Tag Archives: politics

Armenian intelligence chiefs questioned

SEPT. 27 (The Conway Bulletin) – Prosecutors in Armenia have interviewed two senior intelligence chiefs over a leaked phone call that appeared to show them colluding with other government departments over the detention of former President Robert Kocharyan in July, media reported. Mr Kocharyan was detained, and then released, for his role in the shooting dead of anti-government protesters after elections in 2008.
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>>This story was published in issue 387 of The Conway Bulletin on Oct. 1 2018

Kyrgyz deputy minister in drunk aeroplane row

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BISHKEK/SEPT. 24 — Kyrgyz PM Mukhammedkalyi Abylgaziev fired Zuurakan Kadenova as deputy minister for labour and social development two days after she was taken off a flight bound for Almaty in Seoul because she was drunk and incoherent.

The flight on Sept. 22 was delayed by two hours and eyewitnesses said that Ms Kadenova 46, was later seen in the airport with blood and vomit on her clothes.

She denied being drunk and said instead that a combination of a new diet plan, through which she said she had shed 5kg during her 20-day stay in South Korea, and corvalol, a mild tranquilliser, that she had taken, had made her feel ill. She said that she had not been allowed to go to the lavatory as the plane was about to take off.

“I was pale, like a drunk, and trembling, but I was not drunk. I do not drink spirits at all,” she was quoted by media as saying. “This is a political decision. Even at the airport in Seoul, when I read the news, I was ready to resign.”

A statement from Air Astana, though, differed. The Kazakh airline was quoted by several media outlets as saying that Ms Kadenova had been taken off the business class section of the flight because she was incoherent and unable to fly.

“For the safety of the flight, and also in view of the risk of further deterioration of the passenger’s health, a decision was made to refuse her transportation,” Air Astana said in a statement.

Ms Kadenova had been in Seoul for training at the Korean International Cooperation Agency, which arranges exchange programmes. There are strong links between South Korea and Central Asia, especially Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan where tens of thousands of ethnic Koreans live.

Ms Kadenova was made deputy minister for labour and social mobility in 2015, when current Kyrgyz President Sooronbai Jeenbekov was PM, and was previously a deputy minister for education, a teacher and a lecturer.

For the Kyrgyz government, Ms Kadenova’s sacking for being drunk will be embarrassing. South Korea is one of the countries it is targeting to boost foreign direct investment.
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>>This story was first published in issue 387 of The Conway Bulletin on Oct. 1 2018

Aliyev orders snap presidential election

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FEB. 5 2018 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev surprised his rivals by bringing forward a presidential election by six months to April 11, immediately triggering accusations that he was abusing his powers.

One of the new clauses inserted into Azerbaijan’s constitution after a contentious referendum in 2016 was that the President could choose the date of an election. Previously the date of presidential elections had been fixed.

Mr Aliyev made the announcement via his website but did not give a reason for bringing the election forward from Oct. 17.

Azerbaijan is regularly lambasted for lacking democratic values. It has arrested dozens of anti-government activists, journalists and opposition-supporting lawyers in the past eight years or so. Most have been imprisoned for financial crimes, smuggling or crossing borders illegally.
The authorities in Azerbaijan say they have snuffed out coup attempts but the opposition counter that the arrests are politically motivated.

And they were quick to criticise Mr Aliyev’s decision to bring forward the presidential election. Jamil Hasanli, head of the opposition National Council of Democratic Forces, said the new election date was “an insult to democracy”.

Mr Aliyev took over from his father as president in 2003. He has extended the length of presidential terms and scrapped a limit on the number of terms a person can serve.

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— This story was first published on Feb. 6 2018 in issue 360 of The Conway Bulletin

Mirziyoyev sacks his hated spymaster

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TASHKENT, JAN. 31 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev sacked the once all-powerful head of the National Security Services (SNB) Rustam Inoyatov, a move that confirms his supremacy in the struggle for power in Uzbekistan since the death in 2016 of Islam Karimov.

Mr Inoyatov, closely associated with the authoritarian Karimov and once seen as his natural successor, was made a senator, giving him immunity from any potential future prosecutions, and a presidential adviser.

Human rights activists accuse the 73-year-old Mr Inoyatov, a cold much-hated figure who had run Uzbekistan’s legion of spies, informants and security agents since 1995, of using torture against opponents of the government.

Rafael Sattarov, an Uzbek analyst, told The Conway Bulletin that Mr Inoyatov’s demise had been likely since December when Mirziyoyev made a speech about cutting the power of the security services.

“It is clear that Inoyatov has been a redundant political figure in the country’s changing period,” he said.

“Inoyatov is 73-years-old, he has never been a public figure and is in poor health. The people, no matter how politically passive they are, would unequivocally choose the side of Mirziyoyev as he has managed to create the image of a passionate reformer.”

Mirziyoyev promoted 51-year-old Ikhtiyor Abdullayev, formerly the prosecutor-general, as the new head of the Uzbek security services. Analysts said that as an outsider to the security services, Mr Abdullayev may be able to push through the reforms that Mr Mirziyoyev has called for.

As President, Mirziyoyev has been winning rave reviews from Western businesses for his reforms which have included simplifying exchange rates and enticing corporates back to Uzbekistan with various pro-business policies.

Mr Sattarov, the analyst, said: “Officials and siloviks [officials who used to work for the security services] who used to be sceptical about the initiatives of the President, have received a clear signal that Mirziyoyev will not stop his reforms and will not tolerate sabotage.”

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— This story was first published on Feb. 6 2018 in issue 360 of The Conway Bulletin

Lola Karimova quits UNESCO role

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FEB. 2 (The Conway Bulletin) – Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva, the youngest daughter of former Uzbek leader Islam Karimov, said that she had left her position as Uzbekistan’s ambassador to UNESCO, fulfilling a commitment she made five months ago (Feb. 2). Ms Karimova-Tillyaeva’s elder sister, Gulnara Karimova, is still under house arrest in Tashkent accused of various financial crimes. The Karimovs were once all-powerful in Uzbekistan but since 2014 have suffered a sharp decline in influence. Islam Karimov died in September 2016.

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>>This story was first published in issue 360 of The Conway Bulletin

Kyrgyz opposition politician imprisoned for 12 years

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BISHKEK, JAN 4 (The Conway Bulletin) — A court in the Kyrgyz capital sentenced Kanatbek Isaev, an opposition politician, to 12 years in prison for corruption after a high profile trial that critics of the government described as a politically motivated farce.

The imprisonment of Isaev, who was arrested in May, five months before a presidential election, further crushes opponents of President Sooronbay Jeenbekov and his ally and predecessor Almazbek Atambayev.

It has also triggered a wave of criticism over the Kyrgyz authorities apparent selective clampdown on corruption which has focused on critics of the government — politicians, businessmen and journalists.

Discussing press freedom in Kyrgyzstan, CIVICUS Alliance, a global network of civil rights groups, said in a tweet: “The new president of #Kyrgyzstan has a choice: continue to attack government critics, or break with the legacy of his predecessor and allow for public discussion on the challenges facing the country.”

Last year, the popular news website Zanoza was fined $400,000 for insulting the president and an opposition TV station was closed down. On Dec. 19, police raided NTS, the TV station of Pres. Jeenbekov’s main rival in the October election Omurbek Babanov. He has fled abroad since his failed presidential bid, renounced his political ambitions and accused the authorities of closing down NTS.

Isaev, the jailed MP, is a former mayor of Tokmok and was a high profile supporter of Mr Babanov before his arrest. The corruption charges date back to 2008-10, when he was Tokmok mayor.

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— This story was first published on Jan. 5 2018 in issue 356 of The Conway Bulletin

Georgian PM filmed swearing at opposition MP

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DEC. 20(The Conway Bulletin) — A video broadcast on the website of the opposition Rustavi-2 TV channels shows the normally-suave Georgian PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili waving his finger and swearing at an opposition MP after a fractious debate in parliament. Mr Kvirikashvili has since apologised for the incident but also said that he was provoked and accused of being dishonest and corrupt.

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— This story was first published on Jan. 5 2018 in issue 356 of The Conway Bulletin

Berdymukhamedov bans black cars

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JAN 2 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, a man known for his autocratic ways and snap decision-making, ordered police to fine people still driving black cars. Quoting an opposition website, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty said that Mr Berdymukhamedov had ordered a blanket ban on dark coloured cars. Mr Berdymukhamedov is given to grandiose statements and displays of power. In 2017 he was filmed giving his government a gym session and teaching special forces how to attack IS militants. He has also been filmed giving his subordinates a dressing down and he has said that he wants an outright ban on smoking by 2025.

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— This story was first published on Jan. 5 2018 in issue 356 of The Conway Bulletin

Tbilisi court sentences Saakashvili (in absentia)

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TBILISI, JAN 5 (The Conway Bulletin) — — A court in Tbilisi sentenced former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili to three years in prison, in absentia, for abusing his power and trying to cover up the 2006 murder of a banker.

The sentence will pile more pressure on the authorities in Ukraine where Saakashvili, who says that the charges are politically motivated, is leading demonstrations against Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

Georgia wants Saakashvili extradited. He left Georgia in 2013 after the end of his 10 years term in power. A year earlier his party, the United National Movement party (UNM), had lost a bitter parliament election to rivals, the Georgian Dream. Since then, the Georgian Dream has accused various members of Saakashvili’s former government of abuse of power, corruption and murder. Georgia’s allies have warned the authorities not to use their powers to pursue vendettas.

A statement on the court’s website said: “The city court of Tbilisi has delivered a guilty verdict for abuse of power against Mikheil Saakashvili and given him four years in custody as punishment, reduced by one quarter within the framework of an amnesty law meaning that the final punishment will stand at three years in custody.”

Essentially the court said that Saakashvili was guilty of trying to cover up the 2006 murder of banker Sandro Girgvliani who was found dead shortly after arguing with a Georgian government official in a restaurant.

Saakashvili, whose stock has fallen both in Georgia where support for his UNM party has slumped, and overseas where his backers have been increasingly concerned about his erratic behaviour, replied on his Facebook page. He said that the Georgian prosecutor’s verdict was driven by Mr Poroshenko and his arch-enemy Russian President Vladimir Putin who want to see him in prison.

The 50-year-old Saakashvili had been the darling of the West when he led a peaceful revolution in Georgia in 2003, even persuading US President George W. Bush to visit in 2005. A reckless war with Russia in 2008 undermined his golden-boy aura, though.
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— This story was first published on Jan. 5 2018 in issue 356 of The Conway Bulletin

Comment: A quick look back at 2017

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>> The region’s economies and Uzbekistan’s regeneration under Mirziyoyev are the standout features of 2017, writes James Kilner

JAN 5 (The Conway Bulletin) — For Central Asia and the South Caucasus, 2017 was a year of recovery. There have been the usual rounds of elections, generally predictable and cementing the incumbent powers in Georgia, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, but economics, and not politics, caught the eye and the bigger headlines in 2017.

The economic stupor that had hung over the region since oil prices collapsed in 2014 and Russia’s economy fell into a recession, was finally thrown off. If, at the start of the year, the green shoots of recovery looked tentative, by October they were coming out into full bloom.

Most countries were posting decent economic growth figures and double-digit inflation, a real worry, has been neatly sidestepped.

Special mention here must go to Georgia which has posted exceptionally strong economic results, pushed on by a spurt in tourism and investment.

There have been some serious economic exceptions, though. Azerbaijan’s economy still shrunk and its banking sector looked as shaky as ever. International Bank of Azerbaijan defaulted on its debt repayments and several smaller banks have had their licenses revoked. Tajikistan also looks increasingly fragile and Turkmenistan, while the information stream coming out of the country is as beguiling as ever, looks like it may have been holed below the waterline. Watch out, in 2018, for a serious fracture in Turkmenistan.

As well as a recovery period for the region’s economies, 2017 was also a year of recovery for Uzbekistan’s political structures and their relationships with society. This will go down as the year that Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev made it clear that he was determined to pursue a reformist agenda after taking over from the authoritarian and brutal Islam Karimov in September 2016.

He devalued the official exchange rate of the Uzbek soum, took thousands of people off blacklists linked to Islamic extremists, reigned in the power of the secret service, encouraged traders to export to neighbouring countries and signed deals with the rest of the region over borders and commerce that his predecessor had spurned.

There is still much to do in Uzbekistan, and some people grumble about the lack of genuine democratic values and the slow pace of human rights progress, but Pres. Mirziyoyev is laying the foundation for a better future for Uzbeks.

If the Conway Bulletin had a ‘Person of the Year’ prize, Mirziyoyev would be a worthy winner.
>> Next week – the first in a 2-part series on what to look out for in 2018

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— This story was first published on Jan. 5 2018 in issue 356 of The Conway Bulletin