Tag Archives: international relations

Russia defence min visits Turkmenistan

JUNE 9 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Sergei Shiogu, the Russian defence minister, travelled to Turkmenistan for talks with Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, opening the door to improved military cooperation. Turkmenistan has long professed a policy of neutrality and has kept a distance from Russia-led military blocks in the region. Now Turkmenistan could be looking to import military kit from Russia, according to Russian media.

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(News report from Issue No. 284, published on June 10 2016)

Azerbaijan’s President travels to Germany

JUNE 6,7 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev travelled to Berlin on his first trip to Europe since releasing from prison a number of journalists and opposition activists often described by European Union leaders as political prisoners.

Mr Aliyev’s objective appeared to be to encourage German investment in Azerbaijan. He met with several business leaders and policymakers, including Chancellor Angela Merkel.

But Emin Milli, director of Meydan TV, an Azerbaijani opposition Berlin- based media outlet, said Azerbaijan needs loans to fill budget gaps created by a collapse in oil prices.

“With the fall of the oil price and the looming economic crisis which causes some socio-economic unrest in the country, the government needs more legitimacy among the public,” Mr Milli told the Conway Bulletin.

“They can’t get it through falsified elections, so they try to extend their influence abroad, through handshakes and photo opportunities with Western leaders, such as Angela Merkel or Barack Obama.”

He also said this may have been the motivation behind the release of investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova last month.

The visit came four days after the German parliament recognised the 1915 mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide. The move angered Turkey, but also prompted a harsh reaction in Baku, Ankara’s closest ally.

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(News report from Issue No. 284, published on June 10 2016)

Saudi Arabia builds influence in Tajikistan

DUSHANBE, JUNE 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Saudi Arabia has agreed to build a new parliament building in the centre of Dushanbe, seen as an effort to curry influence.

Plans for the new parliament involve tearing down several Soviet- era buildings such as the current parliament building, the city administration, the ministry of agriculture and apartment blocks. The Iranian embassy will also be demolished to create space for the Saudi-financed parliament. Iran and Saudi Arabia are major regional rivals.

Saudi Arabia agreed in principle to fund the new parliament building when Tajik President Emomali

Rakhmon visited Riyadh in January. Media has now reported that this was confirmed in May when Abdullah Ibn- Muhammad al Ash-Sheikh, the speaker of Saudi Parliament, visited Dushanbe.

Mr Rakhmon is keen on constructing extravagant buildings in Dushanbe including a flagpole that had at one time been the world’s tallest and Central Asia’s largest library. The largest theatre and biggest mosque in Central Asia are also planned. But with the economy stalling, remittances from Russia drying up and the financial system creaking, ordinary Tajiks are angry.

Romiz, a 34-year-old construction worker, told the Conway Bulletin that the authorities should be building something more useful.

“For instance, hospitals, schools, children’s centres, sport complexes, elderly houses. Is it necessary to build a palace for these idlers?” he said.

A Dushanbe-based analyst, who asked to remain anonymous, said that constructing a new building is part of Saudi Arabia’s attempt to play a more important role in the region.

“Tajikistan itself is not interesting for Saudi. They do all this only as part of their regional game against Iran,” he said.

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(News report from Issue No. 284, published on June 10 2016)

Czech rep. pledges support to Armenia

JUNE 7/9 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Czech president Milos Zeman made a state visit to Armenia during which he promised to bolster trade and diplomatic ties between the two countries and also push the Czech parliament to recognise the genocide of 1.5m Armenians by Ottoman Turks a century ago. Recognition of the Armenian Genocide is a cornerstone of Armenian foreign policy. Earlier this month, Germany’s parliament recognised the genocide, angering Turkey which rejects the charge.

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(News report from Issue No. 284, published on June 10 2016)

EEU holds meeting in Kazakh capital

MAY 30 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — At a meeting in Astana, leaders of the Russia-backed Eurasian Economic Union delayed the establishment of a single energy market to 2025. Previously, the EEU’s plan was to roll out a barrier-free single market for oil and gas by 2024. The parties did not comment on the reasons for the delay.

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(News report from Issue No. 283, published on June 3 2016)

Tajikistan completes construction of power line

MAY 31 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajikistan completed the construction of a power line that will link two Afghan villages to the Tajik grid, bringing electricity to around 3,000 Afghans for the first time. The US Embassy in Dushanbe and the Aga Khan Foundation jointly funded the $1.5m project. The power line will bring electricity from Tajikistan’s Gorno– Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast across the Panj river which marks the boundary with Afghanistan.

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(News report from Issue No. 283, published on June 3 2016)

S. Ossetian fighters detain Georgian man

JUNE 2 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Fighters linked to the Georgian breakaway region of South Ossetia detained a Georgian man for illegally crossing the border, said Georgia’s government. Akaki Misireli, 65, was sent to a detention centre in Tskhinvali, the capital of the de facto state that was the focus of a brief war between Russia and Georgia in 2008. South Ossetian forces released Mr Misireli later but the incident highlights just how sensitive the border around the breakaway region is.

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(News report from Issue No. 283, published on June 3 2016)

Kazakh electricity company eyes up CASA-1000

MAY 20 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — KEGOC, a state-owned electricity distributor in Kazakhstan, said it would be open to exporting electricity to Afghanistan and Pakistan through the CASA-1000 line. The CASA-1000 project is scheduled for completion by 2020.

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(News report from Issue No. 282, published on May 27 2016)

Georgia accuses Russia of killing man

MAY 20 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s government accused Russian soldiers patrolling along the border of the breakaway region of Abkhazia of shooting dead one of its citizens.

The foreign ministry issued a statement which said that Giga Otkhozoria, 31, had been shot six times while he had been on the Georgian side of the border.

“This criminal act once again demonstrates the highly alarming situation in the occupied region of Abkhazia, Georgia and the full responsibility for it lies with the Russian Federation as it is effectively in control of the region,” Georgia’s foreign ministry said.

Russia denied the allegations.

“The Georgian MFA used this case for its usual propaganda exercise,” the Russian foreign ministry said.

Relations between Georgia and Russia have been improving since Mikheil Saakashvili lost power in Georgia in 2013. Under his presidency, Georgia had fought a brief war with Russia in August 2008 for control of South Ossetia.

Russia defeated Georgia and strengthened its military support to South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Over the last three years, relations between Russia and Georgia have improved although border incidents expose the unease between the two neighbours.

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(News report from Issue No. 282, published on May 27 2016)

Chinese leader to visit Azerbaijan

MAY 22/23 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Chinese President Xi Jingping will make his first visit to Azerbaijan later this year, a major boost for Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev who has appeared an increasingly fringe figure on the international stage after the arrests of dozens of critics and the outbreak of violence in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Six months after Mr Aliyev visited Beijing, a delegation from China, led by Presidential Special Envoy Meng Jianzhu, arrived in Baku to prepare the way for Mr Xi.

It will be his first visit to the South Caucasus, underlining China’s interest in the region.

During the meeting with President Aliyev on May 22, Mr Meng reiterated his country’s interest to expand ties with Azerbaijan, particularly in law enforcement, security and cyber crime. The following day, Azerbaijan and China signed a memorandum of cooperation in the security sector.

Zohrab Ismayilov, an Azerbaijani independent economist and analyst, told the Conway Bulletin that Mr Aliyev has grown increasingly interested in China as Azerbaijan’s economy has been hard hit following the sharp drop in oil prices.

“Mr Aliyev is trying to find a third reliable partner and continues to manoeuvre between Russia and the West,” he said.

“Also, the government assumes that Chinese investments will be politically less risky than investments from Moscow or the West as Beijing does not have a strong geopolitical interest in the region.”

China became one of Azerbaijan’s top ten trading partners for the first time in 2015 with trade worth $565m. This compares to $2.8b of trade with Russia, its top partner.

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(News report from Issue No. 282, published on May 27 2016)