SEPT. 6 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan officially reopened the Dostuk (Friendship) border crossing point that has been closed since ethnic fighting in Osh, Kyrgyzstan, in 2010. The Dostuk checkpoint is one of the most important in the Ferghana Valley and its reopening is considered a major indicator of improved relations between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
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— This story was first published in issue 343 of The Conway Bulletin on Sept. 15 2017
SEPT. 9 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — On a visit to Astana lead by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish businesses signed deals worth $590m, Kazakh officials said according to local media. Turkish media said that investments by Turkish business in Kazakhstan now topped $2.1b. These investments are mainly in the construction sector.
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— This story was first published in issue 343 of The Conway Bulletin on Sept. 15 2017
SEPT. 4 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Iran has lifted an export tax on foodstuffs being sent to Central Asia and the South Caucasus, media quoted Abdollah Mohajer, the head of Mazandaran Province Chamber of Commerce, as saying. The export tax had covered a range of products including pistachio nuts, cabbages, dates and raisins. Ditching the export tax is likely to drop the price of sending foodstuffs to Central Asia by up to 20%. Iran is increasingly trying to tap into Central Asia and the South Caucasus as natural export markets for is various products.
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(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)
AUG. 31 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russia’s Gazprom started pumping gas to Armenia again after month-long repairs to the North Caucasus-Transcaucasus pipeline that crosses Georgia were finished. The pipeline had been the only import route for gas into Armenia, although over the past couple of years Armenia has been negotiating gas supply deals with neighbouring Iran.
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(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)
SEPT. 1 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev plans to visit Turkey in October, media reported by quoting Turkish government officials. The meeting will be one of Mr Mirziyoyev’s most significant since taking office in September 2016. Relations between Uzbekistan and Turkey under Mr Mirziyoyev’s predecessor, Islam Karimov, were strained. Turkey, though, is prominent in the region and can play a more involved role in Uzbekistan’s affairs.
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(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)
AUG. 30 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgian PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili flew to Ashgabat for talks with Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov that focused on transit cooperation and various energy projects. Turkmenistan has become increasingly vocal about using the Caspian Sea transit route to export gas. Georgia is key stage-post on this route as it hosts pipelines running from Baku and the Black Sea port of Batumi is a major entrance into, and exit from, the region.
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(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)
AUG. 31 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia is discussing a potential $300m investment with China to build a copper smelting plant, media quoted Armenian economic development minister Suren Karayan as saying. China has been increasingly busy in pushing its investment portfolio in Armenia. It wants to boost its presence across Central Asia and the South Caucasus as part of its “Belt and Road” trade strategy.
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(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)
SEPT. 1 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — On a trip to Beijing, Tajik president Emomali Rakhmon agreed to a general boost in relations with China that included a clause to increase intelligence sharing. China has been increasing its security and diplomatic efforts across Central Asia over the past few years, part of its ‘Belt and Road’ initiative to boost trade with Europe. Last year it also agreed to build a network of security outposts along Tajikistan’s border with Afghanistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)
BISHKEK, AUG. 30 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller officially unveiled a renovated section of the gas pipeline that pumps gas from Bukhara in Uzbekistan to Kyrgyzstan and on to Kazakhstan.
The pipeline renovation is seen as a major piece of regional infrastructure that should improve access to heat and electricity for residents of Bishkek and other Kyrgyz cities. It also highlights the power of Gazprom in the region. It bought the Kyrgyz gas distribution business in Kyrgyzstan in 2013 for a symbolic $1, promising to improve its performance.
The opening of the new pipeline will go along way to making good on this promise and also towards strengthening Russia’s soft power impact in the region.
“The reconstruction of the Kyrgyz section of the Bukhara Gas-Bearing Province – Tashkent – Bishkek – Almaty gas pipeline has taken us to the next level in terms of reliability of gas supplies not only to the north of the Kyrgyz Republic, but also to the south of Kazakhstan,” media quoted Mr Miller as saying.
Gazprom officials said that the capacity of the pipeline had been doubled and that nearly 2,000 extra homes in Kyrgyzstan had been added to the mains gas network.
Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambayev was also at the opening ceremony of the pipeline. His presence underscored the pipeline’s significance and also how it connects neighbours with often fractious relations. Previously, under Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan had withheld gas deliveries to Kyrgyzstan as a weapon.
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(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)
AUG. 29 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) –The Israeli government has suspended the licence of weapons manufacturer Aeronautics Defense Systems for allegedly showing off a new drone weapon to Azerbaijani clients by attacking Armenian forces in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The case shows both the growing military partnership between Israel and Azerbaijan and also the lengths that Israeli defence companies will go to win contracts with their Azerbaijani counterparts.
Aeronautics Defense Systems made the disclosure to the Israeli stock market.
“The Defense Ministry’s Defense Export Controls Agency informed the company that it was suspending the marketing and export permit for the company’s Orbiter 1K model UAV to a significant customer,” it said in a statement.
A couple of weeks earlier, Israeli newspaper had reported on a leaked complaint made to the Israeli defence ministry. It said that officials from Aeronautics Defense Systems had travelled to Azerbaijan in July to show off their Orbiter 1K suicide drone that is packed with explosives and deliberately flown into an enemy position.
During the demonstration, the reports said, Azerbaijani officials asked Aeronautics Defense Systems to attack an Armenian position in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The two controllers of the drone refused but two other members of the Aeronautics Defense Systems team took the controls and attacked the Armenian position.
The alliance between Azerbaijan and Israel has been growing. Azerbaijan is one of the biggest importers of Israeli military kit and in 2012 Israel also reportedly made a deal with Azerbaijan to use its airbases in a preemptive attack on neighbouring Iran.
Armenia-backed forces currently control the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh which hey fought over in the 1990s.
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(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)