DEC. 15 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The US and Europe piled more pressure on Azerbaijan over its human rights record. New Jersey representative Chris Smith introduced a bill in the US Congress that would ban Azerbaijani officials from receiving US visas. The Council of Europe also said it would check whether Azerbaijan is compliant with the European Convention on Human Rights.
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(News report from Issue No. 261, published on Dec. 20 2015)
DEC. 10 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Afghanistan has signed an electricity supply deal with Uzbekistan which is 10% larger than last year to meet rising demand, a source at the state- owned Uzbekenergo told Russian media. Uzbekistan is an important supplier of electricity to northern Afghanistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 260, published on Dec. 11 2015)
DEC. 7 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia and the European Union started negotiating a new treaty that would deepen bilateral relations in trade, energy, the environment and transport. The negotiations are particularly poignant as Armenia is now a member of the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union. Two years ago, too, Armenia rejected a deal to deepen ties with the EU.
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(News report from Issue No. 260, published on Dec. 11 2015)
DEC. 10 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia and China have agreed to begin free trade talks, an important step in strengthening relations. China has become an important economic player in Georgia. Georgia’s economy minister, Dimitri Kumsishvili, said he wanted to see Georgian wine and other agricultural goods exported to China.
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(News report from Issue No. 260, published on Dec. 11 2015)
DEC. 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Iran could send most of its enriched uranium supply to Kazakhstan under a US-negotiated deal that would allow sanctions to be lifted, the Wall Street Journal reported quoting sources. Iran has to transfer its enriched uranium to a third country to comply with conditions to remove sanctions.
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(News report from Issue No. 260, published on Dec. 11 2015)
DEC. 10 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev flew to China for talks with Chinese president Xi Jingping to discuss developing the South Caucasus as a transport corridor. Azerbaijan has been boosting its status as a gateway between the east and west.
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(News report from Issue No. 260, published on Dec. 11 2015)
DEC. 10 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Belarusian president Aleksandr Lukashenko flew into Ashgabat for talks with Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berymukhamedov on how to develop bilateral relations next year. Belarusian companies are involved in mining and fertiliser production in Turkmenistan. Mr Lukashenko was returning from Vietnam.
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(News report from Issue No. 260, published on Dec. 11 2015)
DEC. 10 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan once again formally complained to the OSCE, Europe’s security and democracy watchdog, about plans by Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to build new dams on the upstream river system
The complaint is a reminder of Uzbekistan’s opposition to hydro- power development in Central Asia’s upstream water system.
The Tajik and Kyrgyz governments see building new dams and hydro- power systems as essential for their countries’ development, and specific to meeting new power demands from Pakistan who they will serve through the CASA-1000 project. Uzbekistan sees the hydro- power systems as a threat to its cotton industry and agriculture.
CASA-1000 is the $1b World Bank- backed project for Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to generate electricity to export to Pakistan, via Afghanistan. This project hinges on a series of new dams being built in Tajikistan, including the Rogun Dam on the Vakhsh River, part of the wider Amu Darya system.
Relations between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have become so strained in the past over the issue that at times it has threatened to destabilise the region.
With the final deal on CASA-1000 signed in Istanbul earlier this month, relations between Uzbekistan and its upstream neighbours are likely to become more strained, as this latest complaint appears to forewarn.
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(News report from Issue No. 260, published on Dec. 11 2015)
NOV. 27 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The European Union confirmed that it was preparing to give Georgia a grant of 100m euro to help improve parts of its society and business climate. Most of the grant is directed to Georgia’s agriculture sector but public bodies and utilities will also receive a chunk of the grant.
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(News report from Issue No. 259, published on Dec. 4 2015)
NOV. 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenian hackers broke into the Azerbaijani Central Bank network and stole personal data from thousands of people, media reported. This is the second hacker attack on Azerbaijani state websites this year. In June, hackers stole thousands of people’s data from the Azerbaijani customs website.
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(News report from Issue No. 259, published on Dec. 4 2015)