Tag Archives: politics

Kazakh court extends journalists detention

JULY 28 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — A court in Almaty extended the pre- trial house arrest by two months of Seitkazy Matayev, one of Kazakhstan’s most prominent journalists, and his son Asset. The Matayevs are accused of embezzlement and abuse of trust. In May, the prosecutor reduced his charges against Seitkazy Matayev, who continues to deny the accusations. Human rights groups have accused Kazakhstan of a systematic crackdown on its media.

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(News report from Issue No. 291, published on Aug. 1 2016)

Kyrgyzstan’s minister of culture resigns

JULY 28 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan’s minister of culture Altynbek Maksutov resigned, saying that he wanted to return to creative work. Mr Maksutov, a former actor and director of the Kyrgyz National Philharmonic was appointed minister of culture in October 2014. Earlier in July, PM Sooronbai Jeenbekov reprimanded Mr Maksutov for his so-called, and unexplained, inappropriate behaviour.

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(News report from Issue No. 291, published on Aug. 1 2016)

Turkish police arrests CEO of Azerbaijan’s state energy company for links to Gulen movement

AUG 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkish authorities have arrested Sadettin Korkut, former CEO of Petkim, an Azerbaijan-owned refinery on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, in what media said was part of a purge of people linked to exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen (July 28).

Azerbaijan’s state-owned energy company SOCAR dismissed the claim, saying that the arrest was linked to a spat with another employee of SOCAR Turkey Enerji, its Turkish subsidiary.

Mr Korkut had resigned as CEO, a position he had held for four years, the day before he was arrested. Twenty-seven other employees of SOCAR’s Turkish subsidiary, which operates the Petkim refinery, were also sacked at the same time.

Turkish media immediately linked the arrest and the sackings to the Gulenist movement, which they dub a terrorist network.

“Around 200 workers from Petkim and related companies were sacked due to their alleged ties to the Gulenist Terror Organisation (FETO),” the Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Around 60,000 public sector employees and dozens of journalists and businessmen were arrested in Turkey in the aftermath of an attempted military coup on July 15. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Mr Gulen of masterminding the coup from his exile in the US.

Azerbaijan is one of Turkey’s strongest allies. It backed the arrest.

“SOCAR’s management believes that Turkey will become stronger after these difficult days. We will continue to operate and invest in Turkey with all of our energy,” Vagif Aliyev, CEO of SOCAR Turkey Enerji said in a statement.

SOCAR Turkey Enerji and SOCAR Turkey Petrokimiya own a majority stake in Petkim.

Anar Mammadov, head of SOCAR’s Greek subsidiary, has been appointed new CEO of Petkim.

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(News report from Issue No. 291, published on Aug. 1 2016)

20 gunmen in Armenian capital surrender

JULY 31 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Twenty gunmen who had captured a police station in Yerevan surrendered, ending a standoff that had lasted two weeks and triggered clashes between anti-government protesters and police.

The surrender ends what had become seen as a major test of the current government’s resolve.

Armenia’s National Security Service said in a statement: “The anti- terrorist operation is over. Twenty terrorists have been taken prisoner.”

It is still not clear why the gunmen, who had been calling for the release of the radical opposition leader Zhirayr Sefilyan from prison, had surrendered. Over the weekend they had appeared determined to continue their stand-off despite a deadline passing, briefly taking a doctor prisoner and being accused of shooting dead a policeman. The gunmen have denied that they killed the policeman.

A policeman also died during the initial assault on the police station two weeks ago.

Television footage of the gunmen surrendering showed burley Armenian security forces wearing balaclavas frisking the tired looking gunmen. The gunmen looked thin and drawn. Many were old men.

Shortly before surrendering Varuzhan Avetisyan, the group’s leader, said that the gunmen had fulfilled their mission of inciting popular protests against the government.

“Popular protest will continue. We feel that our victory is close and call on Armenian people to continue the fight,” he was quoted by local media as saying.

Clashes had erupted throughout the week between Armenian police and demonstrators supporting the armed group outside the police station.

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(News report from Issue No. 291, published on Aug. 1 2016)

Gunman in Kazakhstan states his motives

JULY 27 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Ruslan Kulekbayev, who shot and killed six people and injured six others in Almaty in a shooting spree that triggered a major terrorism alert earlier this month, said that there were no religious motives involved in his rampage. The newspaper Vremya published extracts of Kulekbayev’s deposition, where the shooter dismissed any ties with religious organisations. Instead he said that he was protesting against what he said was unfair treatment from the authorities.

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(News report from Issue No. 291, published on Aug. 1 2016)

Turkmen President reprimands several officials

JULY 23 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — During a visit to the Mary province, Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov reprimanded several government officials and sacked several others for delays to various construction projects, opposition websites reported. Earlier in July, during a visit to the Lebap province, Mr Berdymukhamedov sacked 11 public officials. As Mr Berdymukhamedov fights to contain the fallout from a worsening economic outlook, his rampages against and sackings of government officials intensifies.

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(News report from Issue No. 291, published on Aug. 1 2016)

Azerbaijani President sets referendum for constitutional changes

JULY 25 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijanis will vote in a referendum on Sept. 26 on reforms to the Constitution proposed by President Ilham Aliyev that he says will create a stronger country but his opponents have said are designed to boost his own powers.

Mr Aliyev set the date for a referendum after formal approval from the Constitutional Court.

Among the proposed changes are the extension of presidential terms from five to seven years, the creation of the new positions of first vice- president and vice-president, and the abolition of the 35-year-old minimum age for presidential candidates.

As well as tinkering with the constitution, Mr Aliyev may be using the vote as a show of strength at a fragile time for his presidency. Azerbaijan’s GDP is set to shrink this year for the first time since 1995, inflation is rising and all-important oil exports have slowed. Earlier this year unprecedented anti-government demonstrations across the country shook the Azerbaijani establishment and demonstrated the depth of frustration felt by ordinary people.

Still, it is likely that the proposed reforms will be passed because of the generally high level of support for Mr Aliyev and also because he has purged his opponents over the last few years. Even so, on the streets of Baku candid opinion was divided over the merits of the proposed reforms.

Talking to the US-funded RFE/RL, a retiree said the changes were a good idea.

“The nation knows the president very well, so why bother with holding elections that often,” he said.

But not everyone is equally enthu- siastic. Some of the changes appear designed to limit free speech, specifically making it more difficult for people to gather in public.

Gulnur, a 29-year-old project manager, said she would vote against the changes.

“I am totally against constitutional changes which will hand extra power to this already long-running dictator,” she told The Conway Bulletin’s Azerbaijan correspondent. “To be honest, I have lost so much hope for any good changes in Azerbaijan.”

A 2009 referendum scrapped a two-term limit, allowing Ilham Aliyev, who took over from his father in 2003, to be president-for-life.

Azerbaijan has never held an election considered free and fair by Western election observers.

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(News report from Issue No. 291, published on Aug. 1 2016)

Uzbek authorities fire prosecutor

JULY 27 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — One Uzbek prosecutor was fired and the head of a local police station in Tashkent is also being questioned in an investigation over an alleged fraudulent pyramid scheme master- minded by businessman Akhmad Tursunbayev. Mr Tursunbayev was arrested in mid-June for having stolen money from people with the promise of a 100% return, Eurasianet reported. The investigators now claim that public officials may have been involved.

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(News report from Issue No. 291, published on Aug. 1 2016)

Turkmen airport holds record

JULY 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Ashgabat International Airport now holds the world record for largest bird-shaped building according to the World Record Academy, a competitor of the Guinness World Records organisation. The new passenger terminal of the Turkmen airport was built to resemble the lacyn, the national falcon-like bird. The building spans 364m. Turkmenistan also boasts the largest indoors Ferris wheel and the largest hand-woven carpet.

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(News report from Issue No. 291, published on Aug. 1 2016)

Armenia proposes new tax code

JULY 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s ministry of economy proposed slashing taxation on dividends in the draft of the country’s new tax code, official media reported. Armenia’s parliament approved the new tax code at a first reading on June 15. Artsvik Minasyan, minister of economy, said that scrapping dividend tax will lure more foreign investment to the country.

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(News report from Issue No. 290, published on July 22 2016)