Tag Archives: security

Kyrgyz police arrest alleged coup organisers

MAY 12 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Police in Bishkek arrested three leaders of the opposition People’s Parliament group for planning what they said was a coup. Sources at law enforcement agencies said that police had arrested leader Bekbolot Talgarbekov and his associates Torobai Kolubayev and Marat Sultanov. Talgarbekov had been a senior government official under Kyrgyzstan’s first post Soviet president, Askar Akayev. Kyrgyzstan has suffered two violent revolutions since independence in 1991.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 280, published on May 13 2016)

Russia complains about Georgian military exercises

MAY 12 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia complained about a military exercise in Georgia involving US and British forces, saying that it was a destabilising influence.

The exercise is the biggest joint NATO-Georgia exercise ever run in Georgia and, for the first time involves heavy US tanks. Georgia has made clear its desire to join NATO and views these exercises as important milestones. Reuters reported that 650 US soldiers were involved in the exercise, 500 Georgian soldiers and 150 British soldiers.

Russia and Georgia fought a war in 2008 over the rebel region of South Ossetia. Relations have improved but both sides are wary.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 280, published on May 13 2016)

Armenia to debate status of Nagorno-Karabakh

May 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia’s government sent a bill proposing the recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent country to parliament, teeing up another flashpoint with Azerbaijan over the disputed region.

This is the first time that the parliament will formally debate the status of Nagorno-Karabakh even though it has been run by Armenia- backed forces since a UN-brokered ceasefire was imposed in 1994.

Last month the worst fighting in two decades broke out around Nagorno-Karabakh, killing several dozen people and alarming the international community.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)

Editorial: Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh

MAY 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia’s parliament has started to debate whether to recognise Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent state. This is an unnecessary and inflammatory move at a tense time for the disputed region.

Last month the worst fighting in two decades broke out around Nagorno-Karabakh between Armenia-backed separatists and Azerbaijani forces.

Now Armenia, apparently keen to make a point, appears to be goading Azerbaijan by threatening to recognise the region as independent. It may have been controlled by Armenia-backed rebels since a ceasefire was agreed in 1994 but, officially at least, Nagorno-Karabakh is part of Azerbaijan.

If parliament goes all the way and recognises the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh, it will set Armenia apart in the international community. Armenia has sympathisers but few will back it.

It’ll also put its neighbour, Georgia, in a particularly difficult position. Georgia has to contend with two self-declared independent states on its territory — South Ossetia and Abkhazia. By discussing formalising Nagorno- Karabakh as an independent state, Armenia is stirring things up.

ENDS

(Editorial from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)

Georgia criticises UEFA

MAY 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia’s football association said it was disappointed that UEFA, Europe’s football governing body, voted to allow Kosovo, a Balkan country that broke away from Serbia in 2008, to become its 55th member. For Georgia, the issue of breakaway states being given any recognition is a sensitive one. It has two breakaway states — South Ossetia and Abkhazia — which are supported by Russia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)

Taliban threatens Uzbekistan

MAY 2 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Taliban forces attacked a border post in Afghanistan in the Kaldar district just a few kilometres south of the border with Uzbekistan. The Uzbek government has long feared a spillover of fighting between Taliban or other rebel forces and Afghanistan’s army into its southern regions.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)

3 Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers die around N-K

APRIL 28 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – At least three soldiers and one civilian have died in gunfights over the past week between Azerbaijani and Armenian fighters in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, media reported. Earlier this month, the worst fighting for over decade killed several dozen people and tipped the two neighbours towards all-out war.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 278, published on April 29 2016)

Tajik conscript dies after alleged hazing

APRIL 22 2016, DUSHANBE (The Conway Bulletin) — A 22-year-old Tajik army recruit has died after an alleged beating from more senior soldiers, media reported, highlighting what it said was a degrading Soviet-era culture of bullying and hazing in Tajikistan’s military.

Bakhtiyor Kurmonmadov died on April 19, five days after signing up to join the army.

His relatives said that there were bruises all over Kurmonmadov’s body. This was contested by an official report which said he died from a heart attack during an exercise.

To many, Kurmonmadov’s death was an indication of just how institutionalised bullying is in the Tajik army.

The system of informal beatings and bullying of young recruits by more senior soldiers even has a name, ‘dedovshina’ which literally means ‘grandfatherism’.

It’s a system that is spread across the armies of the former Soviet Union. A handful of recruits are killed or badly injured every year.

Last month, another conscript in Kurmonmadov’s unit was taken to hospital after a severe beating from older soldiers.

Amridin is a 24-year-old graduate,who was conscripted into the Tajik army two-years-ago. He described to a Conway Bulletin correspondent how he ended up in the army and severity of his treatment there.

“I was literally kidnapped in the streets and sent to the army. When we were new recruits, older soldiers beat, tortured, and harassed us in whatever way they wanted,” he said. “You cannot avoid getting beaten up because beating new conscripts is like an unwritten rule in the army.”

He coughed and complained about his health. He said that some of his colleagues had been beaten so badly that they would now be no use on a battlefield.

“If it continues in this way, we cannot defend our country if an enemy attacks us,” he said.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 278, published on April 29 2016)

Uzbek President talks up Russia links

APRIL 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov flew to Russia to hold high- level talks with his counterpart Vladimir Putin focused on security along Central Asia’s southern border with Afghanistan.

Just weeks after Russia ratified an agreement to pardon most of Uzbekistan’s debt, Mr Karimov’s visit looked like a show of support for Mr Putin.

“There are certain attempts to find a solution to the Afghan issue without Russia. I believe this is wrong,” Mr Karimov told the press after meeting Mr Putin.

On trade, Mr Karimov said a row between Russia and Turkey over the shooting down of a fighter jet over Syria last year may allow Uzbekistan to boost trade with Russia.

“Turkey today can not provide [fruits and vegetables] because of well known reasons. Now tell me, does Uzbekistan produce less fruit and vegetables?” Mr Karimov said, hinting that Uzbekistan might be the perfect substitute for Turkish goods.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 278, published on April 29 2016)

Georgian officials arrest uranium smugglers

APRIL 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia’s security services said they had arrested six men, three Georgians and three Armenians, who were trying to sell uranium on the Black Market. Police found a container with an undisclosed amount of uranium in a Tbilisi home where one of the alleged smugglers lived. Authorities in the South Caucasus often have to grapple with smugglers of radioactive materials.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 277, published on April 22 2016)