Tag Archives: security

Armenia to send officer to Mali

MAY 12 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia agreed to send a military officer as a token member of a United Nations peace-keeping force in Mali, west Africa.

Although from a practical point-of-view sending a solitary officer is a purely symbolic gesture, it still resonates with Armenia’s sense of self-esteem.

Media quoted defence minister Seyran Ohanian who was emphatic on the motives behind supporting the UN peace-keeping mission to Mali.

“Armenia’s involvement in international peacekeeping operations is aimed not only at increasing the international prestige of our country and helping build a pro-Armenian position in the world, but also at prevention and mitigation of possible threats (to Armenia) outside the country,” he said.

The emphasis should, just possibly, lie on ambitions to increase Armenia’s international prestige. Nobody has suggested that Mali’s security is a major concern in Yerevan.

It’s also worth remembering that Mali, and its collapse into a near failed state, was French foreign adventure and Armenia views France as one of its key international supporters.

Armenia has been involved with UN peace-keeping missions since 2004. Its main involvement has been in Lebanon, where an estimated 100,000 Armenians live, although it has also sent its forces to Afghanistan and Kosovo.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 231, published on May 13 2015)

US-Georgia began military exercises

MAY 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – US and Georgian forces began two weeks of military exercises, war games which are likely to irritate neighbouring Russia. The exercises are an annual arrangement designed to increase understanding and cooperation between the two armies. Georgia wants to join NATO.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 231, published on May 13 2015)

Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia move towards defence deal

MAY 4 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – At a meeting of Azerbaijani, Turkish and Georgian defence officials, the three countries said they were moving towards a trilateral defence agreement. The countries have held a series of meetings this year to try and work out the protocol for a deal. Any deal would isolate Armenia further.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)

Armenia extends nuclear site

MAY 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia’s parliament approved a Russian plan to extend the life-span of the Metsamor nuclear plant by 11 years to 2026, media reported.

Metsamor, built in the 1970s, provides 40% of Armenia’s power but it is controversial. There are concerns over its safety record and its position in an area known for earthquakes.

Russia’s nuclear agency Rosatom will carry out maintenance at the nuclear site, media reported, a project also funded by Russian cash. In February, Russia agreed to lend Armenia $230m to pay for the maintenance and also to give a $30m grant.

Whatever Armenia professes about its various pro-West policies, it is in Russia’s pocket. Russia owns the gas pipeline monopoly, maintains a large military base in Armenia and has pulled Yerevan into its economic union.

This nuclear deal at Metsamor, which has been a few years in the making, just confirms its grip over Armenia.

The Metsamor nuclear plant, which sits near Yerevan near the border with Turkey, is no stranger to controversy. In 2011, the National Geographic magazine published a story with the headline: “Is Armenia’s Nuclear Plant the World’s Most Dangerous?”

The EU and the US appear to think so. The EU offered Armenia nearly $300m to fund the closure of the nuclear plant, an offer Armenia rejected.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)

Georgia-Armenia relations sour over S.Ossetian visit

MAY 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Relations between Georgia and Armenia threatened to sour after the speaker of the Armenian parliament, Galust Sahakyan, met a delegation from the Georgian breakaway region of South Ossetia in Nagorno- Karabakh.

Initially, Mr Sahakyan’s meeting with South Ossetian official Anatoly Bibilov, who was in Nagrono-Karabakh to monitor local elections, appeared to suggest some degree of official Armenian support for the rebel government. Tbilisi was incensed.

Georgia and Russia fought a brief war in 2008 over South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Russia and a handful of crony states which want to curry support from the Kremlin — think Pacific Island states looking for aid handouts — have recognised their independence although Georgia still says it wants to reclaim the regions.

Georgia’s government called in Armenia’s ambassador to Tbilisi to explain Mr Sahakyan’s actions and later Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili spoke to Armenian PM Hovik Abrahamyan to avoid a diplomatic incident.

An Armenian government spokesman later said: “The meeting between Galust Sahakyan and Anatoly Bibilov was purely of private nature. No official issues were discussed whatsoever. A meeting between private individuals has nothing to do with political positions.”

The statement concluded by confirming Armenia’s support for Georgia’s claim over South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)

US gives military kit to Uzbekistan

APRIL 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The United States will give Uzbekistan boats and vehicles to counter the drugs trade, media reported quoting its embassy in Tashkent.

The extra military kit, worth $6.2m, will irritate human rights campaigners. They say that Uzbekistan is one of the world’s worst human rights abusers. The US says it has to deal with Uzbekistan because Realpolitik demands it.

The US is withdrawing its military kit from Afghanistan mainly through Uzbekistan.

It has already said that it will leave behind surplus kit that it deems non-lethal. These are vehicles, trucks, body armour and night vision goggles.

“The goal of this Project is to assist law enforcement agencies of the Republic of Uzbekistan to develop investigative leads for disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organisations involved in illicit trade of drugs, psychotropic substances and their precursors,” the US embassy in Tashkent said on its website.

As well as hitting the drugs trade, the US may also be planning to quietly help Uzbekistan bolster its border defences against incursions from the Taliban.

Central Asian states have said that they are worried about the spread north of the Taliban once NATO quits Afghanistan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)

Tajikistan jails Islamic extremists

MAY 4 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in south Tajikistan sentenced 10 men to 8-1/2 years in prison each for being members of the banned Islamic extremist group Jamaat Ansarullah. Jamaat Ansarullah is an offshoot of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, blamed for a series of attacks over the past couple of decades in Central Asia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)

Uzbekistan boosts border guards

APRIL 28 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Reacting to the traditional start of the fighting season in Afghanistan, Uzbekistan ordered its Border Guards service to beef up its numbers along its southern border, Russian news agencies reported. Central Asian states are worried about the creep north of the Taliban.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 229, published on April 29 2015)

Lukashenko visits Georgia for the first time

APRIL 24 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The president of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko visited Georgia for the first time on April 23-24.

Officially, this visit, initiated by Minsk, was to strengthen Georgian-Belarusian relations. The parties signed 15 different agreements and declared that they want to boost bilateral trade from $65m/year to $200m/year.

But analysts think that this visit was planned to improve Lukashenko’s position at home, in Moscow and amongst western European leaders before the upcoming presidential elections in Belarus in November.

During his visit, Lukashenko once again expressed his support for Georgia’s territorial integrity. He also called for a better dialogue between the Kremlin and Tbilisi, and expressed hopes that Belarus, Georgia and Russia can someday live as “one family like before”.

The director of Georgian Institute of Politics Kornely Kakachia said Mr Lukashenko’s visit had some positive implications for Georgia because he expressed support for Georgia’s territorial integrity over the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

“But on the other hand, Lukashenko is a side player and does not have big influence on Moscow-Tbilisi relations,” he said. “Also, the president of Belarus is not the best company for Georgia to be seen with by the West.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 229, published on April 29 2015)

Taliban move closer to Tajikistan

APRIL 16 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Taliban forces have launched a series of major attacks on government checkpoints and bases in the previously stable Badakhshan region of northeast Afghanistan, media reported.

Badakhshan borders Tajikistan and its worsening security situation will alarm Tajik officials. They have warned that the Taliban may have designs on Central Asia once NATO forces leave.

Reuters reported that at least 18 government policemen were killed fighting Taliban forces in Badakhshan. Eight of them had reportedly been beheaded.

It also said that government forces had killed 19 Taiban fighters, suggesting that there had been a series of fairly major battles.

Spring marks the start of the fighting season in Afghanistan after the snow melts away allowing mountain passes to be crossed. This year’s season is being particularly closely watched to see how both government forces and the Taliban respond to the official end of the NATO combat mission.

Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan have said that they are all increasing security along their borders with Afghanistan.

Russia has also pledged more support along Central Asia’s borders. It wants to pull Central Asia more closely into its wider security reach.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 228, published on April 22 2015)