Tag Archives: international relations

Iran deal to give region an economic boost

JULY 16 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Governments across Central Asia and the South Caucasus welcomed a deal between the West and Iran over its nuclear programme that will allow sanctions on Tehran to be lifted, boosting their southern neighbour as an important trade partner once again.

Sanctions have weighed down Iran’s economy since 2002, stunting demand and undercutting its value to the region.

Central Asian and South Caucasus countries have legally been able to trade with Iran during the Western-imposed sanctions, but Iran’s economy had faltered. They now hope that, unshackled, Iran can generate wealth and demand throughout the region once again.

“It will have a positive impact on the economic and social development of all countries in the region, and will further strengthen the cooperation between Kazakhstan and Iran,” Kazakh foreign minister Erlan Idrissov said of the deal with Iran.

From Dushanbe to Yerevan, these sentiments were echoed across the region.

Georgia’s foreign ministry said in a statement: “(This) deal brings about normalisation of relations between Iran and Western countries, which will create new economic opportunities for countries both in the region and in the entire world.”

Iran has, over the past few years, been increasing links with both Central Asia and the South Caucasus.

In Azerbaijan it patched up a row over spying, in Georgia new regulations have allowed Iranians to set up businesses and Armenia has been busy making plans to increase trade with one of its few regional allies.

Its a similar story in Central Asia where ties with Iran are being improved and strengthened through new train links and product swaps.

And Iran’s economic impact on the region is significant. The ArcelorMittal steel factory at Temirtau in central Kazakhstan, for example, has long complained that sanctions on Iran severely dented demand for its steel.

With sanctions soon to be lifted and Iranian domestic and industrial demand primed to rise, Central Asia and the South Caucasus should benefit.

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(News report from Issue No. 240, published on July 16 2015)

Court rules against Russia for detained Georgians

JULY 3 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The European Court of Human Rights (ECRH) in Strasbourg ruled that Russia had broken the European Convention on Human Rights in 2006 and 2007 when it detained hundreds of Georgians in Moscow and deported them. At the time, analysts said the deportations were linked to a Russia-Georgia spy row. The ECRH ruling will likely raise Georgia-Russia tension.

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(News report from Issue No. 239, published on July 9 2015)

US embassy denies it is plotting a coup in Azerbaijan

JULY 9 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Relations between the United States and Azerbaijan appeared to have sunk to a new low after Azerbaijani media accused US ambassador Robert Cekuta of inciting a revolution.

The US embassy published a rare statement refuting the allegations, saying that meetings with opposition groups and media were part of its ongoing mission to listen to all sides of Azerbaijan’s community.

“The Ambassador also continues meeting extensively with top figures in Azerbaijan’s government,” the US embassy statement said.

“The US Embassy is not plotting a coup in Azerbaijan. Nor is it instructing or financing any political party in the country.”

Relations have nose-dived in the past year over Azerbaijan’s crackdown on civil society. Azerbaijan has responded to criticism by accusing the US and Europe of mounting a smear campaign.

The US Peace Corps, a US- government funded organisation which sends teenagers and young adults abroad to live and teach English, has quit Azerbaijan, as has the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The US has also criticised Azerbaijan for jailing opponents of President Ilham Aliyev.

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(News report from Issue No. 239, published on July 9 2015)

Gazprom has not paid for gas says Turkmenistan

JULY 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan’s oil and gas ministry accused Russia’s Gazprom of failing to pay for natural gas it has supplied it with this year, aggravating a bitter row between the two countries.

Gazprom declined to comment. “Since the beginning of 2015, Gazprom has not paid its debts to the state corporation Turkmengaz for the volumes of Turkmen gas it supplied,” the Turkmen government statement said on its website.

“Russian company Gazprom has become insolvent on its natural gas purchase-and-sale contracts due to the continued global economic crisis and economic sanctions imposed by Western nations on Russia.”

Turkmenistan and Russia have publicly rowed before. In 2014, Gazprom slashed the amount of gas it imported from Turkmenistan to 11b cubic metres (bcm). In 2015, it planned to buy 4bcm. This is a huge drop from previous purchases. In 2008, Gazprom bought 40 bcm from Turkmenistan. And the row has also sucked in other sectors.

In 2010, Turkmenistan expelled Russian mobile phone operator MTS from the country. It later re-installed it.

The drop in Russian gas purchases has forced Turkmenistan to look elsewhere for clients. China has become its biggest client and it is trying to win contracts from the European Union.

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(News report from Issue No. 239, published on July 9 2015)

Kyrgyzstan starts campaign to buy local products

JULY 9 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Ahead of its accession to the Eurasian Economic Union later this year, domestic producers in Kyrgyzstan have started a campaign to try and persuade more people to buy locally made products, the 24.kg news agency reported.

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(News report from Issue No. 239, published on July 9 2015)

Indian PM Modi starts Central Asia tour

JULY 6/7/8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Indian PM Narendra Modi started an eight day tour of Central Asia and Russia with stops in Tashkent and Astana, an expedition he hopes will generate energy deals and shore up business links.

This is the first grand tour of Central Asia by an Indian leader, underlining just how seriously the country is now taking the region. But India is also playing catch up with China which has already established deep business and government level links in Central Asia.

The need to deepen relations was acknowledged by Mr Modi in a statement to media he released after meeting Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev.

“I spoke about my vision for India’s relations with Central Asia,” he said.

“Kazakhstan is our biggest economic partner in the region. But, our relations are modest, compared to our potential. We will work together to take economic ties to a new level.”

Despite the rhetoric and good will that Mr Nazarbayev and Uzbek President Islam Karimov before him greeted Mr Modi with, no major deals were announced.

In Tashkent, the two sides said they discussed speeding up a deal to deliver uranium from Uzbekistan to India. In Astana, the Indian and Kazakh delegations also agreed a uranium supply deal and a mechanism to broaden military cooperation.

Mr Modi headed to the Russian city of Ufa on July 9 for a two day break from Central Asia to attend a meeting of the so- called BRICS, and a group that also includes Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa, and a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). India is an observer member of the SCO, an economic/security group headed by Russia and China and focused on Central Asia.

He returns to Central Asia on July 11 with a meeting in Ashgabat with Turkmen leader Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov before travelling to Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

Mr Modi’s meeting with Mr Berdymukhamedov is arguably the most important.

India is the end destination for gas in an ambitious plan to build a pipeline from Turkmeni- stan across Afghanistan and Pakistan.

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(News report from Issue No. 239, published on July 9 2015)

Uzbek migrants go to S.Korea

JULY 6 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – To counter an increase in the number of Uzbek migrant workers returning home from Russia without work, Uzbekistan’s government has asked South Korea to increase the quota of workers it takes, RFE/RL reported. South Korea takes up to 22,500 migrant workers from Uzbekistan.

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(News report from Issue No. 239, published on July 9 2015)

Kyrgyz president awards Kazakh leader

JULY 6 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – BISHKEK — Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambayev awarded Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev the Order of Manas (First Class), Kyrgyzstan’s highest honour, for helping to create the Eurasian Economic Union.

He flew to Astana to give Mr Nazarbayev the award on his 75th birthday, five days after the Kazakh leader ratified Kyrgyzstan’s accession into the Kremlin-led Eurasian Economic Union.

“We feel a strong fraternal support from the Republic of Kazakhstan,” Mr Atambayev said, according to media.

Toktogul Kakcheckeyev, an executive director at the Association of Political Scientists of Kyrgyzstan think tank in Bishkek, explained.

“The Manas award was given by Almazbek Atambayev to Nursultan Nazarbayev because of Nazarbayev’s efforts to develop regional cooperation in terms of Eurasian economic community,” he said. “Originally it was Nazarbayev’s idea to launch regional economic cooperation.”

In 1994, shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union in a speech in Moscow, Mr Nazarbayev spoke rather nostalgically of creating a Eurasian Union. This has now materialised, or, at least a version of that vision.

Still, some observers have said that Mr Atambayev’s award to Mr Nazarbayev was a brazen attempt to curry favour with the most powerful leader in Central Asia.

And Kyrgyzstan has form with this. The Kyrgyz parliament can be relied upon, almost every year, to nominate Mr Nazarbayev for a Nobel Peace Prize for giving up the nuclear weapons that Kazakhstan inherited after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

Mr Nazarbayev is only the twelfth recipient of a First Class Order of Manas in its 19 year history.

Other recipients include Kofi Annan, the former UN Secretary- General.

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(News report from Issue No. 239, published on July 9 2015)

Senators write to Azerbaijani president

JULY 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Sixteen US senators have written to Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev calling on him to improve human rights in the country, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported. Mr Aliyev has previously accused the West of mounting a smear campaign against Azerbaijan.

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(News report from Issue No. 239, published on July 9 2015)

Kyrgyzstan supports SCO expansion

JULY 9 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyz Pres. Almazbek Atambayev said he would support expanding the Russia and China led Shanghai Corporation Organisation (SCO) to include Iran, Pakistan and India, local media reported. The SCO is holding a summit meeting in Ufa, Russia.

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(News report from Issue No. 239, published on July 9 2015)