SEPT. 24 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — Despite indications that a deal had been made, Kyrgyzstan and Russia failed to finalise an agreement to allow Russian military bases to remain in Kyrgyzstan. However, both sides said it was only a matter of time before a new deal, expected to allow the bases to remain for another 49 years, was signed.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 9, published on Sept. 30 2010)
SEPT. 23 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), linked to al-Qaeda and the Taliban, claimed responsibility for an ambush in Tajikistan on Sept. 19 which killed at least 28 soldiers. The 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan nearly destroyed the IMU but in the last few years it has renewed attacks in Central Asia.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 9, published on Sept. 30 2010)
SEPT. 23 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russia and Kyrgyzstan have agreed a new deal to keep four Russian military bases in the country, RIA Novosti news agency quoted a senior Russian military officer as saying. RIA Novosti did not give details but said it will be signed on Sept. 24. The United States also has a base in Kyrgyzstan.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 8, published on Sept. 23 2010)
SEPT. 19 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — At least 25 soldiers died in an ambush in the north of Tajikistan, the worst attack on the Tajik military for years. The ambush followed a surge of violence in the past few weeks, including two bomb attacks. Tajikistan’s government blamed militants.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 8, published on Sept. 23 2010)
SEPT. 21 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — Four Chinese bombers and two fighter jets flew into Kazakhstan for China’s first cross border air strike exercise, Chinese state media reported. The China and Russia-led Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is holding a two week long military exercise in Kazakhstan.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 8, published on Sept. 23 2010)
SEPT. 15 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — A court in south Kyrgyzstan gave an Uzbek rights activist and 7 other defendants a life jail sentence for killing a policeman during ethnic clashes in June. Human rights groups said the trial had been unfair and the defendants had been beaten.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 7, published on Sept. 16 2010)
SEPT. 13 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan’s President Roza Otunbayeva replaced several top judicial and law enforcement officials. Ms Otunbayeva has said she is worried about violence at the Oct. 10 parliamentary election. She replaced the Prosecutor-General, the Interior Minister and the head of the Supreme Court.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 7, published on Sept. 16 2010)
SEPT. 16 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — Created in 2001, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) has a broad remit to promote economic, cultural and military cooperation between its 6 members; China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Certainly, the SCO has initiated a handful of economic and infrastructure projects but its roots are in military cooperation beginning in the mid-1990s. Some Western observers say the SCO could one day act as a counterbalance to NATO.
For now, though, SCO is politically too fractured to rival NATO and acts more as a regional forum to discuss anti-terrorist measures and energy policy than coordinate defence policies. Its regional anti-terrorist headquarters are based in Tashkent.
Notably, the SCO did not act during Kyrgyzstan’s revolution in April or in June during ethnic violence in the south of the country when hundreds died.
In 2008, the SCO and its members chose not to back Russia and recognise the Georgian breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states.
Still, the large scale and highly publicised war games are the SCO’s most eye catching activity. Peace Mission 2010, the SCO military exercise which started on Sept. 13 in Kazakhstan, is the biggest military exercise since Russia hosted it in 2007.
The SCO does appear to have wider geographic ambitions. India, Iran, Pakistan and Mongolia have SCO observer status, Sri Lanka and Belarus are dialogue partners and Afghanistan has been invited to SCO summits as a guest.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 7, published on Sept. 16 2010)
SEPT. 13 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — A 2 week long military exercise by the China and Russia-led Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) started in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan, Russia and China sent 1,000 soldiers each, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan sent 150 soldiers each. Uzbekistan declined to send any. It is the biggest SCO military exercise since 2007.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 7, published on Sept. 16 2010)
SEPT. 14 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan and Russia moved towards a deal to allow Russian military bases to remain in the country for 49 years, Russia’s Kommersant newspaper reported. It said Kyrgyzstan wanted to be paid with weapons but AP quoted the Kyrgyz defence minister saying Russia’s rent may quadruple to $18m a year.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 7, published on Sept. 16 2010)