Tag Archives: security

Taliban travel to Ashgabat for talks on TAPI gas pipeline

FEB. 7 2021 (The Bulletin) — Looking for security guarantees for the TAPI gas pipeline that it wants to build across Afghanistan, Turkmen officials held talks in Ashgabat with the Taliban. TAPI is an ambitious project, pushed by gas-rich Turkmenistan and part-funded by the Asian Development Bank, to build a pipeline across Afghanistan to Pakistan and India. One of the main problems with the project has been security concerns in Afghanistan.

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— This story was first published in issue 471 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Kazakhstan takes delivery of Russian missiles

FEB. 3 2021 (The Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s military said that it had taken deployment of its first Buk-M2 missile defence system from Russia. The deal was announced in 2018 and will cement Kazakhstan’s place within Russia’s wider military sphere of influence.

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— This story was first published in issue 471 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Armenia and Azerbaijan submit competing cases to human rights court

FEB. 2 2021 (The Bulletin) — Armenia and Azerbaijan have both submitted cases against the other with the European Court for Human Rights linked to their war over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh last year. Azerbaijan won the war, humiliating Armenia and taking back control of the region. Armenia accused Azerbaijan of not treating POWs correctly and Azerbaijan accused Armenia of ignoring human rights during what it described as a 30-day occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh.

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— This story was first published in issue 471 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Russia and Turkey open joint military facility in Azerbaijan

BAKU/JAN. 30 2021 (The Bulletin) — Russia and Turkey opened a joint military facility in Azerbaijan to monitor the Russia-negotiated peace deal that ended a war in nearby Nagorno-Karabakh last year.

But the opening of the centre in the village of  Giyameddinli in  Aghdam province hides growing tension between the two regional rivals over Turkish plans to station military units permanently in Azerbaijan, which Russia sees as part of its sphere of influence. 

The day after the 120 soldiers stationed at the Turkish-Russian Joint Monitoring Center ate cake together to mark its opening, Turkish media reported that its military wanted to station fighter-jets in the Azerbaijani cities of Ganja, Gabala and Lankaran. 

It said that this was part of a deepening alliance with Azerbaijan since November when, with Turkish military advice and drones, Azerbaijani forces defeated Armenia in a war for the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Since then, Turkey has made it clear that it wants to play a more permanent role in former Soviet South Caucasus. Russia has said that it will resist the establishment of a more permanent Turkish presence in Azerbaijan but senior government officials have said that Turkey was now a force in the region that needed to be built into policy decisions.

Dmitry Medvedev, chairman of Russia’s Security Council, was quoted in the media as saying: “Turkey is our neighbour and a very important partner. And a very close country for Azerbaijan. This factor cannot be ignored.”

As for the Joint Monitoring Center, with 2,000 Russian soldiers patrolling Nagorno-Karabakh, analysts said that its role may be more of a symbolic act between Russia and Turkey than any real soldiering or information-gathering initiative.

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— This story was first published in issue 471 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

European Court for Human Rights says Russia mistreated Georgian civilians in 2008 war

TBILISI/JAN. 21 2021 (The Bulletin) — Nearly 13 years after the case was originally submitted, the European Court for Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that Russia was responsible for crimes committed against Georgian citizens during a five-day war for control of South Ossetia in 2008.

It said that towards the end of the war in August 2008, Russian forces had been in control of Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian capital, when Georgian citizens were rounded up from their homes and kept prisoners in inhumane conditions in the basements of official buildings.

“The conditions of detention of some 160 Georgian civilians and the humiliating acts to which they had been exposed had caused them undeniable suffering and had to be regarded as inhuman and degrading treatment, the court said.

The court did rule, though, that at the start of the war, which ran between Aug. 8 – 12, South Ossetian militia was in control of Tskhinvali and Russia could not be held responsible for alleged war crimes during the first three days of the conflict.

Georgia lost the war, which the Kremlin said was started by the then Georgian President Mikheil Saakahsvili, but has since worked to discredit Russia.

Georgian politicians said that the ECHR ruling was an important win.  In a tweet, Georgian PM Giorgi Gakharia said that the ECHR’s ruling  was “one of the most important days in the history of Georgia”. It was probably no coincidence, either, that as the verdict was announced Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili was touring Brussels in another drive to build support for Georgia’s entry to the EU and NATO.

Russia, which is a member of EHRC, has said that the findings were biased and that it does not recognise them.

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— This story was first published in issue 469 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Turkey Council promotes Shushi as its capital of culture

JAN. 19 2021 (The Bulletin) — The Turkey-led Turkic Council wants Shushi, a town in Nagorno-Karabakh captured by Azerbaijan in a six-week war with Armenia last year, to become its culture capital next year, in a move that will antagonise Armenia-Azerbaijan relations. The Turkic Council includes Turkey, which uses it to promote its agenda, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan. It chooses a culture capital each year to promote. Azerbaijan, a key ally of Turkey, has promoted its capture of Shushi as an important liberation.

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— This story was first published in issue 469 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Armenia returns POWs to Azerbaijan

JAN. 18 2021 (The Bulletin) — Armenia has handed over all the Azerbaijani soldiers it captured during a six-week war last year but the return of Armenian POWs from the Azerbaijani side has been delayed, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said during a press conference. Each side blamed the other for the delay in returning Armenian soldiers. Around 5,000 soldiers died in the war. 

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— This story was first published in issue 469 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Hackers attack Uzbek regional websites

JAN. 6 2021 (The Bulletin) — Hackers attacked the websites of regional government agencies in Uzbekistan’s Surkandarya region. The attacks highlighted lax cyber security in Uzbekistan. Media said that the attacks may also be retaliation against the regional head of the southern Surkandarya region who allegedly mistreated IT staff. Surkandarya regional government has not commented.

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— This story was first published in issue 467 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Georgia sends another infantry battalion to Afghanistan

JAN. 6 2021 (The Bulletin) — Georgia sent another infantry battalion to Afghanistan in support of NATO soldiers who are fighting the Taliban. Georgia has had an infantry battalion on rotation in Afghanistan since 2004. It sees its support of US-led operations there as vital to its drive to joining NATO.

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— This story was first published in issue 467 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Russia pressures Azerbaijan on shooting down of helicopter

JAN. 5 2021 (The Bulletin) — Russia pressured Azerbaijan into opening a criminal case into the shooting down of one of its military helicopters in November. The pressure will increase tension between Russia and Azerbaijan. The Kremlin has been irritated by Azerbaijan’s gloating over its victory against Armenia in a six-week war last year against Armenia for control of Nagorno-Karabakh and for its strong support from Turkey. Azerbaijani forces shot down the helicopter on Nov. 9. The Azerbaijani authorities had wanted to class the incident as an accident.

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— This story was first published in issue 467 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021