published on Nov. 6 2013)

Uzbekistan receives Chinese visit

OCT. 31 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbek President Islam Karimov met with Meng Jiangzhu, a member of China’s ruling politburo and cochair of the Uzbekistan-China inter-governmental committee, in Tashkent. China has become increasingly friendly with Uzbekistan over the past year.

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(News report from Issue No. 159, published on Nov. 6 2013)

Azerbaijan-Armenia tension rises over Nagorno Karabakh

NOV. 6 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — If proof was needed that a cease-fire between Azerbaijan and Armenia around the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh was increasingly fragile, Russia may have given it.

Colonel Andrei Ruzinsky, commander of the Russian forces based in Armenia, said that Russia’s military would back Armenia if Azerbaijan ever tried to take back control of the province.

His intervention was interesting and, perhaps, well timed. Over the past few weeks there have been a number of small fire-fights between the two sides, more, it appears, than normal.

A shaky 1994 cease-fire keeps Armenia and Azerbaijan apart around Nagorno-Karabakh. The region is controlled by Armenian-backed rebels but Azerbaijan has said it wants to reclaim the region.

And it has built up the military firepower to do this.

Armenia’s military is far smaller than Azerbaijan’s but it has the backing of Russia.

While Azerbaijan has steered towards Europe and the West, Armenia has looked to Russia for support. It is a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation and pledged to enter the Customs Union. Russia is the main driver and backer of both groups.

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(News report from Issue No. 159, published on Nov. 6 2013)

Belarus president visits Turkmenistan

NOV. 5 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — At a meeting in Ashgabat, Belarus’ President Alexander Lukashenko and his Turkmen counterpart Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov agreed to build a factory to produce unmanned aerial drones. Media reports said Turkmenistan wants the drones to patrol its borders.

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(News report from Issue No. 159, published on Nov. 6 2013)

Azerbaijan could withdraw EU monitor delegation

NOV. 5 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan has threaten to withdraw its delegation to Euronest, part of the European parliament designed to foster closer relations with the EU’s neighbours, over a row on election monitors, media reported. Election monitors from Europe said a presidential election in October was not free and fair.

(News report from Issue No. 159, published on Nov. 6 2013)

Azerbaijan criticises EU monitoring

OCT. 24 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s representative in EuroNest, a European Parliament group set up to promote integration between the EU and some neighbours, accused European vote monitoring bodies of trying to whip up dissent. European vote monitors gave a less-than flattering assessment of Azerbaijan’s presidential election on Oct. 9.

(News report from Issue No. 158, published on Oct. 30 2013)

Kazakhstan to merge air defence with Russia

OCT. 28 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russia’s government has approved a deal to merge its air defence systems with Kazakhstan, media reported. A deal to merge air defence capabilities was originally signed in January. Combining air defence systems will edge Kazakhstan further towards Russia.

(News report from Issue No. 158, published on Oct. 30 2013)

Russia increases activity in Kyrgyz base

OCT. 26 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russia will double the number of warplanes at its base at Kant outside Bishkek, media quoted Viktor Sevastyanov, a senior Russian air force commander, as saying. Earlier this month the US started withdrawing its forces from its own base in Kyrgyzstan. It will end operations at the Manas air base by mid-2014.

(News report from Issue No. 158, published on Oct. 30 2013)