NOV. 8 (The Bulletin) — Turkmen leader Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov visited Rome for a meeting with Italian PM Giuseppe Conte, a rare trip for Turkmenistan’s often-derided leader to visit an EU government. Italian companies, including energy company ENI, are working on a handful of major construction and oil and gas projects in Turkmenistan.
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— This story was first published in issue 428 of the weekly Bulletin
YEREVAN/Aug. 5 (The Bulletin) — Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan called for Armenia’s unification with the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, hardline language that immediately drew condemnation from neighbour Azerbaijan.
He made the comments during a visit to the Armenian controlled section of the region which is called Artsakh. During his speech, Mr Pashynian said: “Artsakh is Armenia and that’s it.”
He also led the crowd in chants of “miatsum” which means unification, used as a slogan during the 1990s when the region broke away from Azerbaijan.
A shaky UN ceasefire has held since then, although there are sporadic outbreaks of violence.
Azerbaijan, which has accused Mr Pashinyan of blocking peace negotiations since he took power in a revolution in 2018, issued an immediate rebuke, calling his statements a provocation.
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— This story was first published in issue 418 of the weekly Bulletin
Aug. 5 (The Bulletin) — Residents of a Kyrgyz village clashed with Chinese workers at a nearby Chinese-owned gold mine in the east of the country. Reports said that at least 20 people were injured in the fighting. Tension between the gold mine and locals has been rising since the start of July after the death of villagers’ livestock. Farmers blamed the gold mine for polluting the environment. Anti-China sentiment, though, is growing in Kyrgyzstan.
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— This story was first published in issue 418 of the weekly Bulletin
Aug. 7 (The Bulletin) — Georgia’s foreign ministry sent a protest note to Russia after a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Abkhazian leader Raul Khajimba ahead of the 11th anniversary of a war between Georgia and Russia. Abkhazia is one of two breakaway states in Georgia. The other is North Ossetia. They broke away in the early 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union and are effectively Russian vassal states. Only Russia and a handful of other allies recognise Abkhazia and North Ossetia’s independence claims
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— This story was first published in issue 418 of the weekly Bulletin
BISHKEK/July 24 (The Bulletin) — Russian President Vladimir Putin intervened in a standoff in Kyrgyzstan between a former and current president that had threatened to destabilise the country.
Although he had barricaded himself into his residence outside Bishkek, refusing to submit to an arrest warrant over corruption charges, former Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambayev was allowed to fly to Moscow by the Krygyz authorities for a meeting with Mr Putin, highlighting just how much clout Russia has in domestic Kyrgyz affairs.
He flew to Moscow from the Russian air base at Kant, near Bishkek, on a specially chartered Sukhoi Superjet 100 operated by Rusjet.
After their meeting, Mr Putin told journalists that he stepped in because he didn’t want any more internal conflict in Kyrgyzstan.
“Kyrgyzstan has already experienced several serious internal political upheavals, specifically, there were two upheavals at least. And this should stop, to my mind, for the sake of the Kyrgyz people,” he said. “The country is in need of political stability and everyone should unite around the sitting President and help him in developing the state.”
Violent revolutions in 2005 and 2010 overthrew two presidents in Kyrgyzstan. In 2005, Kyrgyzstan’s first post-Soviet leader Askar Akayev was given asylum in Russia. Five years later his successor, Kurmanbek Bakiyev was also overthrown and Russia organised for him to go into exile in Belarus.
After landing back in Kyrgyzstan, Mr Atambayev, Kyrgyz president from 2011-17, said Mr Putin didn’t want to see President Sooronbai Jeenbekov targeting his opponents.
“Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin intends to talk about this with Sooronbai Jeenbekov,” he said.
The Kyrgyz government has not commented.
Mr Atambayev has clashed his former protege and handpicked successor Jeenbekov since handing over the presidency to him. He has seen several of his allies and former senior government members arrested on corruption charges and last month Parliament withdrew his immunity from prosecution.
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— This story was first published in issue 417 of the weekly Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin
YEREVAN/March 7 (The Bulletin) — Armenia suffered its first casualty of is engagement in Syria when a landmine exploded and seriously injured a deminer’s leg. The deminer had to have his foot amputated.
The detachment of 83 personnel — deminers and medics — are supporting Russian reconstruction efforts in Aleppo, once home to an ethnic Armenian diaspora estimated at around 100,000 people.
The US has warned Armenia not to support Russian military efforts in the region but Armenia’s new PM, Nikol Pashinyan has been keen to win favour with Russian President Vladimir Putin since he came to power in May last year through a revolution.
Wary of upsetting the US, Armenia is the only former Soviet country supporting Russia’s reconstruction efforts.
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— This story was first published in issue 403 of the weekly Bulletin
FEB. 1 (The Conway Bulletin) — From Feb. 1, citizens from 45 countries from the developed world will be allowed into Uzbekistan for 30 days without a visa. Former Soviet countries and some others already had visa-free access to Uzbekistan but the new legislation now includes EU member states as well as countries such as Australia, Canada and Argentina. Citizens from the US, are still not eligible for visa-free travel.
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>This story was first published in issue 399 of The Conway Bulletin on Feb. 8 2019
Copyright The Conway Bulletin 2019
FEB. 5 (The Conway Bulletin) — Abdulaziz Kamilov, Uzbekistan’s foreign minister, told the UN that Uzbekistan was willing to host another round of talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government. Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has been looking to play a bigger international role. Uzbekistan hosted talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government in August 2018.
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>This story was first published in issue 399 of The Conway Bulletin on Feb. 8 2019
Copyright The Conway Bulletin 2019
FEB. 6 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s government said that it will open its first embassy in Qatar by the end of the year. A handful of unverified news reports said that the Qatari government was to pay the running costs of the embassy for the first three years.
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>This story was first published in issue 399 of The Conway Bulletin on Feb. 8 2019
Copyright The Conway Bulletin 2019
FEB. 5 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Swiss government, which has been mediating between Russia and Georgia since the end of a brief war in 2008, said that “conditions to implement the customs deal signed by Georgia and Russia are in place”. The two neighbours have been working on a deal that will mean trade between them passes through three corridors — via the disputed regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and the undisputed Zemo Larsi-Kazbegi border.
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>This story was first published in issue 399 of The Conway Bulletin on Feb. 8 2019
Copyright The Conway Bulletin 2019