Tag Archives: international relations

EU signs deal with Uzbekistan to develop “critical raw materials”

APRIL 5 2024 (The Bulletin) — The EU signed a deal with Uzbekistan to develop “critical raw material” (CRM) supply chains. The deal puts the EU into direct competition with China which has already signed uranium mining deals with Uzbekistan this year. The EU has been signing CRM deals since 2021 and already has an agreement signed with Kazakhstan.

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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

Hungary wants more migrant workers from Uzbekistan

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APRIL 8 2024 (The Bulletin) — Hungary wants to attract more migrant labour from Uzbekistan, Uzbekistan reported. Hungary is an observer member of the Organisation of Turkic States, an economic group hinged around Turkey. Hungary qualifies through linguistic links to the pan-Turkic region and has been keen to leverage more business links. Last year, OTP Bank, a Hungarian bank, bought Uzbekistan’s fifth largest bank.

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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

Hardline Russian politician calls for invasion of Kazakhstan

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APRIL 7 2024 (The Bulletin) — A hardline Russian politician resumed his calls for the Kremlin to invade Kazakhstan, setting off another debate in Kazakhstan about the readiness of its army and relations with Russia. The supposedly clandestine recording of Andriy Gurulyov, a Russian Duma deputy and a former army general, said that Kazakhstan should be next because it is “ungrateful”. Several Kremlin propagandists have called on Russia to invade Kazakhstan but Kazakh officials have played down the threat.

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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

Aliyev hosts president of Republic of the Congo

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BAKU/APRIL 4 2024 (The Bulletin) — Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan’s president, hosted Denis Sassou Nguesso, president of the Republic of the Congo, in what analysts said was part of Azerbaijan’s pre-COP29 diplomatic push.

Although no major deals were signed, both leaders said that their meeting in Baku had laid the foundation for more bilateral cooperation, especially in the energy sector.

“We have had a wide exchange of views with you today on cooperation in energy and agriculture sectors, and still there is no difference of opinion,” said Mr Aliyev. “We look forward to working together on COP29 and thank you for your support.”

The visit by Mr Nguesso was a rare one by an African leader to Baku and highlights Mr Aliyev’s growing status and also how Azerbaijan’s low key but expansive diplomatic push is paying off.

In Africa, Azerbaijan has opened embassies in Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Morocco and South Africa.

In power since 2003, analysts have said that Mr Aliyev has impressed other hardman leaders with his longevity and his defeat of ethnic Armenian forces over disputed land. Azerbaijan’s closeness with the Kremlin and gas trades with the EU, as well as its chairmanship of the COP29 environmental summit, have also given it kudos in certain circles.

“We have huge potential in the field of renewable energy, we have the sun all year round, and we can take advantage of Azerbaijan’s rich experience in this field,” said Mr Nguesso.

Mr Aliyev has been trying to woo African states for some time, carefully building relations.

He chaired the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in 2019-2022, a Cold War-era talking shop that was favoured by African countries looking to balance the US and the USSR.

During his tenure as NAM chairman, Mr Aliyev criticised France’s “neo-colonialism in Africa”, a dig linked to Paris’ support for Armenia.

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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

Azerbaijan appoints first ambassador to Israel

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JAN. 11 2023 (The Bulletin) — Azerbaijan appointed its first-ever ambassador to Israel. The appointment came as its relations with Iran continued to sour. It has boosted relations with Israel over the past few years, trading oil for weapons. Israel has previously said that in the event of war with Iran, it will use air bases in Azerbaijan.

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— This story was published in issue 532 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Jan. 16 2023

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2023

Kazakh government sets up “yurts of invincibility” in Ukraine

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JAN. 6 2023 (The Bulletin) — The Kazakh government set up two so-called “yurts of invincibility” in Kyiv and Bucha to give people warm food and drinks and allow them to power up their mobile phones. Ukraine’s government has set up various “points of invincibility” to help people cope with a bombing campaign by Russia aimed at knocking out civilian heat and power sources. Russia has accused Kazakhstan of siding with its enemies.

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— This story was published in issue 532 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Jan. 16 2023

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2023

Turkey lifts ban on sending cargo flights to Armenia

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JAN. 6 2023 (The Bulletin) — Turkey lifted a ban on cargo flights to Armenia, part of its package to “normalise” relations. The move was agreed in July 2022 and is designed to lay the foundations for the slow opening of the Armenia-Turkey border. There have been no diplomatic or trade relations between Turkey and Armenia since 1993 when the border was closed. Armenia and Turkey have agreed to open the border to citizens of third countries although they have not put a timeline on this.

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— This story was published in issue 532 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Jan. 16 2023

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2023

China stops processing cargo from Central Asia

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ALMATY/BISHKEK/OCT. 27 2021 (The Bulletin) — China has stopped processing rail cargo to and from Central Asia at its Khorgos terminal on the Kazakhstan-China border because it is prioristing a backlog of wagons heading to Europe.

A Beijing-based official from Kazakhstan’s national railway company Temir Zholy told media that there were 3,000 railway wagons stuck at the border trying to get into Kazakhstan and 7,000 trying to get into China.

“The main demand from the Chinese side is for container trains to the EU,” the official was quoted as saying. “They account for 90% of all traffic, while in the direction of Central Asia only 10%.”

Freight networks in Central Asia are under increasing pressure. Kyrgyz officials have also said that their usual border crossings directly into China at the Torugart and Irkeshtam passes are either closed or reduced to a fraction of their pre-coronavirus traffic, forcing most truck drivers to cross into Kazakhstan and head for Khorgos.

Not only is this a major detour but Kyrgyz truck drivers have said that Kazakh officials harass them. The head of the Kyrgyz Freight Carriers Association Temirbek Shabdanaliev said that he thought that Kazakh customs officials had been told to harass Kyrgyz drivers to put Chinese companies off using the Kyrgyzstan route into Central Asia.

“Our drivers have to unload and load several times, often in bad weather. This takes five or six days,” he said.

Kazakh officials have said they are trying to clamp down on smuggling.

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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

Turkmen foreign minister flies to Kabul for Taliban meeting

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OCT. 27 2021 (The Bulletin) — Turkmen officials were preparing to fly to Kabul after the Taliban government said that it supported its moves to build a gas pipeline, dubbed TAPI, across the country.

The project is important to Turkmen leader Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov because he wants to diversify Turkmenistan’s gas clients away from an over-reliance on China. The Western-backed government in Afghanistan had supported the TAPI plans but there were some concerns that the Taliban, which took control of Afghanistan in August, might ditch it.

Turkmen officials, though, have taken a comparatively soft line towards the Taliban since they took power, opening up lines of communications and sending aid. Now, it seems, the Taliban have decided to back TAPI.

In a statement, the acting Taliban minister for mines and petroleum, Mohammed Issa Akhund, said that the project would now go ahead, although he didn’t give dates.

“We have been working hard for some time and we are ready to take pride in starting work on the TAPI project,” he said.

The pipeline is slated to carry 33b cubic metres of gas across Afghanistan to Pakistan and India from Turkmenistan’s giant Galkynysh field once it is completed, an ambitious plan by Turkmenistan to turn itself into the region’s main gas exporter.

Under the current plans, Afghanistan would keep about 5% of the gas supplies and also earn hundreds of millions of dollars in transit fees.

Separately, the Taliban government also said that it will pay Uzbekistan millions of dollars in fees it owes for electricity purchases. Like Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan has looked to engage with the Taliban government in Afghanistan since it took control of the country, hosting its officials in Termez and sending envoys to Kabul.

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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

Tajikistan approves construction of Chinese military base

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BISHKEK/OCT. 22/27 2021 (The Bulletin) — — Tajikistan approved the construction of a Chinese military base and Kyrgyzstan ordered military drones from Turkey, deals that challenge Russia’s traditional security dominance in Central Asia.

Under this new agreement, China will build a military base on Tajikistan’s border with Afghanistan and publicly acknowledge a base that it has operated in the Pamir mountains for the past couple of years, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported by quoting what it described as a “communique sent from the Chinese Embassy in Dushanbe to Tajikistan’s Foreign Ministry”.

These are the only Chinese military bases in Central Asia and show just much influence China has built up in Tajikistan over the past few of years. Neither the Tajik nor Chinese governments have commented on the Chinese base expansion.

Kyrgyz officials were more open about their military deals with Turkey.

Kamchybek Tashiev, deputy PM and chairman of the Kazakh National Security Committee, said that the Kyrgyz military had placed an order for the Bayraktar TB2 drone.

“ Turkey is currently constructing Bayraktar drones for us,” media quoted him as saying. These drones are credited with helping Azerbaijan defeat Armenia in a war for Nagorno-Karabakh last year.

A couple of days later, Kyrgyz interior minister Ulan Niyazbekov flew to Istanbul to meet his Turkish counterpart. Turkish media reported that a bilateral security deal was imminent. The deals highlight Pres. Sadyr Japarov’s policy of cosying up to hardmen leaders since he took power in a coup last year.

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