Tag Archives: international relations

A Kazakh-Kyrgyz bromance blossoms

MARCH 20 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Have we just witnessed Central Asia’s first inter-presidential bromance?

At the inauguration of a new school, Kyrgyzstan’s president Almazbek Atambayev shared some flattering, perhaps even flirtatious, remarks towards his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev.

“I’ve often thought that if instead of Akayev and Bakiyev we had had Nursultan Nazarbayev as our president, everything would have been different,” he said at the opening of a school funded by Kazakhstan.

Mr Atambayev was referencing Akayev and Bakiyev, two former presidents of Kyrgyzstan who were both overthrown in two different revolutions and who are labelled as corrupt and untrustworthy, a sharp contrast to the apparently benign and generous Mr Nazarbayev.
Mr Atambayev showered Mr Nazarbayev with more praise.

“Every time I meet with Nursultan Nazarbayev I am convinced that he is not only the elder of the people of Kazakhstan, but also the Kyrgyz,” he said.

Small and relatively impoverished compared to its northern neighbour, Kyrgyzstan needs to keep Kazakhstan sweet.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)

Aliyev blames the West for anti-Azerbaijan campaign

MARCH 20 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – In a public speech, President Ilham Aliyev blamed the international community for launching an anti-Azerbaijan campaign ahead of the European Games this summer.

This is important because analysts have been saying that Mr Aliyev has increasingly turned his back on the West. The United States and the EU have been increasingly vocal critics of his clampdown on civic society.

“This campaign, in fact, has never been stopped, but in the run-up to important international events this campaign becomes even uglier,” he said.

“We were faced with it three years ago in 2012, on the eve of the Eurovision contest. We are seeing it today, on the eve of the European Games. This is a well-coordinated anti-Azerbaijani campaign managed from one or several centres.”

The inaugural European Games, set to be staged in Baku in June, is a sensitive issue for Mr Aliyev.

He desperately wants to showcase Azerbaijan and to gloss over its more unsightly aspects such as a stalling economy and criticism over its human rights record.

According to the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Azerbaijan is spending $4b on the European Games.

In his speech Mr Aliyev stated that the main reason for the campaign is the current strength of the country. “

“It is also natural that the stronger Azerbaijan gets, the more pressure it comes under. Our independent policy is not to everyone’s liking though,” he said.

Erkin Gadirli of the ReAl oppositional movement said in an interview to Berlin-based Meydan TV that Mr Aliyev’s speech showed that he was increasingly paranoid about criticism in the international media.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)

Putin clears Kyrgyzstan for Eurasian Union accession

MARCH 24 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a protocol that officially cleared Kyrgyzstan’s accession to the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) later this year, Russian media reported. Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Armenia are already members of the EEU.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)

Georgian PM cancels trip to Kiev

MARCH 18 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A planned visit by Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili to Kiev has been delayed without explanation, Georgian media reported. Georgia has been a vocal supporter of the Kiev government in its conflict with Russia-back rebels but it was irritated by Ukraine’s promotion of former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili as an adviser.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)

NATO, Georgia criticise Russia-S.Ossetia deal

MARCH 19 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia, NATO and various Western powers criticised a deal made between Russia and the Georgian breakaway region of South Ossetia as a threat to regional security.

The day before, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an “alliance and integration” deal with South Ossetia. Georgia said this was virtually an annexation of the region.

“It’s a cynical and provocative step by Russia,” media quoted Georgian foreign minister Tamar Beruchashvili as saying. “We consider it a move aimed at annexation.”

Relations between the West and Russia are particularly strained at the moment over the Kremlin’s annexation of Crimea last year and its involvement in funding rebels in eastern Ukraine.

Under the deal, S.Ossetia’s security forces become aligned to Russia’s. This is similar to deal already signed by Abkhazia.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)

China wants transport hub in Kazakhstan

MARCH 19 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – China has opened up negotiations on building a transport and logistics hub in north Kazakhstan, media reported. China would use the hub to send goods to Russia and to Europe. Kazakhstan has been promoting itself as a stage-post between Europe and Asia.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)

Uzbekistan agrees to maintain Afghan railway

MARCH 21 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan has signed a three year extension to a contract with Afghanistan to maintain the 75km railway from Hairstan, on the Uzbek-Afghan border, to Mazar-i-Sharif, media reported. Reports said the contract was worth $19m/year to Uzbekistan. This is a rare Uzbek service export.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)

Sargsyan travels to China for deals

MARCH 25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenian president, Serzh Sargsyan, visited China, signing various deals with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, and pledging greater cooperation between the two countries.

Short on regional allies, Armenia is looking for cash and investment to help it out of a worsening economic situation. It is currently overly reliant on Russian business and aid.
With this in mind, Mr Sargsyan’s trip to China was an important one.

“The Chinese government will encourage domestic enterprises to participate in transportation, mining, electricity, information technology and infrastructure sectors in Armenia,” the Xinhua Chinese state information agency quoted Mr Xi as saying.

This is exactly what Mr Sargsyan wanted to hear. Armenian state media said that Chinese trade had increased in importance over the past year and now accounted for 10% of Armenia’s total trade turnover, up from 8% in 2013.

Importantly, too, Mr Xi accepted an invitation to visit Armenia. For Armenia, successfully courting China is important.

China, eager to boost its regional presence, has probably found a willing partner in Armenia.

Perhaps also linked to this general diplomatic push, Armenia said that it is opening a consulate in Ebril, the capital of Kurdish Iraq.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)

Divisions grow in Eurasian Economic Union

MARCH 20 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Kremlin-led Eurasian Economic Union’s (EEU) first year is shaping up to be one to forget.

A sharp devaluation in the value of the rouble, triggered by Western sanctions and falling oil prices, and meddling in Ukraine’s civil war have hit Russia’s credibility among its former Soviet partners. After a meeting in Astana, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev appeared to distance himself from the Kremlin.

Mr Nazarbayev hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko at the meeting. Armenia, the fourth member of the EEU, didn’t attend.

Mr Nazarbayev appeared to suggest that Mr Putin’s alleged support for rebels in eastern Ukraine had gone too far.

“It is important for any decisions that get made to rely on fundamental principles of international law. We are interested in Ukraine staying a stable, independent, territorially integral country,” he said.

Apparent tension at the meeting in Astana between the leaders wasn’t contained to Ukraine.

Mr Putin once again brought up the prospect of a single currency throughout the Eurasian Economic Union, something that Mr Nazarbayev has already ruled out.

“The time has come to start thinking about forming a currency union,” news reports quoted Mr Putin as saying. Mr Putin also suggested a Central Bank for the single currency could be based in Almaty.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)

Sargsyan skips EEU meeting

MARCH 13 2015 (The Bulletin) – Unnerving its three partners, Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan said he would skip a meeting of the Kremlin-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) in Astana on March 20, media reported.

His absence from the meeting has triggered questions about Armenia’s commitment to the project which it has only just joined.

The meeting between President Vladimir Putin of Russia, President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan and President Aleksandr Lukashenko of Belarus is billed as an important one to navigate out of the financial crisis.

It had been postponed from March 13 to March 20. Kazakh officials initially said Mr Putin was too unwell to attend.

But Armenia — the fourth member of the economic group — has chosen not to attend. Armenia only joined the EEU, which morphed out of the Customs Union, on Jan. 1.

It has always been considered a supporter of Russia which it relies upon for economic and military support.

Armenia’s government didn’t explain why Mr Sargsyan would not fly to Astana for the meeting. Instead a senior official said the meeting had been organised to sort out problems which did not concern Armenia.

Perhaps, but it has created noise around Armenia’s potential unhappiness around the state of the region’s finances so much so that the Kremlin was bounced into releasing a press statement which said that Mr Putin and Mr Sargsyan had shared a telephone conversation during which the Russian leader had been reassured of Armenia’s good intentions.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 223, published on March 18 2015)