JUNE 7 2021 (The Bulletin) — Robert Kocharyan, Armenia’s former president and now the head of an opposition party that is trying to unseat PM Nikol Pashinyan, promised to secure the country’s borders if he won a parliamentary election on June 20. Armenia’s election will shape the country for the next few years.
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— This story was published in issue 487 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on June 9 2021
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021
JUNE 6 2021 (The Bulletin) — Orhan Inandi, the Turkish educator and opposition figure, is being held captive at the Turkish embassy in Bishkek, his wife, Reyhan, said in a Twitter video. Mr Inandi disappeared on May 31 in an apparent abduction. His supporters have said that Turkish security forces kidnapped him. Turkish Pres. Recep Tayyip Erdogan blames supporters of the exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen for a failed coup attempt in 2016 and has vowed to track them down. Mr Inandi, who holds Turkish and Kyrgyz citizenship, is head of the Gulenist network of schools and universities in Kyrgyzstan.
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— This story was published in issue 487 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on June 9 2021
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021
JUNE 4 2021 (The Bulletin) — A landmine blew up and killed two Azerbaijani journalists and a local official in Nagorno-Karabakh. The men were travelling in a truck when it hit the mine. Four other people were injured. Azerbaijan has blamed Armenia for the deaths because it said that it had not handed over maps showing areas that it had mined during a war for control of Nagorno-Karabakh last year.
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— This story was published in issue 487 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on June 9 2021
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021
JUNE 3 2021 (The Bulletin) — On a trip to Pakistan to meet with PM Imran Khan, media reported that Tajik Pres. Emomali Rakhmon had signed a deal to buy arms. The deal could potentially irritate India, a regional rival to Pakistan, which sees Tajikistan as an entry point into Central Asia. India has been trying to make up ground in Central Asia, where China dominates.
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— This story was published in issue 487 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on June 9 2021
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021
JUNE 2 2021 (The Bulletin) — Azerbaijan said that 40 Armenian soldiers had crossed into its territory but that they had been forced to retreat, an accusation that was immediately denied by Armenia. It wasn’t clear if there had been any combat. Both sides have accused the other of violating borders. Armenia has also said that Azerbaijani forces had captured its soldiers. Azerbaijan defeated Armenia in a war last year for control of Nagorno-Karabakh.
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— This story was published in issue 487 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on June 9 2021
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021
ALMATY/MARCH 13 (The Bulletin) — A Kazakh military plane crashed at Almaty airport, killing four people, the second deadly plane crash in Kazakhstan in the past 15 months.
Kazakhstan’s emergencies ministry said the plane, a Soviet-designed AN-26, was travelling to Almaty from Nur Sultan, the capital, and crashed in foggy conditions.
“On March 13 at 1725, information was received from the dispatch service of the Almaty airport that at 1722 a military plane AN-26 disappeared from the radars by the Nur-Sultan – Almaty route and made an emergency landing at the airport in Almaty,” the emergencies ministry said in its statement. “According to preliminary data, four people died, two injured were sent to the city clinical hospital No. 4 in Almaty.”
Russian media said that the plane had been operated by the Kazakh border guards and there there were six crew members on board but no passengers.
Kazakhstan has a dubious aviation safety record. On Dec. 26 2019, a Bek Air passenger plane crashed shortly after taking off from Almaty airport, killing 12 people. Seven years earlier, in December 2012, another plane operated by the Kazakh border guards service crashed near Shymkent, killing all 27 people on board.
The AN-26, first manufactured in 1969, is the workhorse of many former Soviet military plane fleets. Until 10 years ago, or so, commercial airlines also flew AN-26s, although most have withdrawn them on safety and reliability concerns.
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— This story was published in issue 475 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on March 15 2021
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MARCH 12 (The Bulletin) — Risking a rise in tension with its neighbour and enemy Azerbaijan, Armenia said that it would hold a major military exercise on March 16-20. The military exercise will involve 7,500 soldiers, reports said. Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a six week war last year for control of Nagorno-Karabakh. The Armenian army was defeated and has been accused of being underprepared.
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— This story was published in issue 475 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on March 15 2021
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021
YEREVAN/MARCH 11 (The Bulletin) — UNICEF withdrew its country chief to Armenia, Marianne Clark-Hattingh, after she was accused by Armenian media of spying for Azerbaijan and Britain.
With tension running high in Armenia since it lost a war for control of Nagorno-Karabakh against Azerbaijan last year, Armenian media reported that prosecutors had started investigating the spy allegations against Ms Clark-Hattingh.
UNICEF refuted the allegations against Ms Clark-Hattingh and said that it had taken the decision to withdraw her as a precaution.
In Geneva, Stephane Dujarric, a spokesman for the UN Secretary General said that UNICEF and the Armenian government had agreed that Ms Clark-Hattingh would complete her assignment in Armenia next month and then be replaced.
“She is a highly qualified, extremely experienced and committed development professional, who has previously served with UNICEF at Headquarters, as well as being the Representative in Malaysia and other posts in places such as Somalia, Guinea, Benin and Madagascar,” he said.
But Mr Dujarric appears to be covering up a row between UNICEF and the Armenian government over Ms Clark-Hattingh’s work.
On March 9, the Armenian government had said that it was disappointed with her work and that she should be replaced.
“UNICEF’s Representative in Armenia Marianne Clark-Hattingh’s failures in the implementation of her mandate and her uncooperative conduct were problematic for the Armenian side, hence the Government of Armenia made a decision to suspend Clark-Hattingh’s tenure as UNICEF’s Representative in Armenia,” a spokesperson for the Armenian foreign ministry said.
Ms Clark-Hattingh has not commented.
Her profile on the UNICEF website has now been taken down, although a cached version said that she had only been the Armenia UNICEF country chief since July 2020. Her Twitter account has also been deleted.
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— This story was published in issue 475 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on March 15 2021
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021
MARCH 10 (The Bulletin) — Opposition activists in Armenia scuffled with police as they tried to block parliament and the country’s top generals called for PM Nikol Pashinyan to resign after he once again tried to sack Armenia’s most senior soldier. Last month, Mr Pashinyan said that he was facing a military coup after General Onik Gasparian called for him to resign. He then tried to sack Gen. Gasparian, although Armenian Pres. Armen Sarksian refused to sign off on the order. The Army and Mr Pashinyan blame each other for losing a war against Azerbaijan.
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— This story was published in issue 475 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on March 15 2021
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021
MARCH 4 2021 (The Bulletin) — The Indian Army has started training Turkmen special forces, Indian media reported, in what appears to be an intensifying of the budding relationship between India and Turkmenistan. India has been trying for the past decade to catch up with its main rival China and improve links and influence in Central Asia. Turkmenistan wants to export gas to India.
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— This story was published in issue 474 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on March 5 2021
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021