APRIL 16 2024 (The Bulletin) — On a trip to Yerevan, Kassym Jomart Tokayev, Kazakhstan’s president, said that he wanted to boost Kazakh exports to Armenia to $350m/year. This was Mr Tokayev’s first official visit to Armenia. It came as Yerevan tries to weaken links with Russia and boost ties with the West.
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— This story was published in issue 565 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on April 23 2024
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APRIL 15 2024 (The Bulletin) — Kassym Jomart Tokayev, Kazakhstan’s president, was due to fly to Yerevan for talks with Nikol Pashinyan, Armenia’s PM, in a potential swipe at the Kremlin. Armenia wants to reduce its links to Russia and by flying to Yerevan for talks Mr Tokayev may appear to be giving his support to this diplomatic shift.
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— This story was published in issue 564 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on April 15 2024
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APRIL 15 2024 (The Bulletin) –Don’t underestimate the importance of Tajikistan complaining to the Kremlin about the torture of four of its citizens, arrested for a terror attack in Moscow in March.
Dushanbe has been incensed at the cruelty shown by Russian security forces to the four men who were captured relatively unharmed but appeared later in court bruised and battered, their eyes hollow.
Of course, the Tajik government feels shame that its citizens are involved in terrorist incidents but they also link the torture of the men to humiliation felt by the thousands of Tajik workers who are now being stopped and searched on Russian streets and often deported for infractions.
Remittances are vital to the Tajik economy and it is important that Russia keeps welcoming Tajiks. It’s also a worry that Turkey has suspended visa-free access for Tajiks after the terror attack.
Policymakers’ reaction to the terror attack in Moscow may be to shun and discriminate against Tajiks. This would be entirely wrong and it is good to hear the Tajik government standing up for its citizens.
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— This story was published in issue 564 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on April 15 2024
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DUSHANBE/APRIL 12 2024 (The Bulletin) — Tajikistan accused the Kremlin of ordering the torture of four of its nationals after arresting them for a terror attack at a Moscow concert hall last month.
The rare criticism of the Kremlin by Tajikistan reveals the anger felt at seeing the men paraded in a Russian court with serious injuries.
“The use of torture against them in the form of bodily mutilation is unacceptable. The price of confessions obtained in this way is well known to everyone,” Tajik foreign minister Sirojiddin Mukhriddin told his CIS counterparts at a meeting in Belarus.
The four men were captured relatively unharmed outside Moscow the day after 144 people died in the terror attack on March 22. Videos, though, showed them being beaten and tortured with electric shocks.
The Afghanistan-based ISIS-K terror group has claimed the attack but the Kremlin has blamed Ukraine. It said that Ukraine had actively recruited the attackers from Dushanbe, an accusation Tajikistan has rejected as having “no basis” in fact.
And analysts have now warned that the Tajik economy will be hit by the fallout from the attack.
Remittances sent back to Tajikistan from Russia are vital but Russian police have cracked down on migrant workers and many now want to leave. Turkey, an important destination for migrant workers from Tajikistan, has also dropped visa-free entry for Tajiks since the attack.
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— This story was published in issue 564 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on April 15 2024
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2024
APRIL 12 2024 (The Bulletin) — Ararat Mirzoyan, Armenia’s foreign minister, skipped a meeting of the Kremlin-led Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in Minsk, highlighting Yerevan’s desire to move out of Russia’s sphere of influence. The CIS was formed during the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union. Georgia and Ukraine have quit and Moldova has suspended its membership.
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— This story was published in issue 564 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on April 15 2024
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APRIL 11 2024 (The Bulletin) — Georgia and China signed a mutual visa waiver designed to boost tourism and business links. Under the new rules, Chinese citizens will be allowed to stay in Georgia for 30 days without a visa. China has looked to boost relations with Georgia over the past few years as it sees the country as a waypoint on its Belt and Road trade route to Europe. It has set up an airline in Tbilisi and laid on direct flights from several Chinese cities.
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— This story was published in issue 564 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on April 15 2024
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TBILISI/APRIL 11 2024 (The Bulletin) — — Thousands of people protested in Tbilisi against the Georgian Dream government’s attempt to re-impose a Kremlin-inspired “foreign agents” law.
Its move to impose the law a year after riots forced it to abandon its first attempt came as Kyrgyzstan adopted its own version of the law that crimps Western-funded NGOs and media groups.
“This is a Russian law,” said one of the protesters gathered in central Tbilisi. Many waved the blue and gold flag of the European Commission and accused the Georgian Dream of being a Kremlin stooge.
Although Georgia fought a war against Russia in 2008 over its breakaway territories, the Georgian Dream has kept Georgia officially neutral over the Russia-Ukraine war and has even improved some business and education-related ties with the Kremlin
Salome Zurabishvili, Georgia’s pro-West president, called the “foreign agents” law a betrayal of Georgia’s newly won EU candidate status.
“This is a Russian dream,” she said in a dig at the Georgian Dream’s name
The EU said that the “foreign agents” bill was “incompatible” with Georgia’s push to join the bloc and Freedom House, a US human rights group, said that Georgia was becoming a “semi-consolidated authoritarian regime”.
The Georgian Dream has said that the law is needed to reduce foreign influence in its politics and to promote funding transparency. It also said that opposition parties had misled people last year by misrepresenting the law to score political points, a charge rejected by opposition leaders.
Opposition activists have accused the Kremlin of using its 2012 law to stamp out dissent.
Kyrgyzstan has also been criticised for adopting its own version of the “foreign agents” law.
“The legislation that restricts civil society organisations’ ability to operate freely could have a negative impact on the Kyrgyz society and their cooperation with international partners,” said the EU.
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— This story was published in issue 564 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on April 15 2024
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APRIL 9 2024 (The Bulletin) — Azerbaijan aims to increase gas supplies to the EU by 17% by 2026, said Socar, the Azerbaijani state energy company. Azerbaijan has been boosting supplies to the EU since Europe cut relations with Russia after it invaded Ukraine in 2022.
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— This story was published in issue 564 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on April 15 2024
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APRIL 8 2024 (The Bulletin) — India posted its first defence attache to its embassy in Yerevan, a sign military ties between the two countries are hardening. Armenia has started to buy weapons from India since downgrading relations with Russia last year. Armenian media also reported that Armenia will post its first defence attache at its enlarged embassy in London, another sign that it is shifting its strategic thinking away from Russia and towards the West.
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— This story was published in issue 564 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on April 15 2024
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APRIL 8 2024 (The Bulletin) — Turkey wants to streamline customs rules for goods carried from Asia to Europe along the 829km Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, part of a wider effort to boost the so-called Middle Corridor transport route (April 8). Turkish media reported that the new rules will exempt goods from physical checks, relying more heavily on x-ray images. This, officials said, should speed up journey times.
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— This story was published in issue 564 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on April 15 2024
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2024