JULY 28 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon announced an amnesty for 15,000 prisoners to mark the 20th anniversary of independence from the Soviet Union on Sept. 9. Mr Rakhmon has previously granted amnesties but this is the largest and for the first time includes former Islamic fighters captured during Tajikistan’s civil war in the mid-1990s.
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(News report from Issue No. 51, published on Aug. 2 2011)
JULY 27 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Washington Times quoted two US intelligence officers saying a confidential report linked Russian military intelligence to a blast against the wall of the US embassy in Tbilisi last year. Georgian officials had also previously blamed Russia for the blast. Russia denies the allegations.
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(News report from Issue No. 50, published on July 27 2011)
JULY 22 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Georgia freed on probation 4 photographers accused of spying for Russia. One of the photographers was the personal photographer of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. The authorities had previously said they would be freed after they handed over information on Russian operations in Georgia.
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(News report from Issue No. 50, published on July 27 2011)
JULY 26 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov visited Baku on July 25 to discuss renewing the lease on the Qabala radar station which is considered essential for monitoring missile sites in the Middle East and South-East Asia, local media reported. Russia pays around $10m/year for the station in a 10-year lease which runs out in August 2012.
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(News report from Issue No. 50, published on July 27 2011)
JULY 25 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia and the US plan to hold their first joint military exercise by 2013, local media quoted Armenia’s defence ministry as saying, bolstering the two countries’ links. This year Armenia has signed a deal with Russia to extend a lease on a military base in and bolstered economic ties with Iran.
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(News report from Issue No. 50, published on July 27 2011)
JULY 12 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov sacked the country’s deputy defence minister four days after a blast at an arms depot in a town near Ashgabat killed scores of people. The government has said 15 people died but the opposition website chrono-tm.org said up to 200 people may have been killed.
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(News report from Issue No. 49, published on July 20 2011)
JULY 18 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Three Georgian photographers accused of spying for Russia have confessed, news agencies quoted officials as saying. One of the photographers is Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili’s personal photographer. Police arrested the photographers on July 7, triggering protests by other journalists.
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(News report from Issue No. 49, published on July 20 2011)
JULY 8 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Leaders from the Islamic Party of Azerbaijan (AIP) went on trial accused of plotting terrorist attacks, local media said. They deny the charges and say their arrests are linked instead to criticism of the government made a few days before their arrest on Jan. 7. The AIP has been banned since 1995.
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(News report from Issue No. 48, published on July 12 2011)
JULY 5 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – India has agreed to help train Kyrgyzstan’s army and to teach the soldiers English, Indian media reported after a trip to Bishkek by Indian defence minister AK Antony. India has been looking to boost its presence in Central Asia this year.
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(News report from Issue No. 48, published on July 12 2011)
JULY 11 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Central Asian countries need to improve cooperation along the Amu Darya, the region’s longest river, to avoid future conflicts over water supply, the United Nations Environmental Programme said in a new report. Overuse and climate change have diminished the river which mainly irrigates Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 48, published on July 12 2011)