Tag Archives: international relations

Lithuanian ambassador to be sacked after gaffe in Azerbaijan

AUG. 29 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — A diplomatic scandal centred on the status of the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh is likely to lead to the sacking of Lithuania’s envoy in Baku.

Lithuania’s media is reporting that Dalia Grybauskaite, the Lithuanian President, is likely to fire her envoys to Hungary and Azerbaijan after they were recorded describing Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Armenia.

The diplomatic spat not only embarrasses Lithuania but also acts as a wider reminder of Nagorno-Karabakh’s ultra-sensitive status. Azerbaijan and Armenia are still at war over Nagorno-Karabakh and only a 1994 UN negotiated ceasefire holds a shaky peace.

There are still almost weekly shoot-outs between the opposing armies and Azerbaijan has pledged to re-take the enclave from Armenia-backed forces.

Ms Grybauskaite has, apparently, acted after a recording of a private conversation between Arturas Zurauskas, Lithuania’ ambassador in Baku, and Renatas Juska, Lithuania’s ambassador in Budapest, surfaced on YouTube in July.

In the recording the men agree that Nagorno-Karabakh should be considered Armenian. They also refer to the enclave by its Armenian name, Artsakh. Azerbaijan stakes its own historical claim to the province.

The incident also serves as a reminder of the increased diplomatic clout that Azerbaijan’s burgeoning energy wealth has now given it.

ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 150, published on Sept. 2 2013)

Azerbaijan buys weapons from S. Korea

AUG. 26 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan has asked South Korea about buying military planes, warships and artillery worth $3b, media reported. The story first surfaced in a Korean newspaper and hasn’t been confirmed by Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has spent billions of dollars on re-arming its military, mainly on kit from Russia.

ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 150, published on Sept. 2 2013)

Kazakh diplomat arrested in Germany

AUG. 27 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Police in Germany arrested Akhat Alpysbayev, the Consul-General at Kazakhstan’s consulate in Frankfurt, and a more junior Kazakh diplomat for smuggling cigarettes into the country, German newspaper Bild reported. The arrests will embarrass Kazakhstan which has been professionalising its diplomatic service.

ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 150, published on Sept. 2 2013)

SOCAR to buy Russian oil

AUG. 19 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR wants to buy 5m tonnes of oil from Russia’s Rosneft, media quoted SOCAR chairman Rovnag Abdullayev as saying. The plan is to reverse the flow of the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline to pump the oil to Azerbaijan where it will either be refined or exported to Europe.

ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 149, published on Aug. 26 2013)

Georgia to restart trade links with Russia

AUG. 19 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia and Russia have made a deal to start up road freight and bus connections after they were cut seven years ago when relations between the neighbours soured, media reported. The deal is another significant step towards normalising Georgia-Russia relations after a brief war in 2008.

ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 149, published on Aug. 26 2013)

Kazakhstan bids for Winter Olympics

AUG. 19 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Showing off its global sporting ambitions, Kazakhstan has registered Almaty with the International Olympic Committee as a potential candidate to host the 2022 Winter Games, AP reported. Almaty hosted the Asian Winter Games in 2011. It previously failed in a bid to host the 2014 Winter Olympics.

ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 149, published on Aug. 26 2013)

Putin visits Azerbaijan

AUG. 13 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Relations between Azerbaijan and Russia have generally been cool for the past decade or so. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s trip to Baku on Aug. 13 only served to underline this.

Azerbaijan’s President, Ilham Aliyev, has looked to balance the interests of the country’s former master, Russia, with that of Europe, a major energy client. In previous years there has been talk of Russia buying up Azerbaijan’s gas supplies but this never materialised. Instead, Western energy firms have tightened their hold on Azerbaijan’s vast Caspian Sea energy supplies by buying up stakes in fields and building pipelines.

And despite rhetoric of improved ties between Moscow and Baku before a trip by Mr Putin, his first to the Azerbaijani capital in seven years, this general trajectory appears set.

Russia’s Rosneft had talked of an energy deal with SOCAR, the Azerbaijani state-owned energy company, but this never materialised. Sources told media outlets that a vague agreement had been signed but there were too many differences to commit to anything more meaningful.

These differences are varied. Some are personal, others strategic — last year Russia and Azerbaijan failed to agree on a lease extension for a Russian radar base — and others are commercial. Azerbaijan-Russia relations still need some mending.

(News report from Issue No. 148, published on Aug. 19 2013)

Iranian president to visit Kyrgyzstan

AUG. 19 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani, will meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin for the first time on Sept. 13 in Bishkek on the sidelines of a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a Russia and China led Central Asia-focused group, Iranian media reported.

(News report from Issue No. 148, published on Aug. 19 2013)

Turkmenistan to build Caspian port

AUG. 15 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Highlighting its energy wealth, Turkmenistan unveiled plans to build a $2b port on its Caspian Sea coast. Turkmen leader Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov and Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan launched the project. Turkish construction company Gap Insaat will build the port.

(News report from Issue No. 148, published on Aug. 19 2013)

Kazakh petrol stations to open in Georgia

AUG. 12 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Rompetrol, a subsidiary of Kazakhstan’s state-owned Kazmunaigas, will open 22 new petrol stations in Georgia by the end of 2014, media reported. This shows that Kazmunaigas is continuing to use Rompetrol to expand overseas and also that it believes that demand for petrol in Georgia is growing. Rompetrol already operates 70 petrol stations in Georgia.

(News report from Issue No. 148, published on Aug. 19 2013)