Tag Archives: international relations

AZerbaijani police detain Shiite clerics

OCT. 19 2021 (The Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s security services detained several Shiite clerics in what has been interpreted as an action designed to pressure Iran. Azerbaijan released two Iranian lorry drivers this month, a de-escalation of tension between the two neighbours since it erected checkpoints on a stretch of road that links Iran and Yerevan.

>>See page 6 for story on Iran-Armenia road and customs deals

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— This story was published in issue 505 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Oct. 28 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Worried about the Taliban, Tajikistan mobilise entire army

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DUSHANBE/JULY 22 2021 (The Bulletin) — Tajikistan mobilised its entire army and put it on “high alert” for the first time since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union as worries intensified about a move north into Central Asia by the Taliban.

Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan also mobilised their armies and Russia said that it was sending extra military hardware to its base in Tajikistan.

Media quoted a military source in Tajikistan as saying that the Taliban now controls around 80% of Afghanistan’s border with Tajikistan. It has pounced on Afghan government military weakness since the US started to withdraw its forces in May.

In a statement, the Tajik ministry of defence said that it had ordered the mobilisation of all its 100,000 regular soldiers, and another 130,000 reservists. Inspecting some of these forces in Dushanbe, Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon said that the Tajik military had to be ready to defend its borders.

“The situation in neighbouring Afghanistan, especially in the northern regions bordering with our country, remains very difficult and uncertain. The situation is getting more complicated day by day and even hour after hour,” he said.

Earlier this month, hundreds of Afghan government soldiers fled across the Uzbek and Tajik borders to escape the Taliban which now controls most of the northern section of Afghanistan, including the important border crossings into Central Asia, for the first time.

Also in Tajikistan, media said that Russia was sending an extra 17 BMP-2s to its base. The BMP-2 is a cross between an armoured personnel carrier and a tank that Russian infantry favour when deploying into battle. The Kommersant newspaper also reported that Russia had offered the US use of its base as a listening post to spy on the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Elsewhere in Central Asia, news leaked out of Turkmenistan of a road accident that killed 30 soldiers when, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a military convoy collided with a truck and another vehicle. The RFE/RL source said the scene was “horrible”.

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— This story was published in issue 493 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 22 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Iran talks up trade deals with the EEAU

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JULY 21 2021 (The Bulletin) — Iranian diplomats are talking up a trade agreement with the Kremlin-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEAU) which they hope will create a series of free trade zones that will spur joint projects. The EEAU includes Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Belarus. Media reported that a group of 40 Iranian businessmen had flown to Bishkek to look at potential investments in Kyrgyzstan.

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— This story was published in issue 493 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 22 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Skirmishes intensify between Azerbaijan and Armenia

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JULY 20 2021 (The Bulletin) — Militaries of both Azerbaijan and Armenia reported that skirmishes along their shared borders had intensified. Some reports even said that heavy weapons had been brought up from the rear. Analysts said that the visit to Moscow by Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev may have sparked off the intensified skirmishes. With the help of Turkey, Azerbaijan defeated Armenia in a war last year for control of Nagorno-Karabakh.

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— This story was published in issue 493 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 22 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Putin wants more aviation cooperation with Central Asia

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JULY 20 2021 (The Bulletin) — In a clear pitch for Russia’s aviation business, Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin said that he wanted to deepen Russia’s cooperation in the aviation sector with other member states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). Mr Putin was speaking at the opening of the MAKS 2021, air show in Zhukovsky, Russia. The EAEU includes Belarus, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.

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— This story was published in issue 493 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 22 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

US talks up new Afghanistan group with Uzbekistan and Pakistan

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TASHKENT/JULY 16 2021 (The Bulletin) –The US heralded a new “quad regional support” group for Afghanistan after a meeting in Tashkent with officials from Uzbekistan and Pakistan.

Since the US began to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan in May, the Taliban has expanded across the country, leaving the US struggling to project a different narrative.

It has previously said that Central Asia should play an important role in the rehabilitation of Afghanistan and with successful trials of a trade route between Pakistan and Uzbekistan, which crossed Afghanistan before the advance of the Taliban, US diplomats are now promoting this axis.

“Recognising the historic opportunity to open flourishing interregional trade routes, the parties intend to cooperate to expand trade, build transit links, and strengthen business-to-business ties,” a US spokesman said.

Despite the upbeat rhetoric, though, the reality on the ground may dash any real hopes of increased trade between Pakistan and Uzbekistan, via Afghanistan.

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— This story was published in issue 493 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 22 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Georgian government says it is surprised by criticism of judge appointments

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JULY 16 2021 (The Bulletin) — Georgian Dream chairman Irakli Kobakhidze said that he was surprised and disappointed by criticism from EU and US over the appointment of new Supreme Court judges. He said that the appointments had not broken an April 19 peace deal made with the opposition because they had been made before the agreement was signed.

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— This story was published in issue 493 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 22 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Arbitration is damaging our reputation, says Kazakhstan’s Dariga Nazarbayeva

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JUNE 16 2021 (The Bulletin) — Dariga Nazarbayeva, daughter of former Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and an MP, said that Kazakhstan had to avoid getting dragged into international arbitration proceedings as they were damaging the country’s reputation as a place to do business. She specifically mentioned the long-running arbitration between Kazakhstan and Moldovan Anatoli Stati over an oil field which he says was illegally expropriated.

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— This story was published in issue 48 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on June 16 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Erdogan flaunts his power in Central Asia and the South Caucasus

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BAKU/JUNE 15 2021 (The Bulletin) — Turkish Pres. Recep Tayyip Erdogan showed off the influence he has built up in the region by visiting a town captured by Azerbaijan in a war against Armenia last year and by hosting Kyrgyz Pres. Sadyr Japarov for only his second visit to a foreign leader outside Central Asia since grabbing power in October.

With Azerbaijani Pres. Ilham Aliyev by his side Mr Erdogan toured Shusha, Azerbaijan’s biggest trophy from its victory over Armenia for control of Nagorno-Karabakh, in what some analysts described as a victory lap.

Turkey helped Azerbaijan in the war, supplying drones and military advisers. In return, it now has a permanent military presence in Azerbaijan and can count on Baku’s staunch loyalty.

“We call on everyone, who has an influence on the region, to see the facts, acknowledge the Azerbaijani people’s victory and look to the future,” Mr Erdogan said after signing the ‘Shusha Declaration’ with Mr Aliyev. Armenia criticised his visit to Shusha as provocative.

On June 9, Mr Japarov, the Kyrgyz president, had flown to Ankara to meet with Mr Erdogan. Other than two meetings with Russia’s Pres. Vladimir Putin, this was his first trip outside Central Asia since taking power last year. At their meeting, the two leaders talked up relations and the threat from Gulenists, followers of an exiled cleric that Mr Erdogan blames for a failed coup in 2016.

There was no mention, though, of Orhan Inandi, a Kyrgyz-Turkish Gulenist businessman and educator who disappeared in Bishkek in May. His wife has said that Turkish security forces abducted him and are holding him in the Turkish embassy in Bishkek.

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— This story was published in issue 48 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on June 16 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Azerbaijan to open embassy in Sarajevo

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JUNE 14 2021 (The Bulletin) — Azerbaijani Pres. Ilham Aliyev ordered his government to open an embassy in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia Herzegovina. Bosnia Herzegovina has become something of a geopolitical battleground for influence and Mr Aliyev may want to support his key ally, Turkey. Turkey wants to extend its influence in Europe through one of the continent’s only Muslim countries.

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— This story was published in issue 48 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on June 16 2021