APRIL 3 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Former Georgian defence minister Irakli Alasania accused his successor, Mindia Janelidze, of ditching a deal to buy air-to-ground missiles from France, media reported. Mr Alasania, sacked last year, said scrapping the deal weakened Georgia.
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(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)
MARCH 27 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan has asked the US for military aid to help it stop the spread north of the Taliban in Afghanistan, Eurasianet reported quoting a US general’s statement to Congress. Turkmenistan has been warning for months about Taliban activity on its border.
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(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)
MARCH 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Valery Permyakov, the Russian solider who confessed to killing an Armenian family in January, will be tried in a Russian military court, the Interfax news agency reported (March 29). The murders angered Armenians who wanted Mr Permyakov tried by Armenia.
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(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)
MARCH 27 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – With a conflict in Yemen between a pro-government alliance that includes various Arab states and Iran-backed rebels worsening, Tajikistan has asked Russia for help repatriating 44 Tajik doctors.
Abdulfaizov Atoyev, a Tajik foreign ministry spokeman, said: “The country is taking all relevant measures to evacuate our citizens.”
Media has reported that Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE are preparing for a ground invasion of Yemen.
Doctors and nurses from Tajikistan often travel abroad to work in hospitals and clinics. Remittances from these migrant workers keep the Tajik economy afloat. Russian companies like Zdraveksport and Tekhnoeksport specialise in sending Tajik doctors to Gulf countries. In Yemen, they mostly work for the Red Cross/Red Crescent.
Last October a Tajik nurse was kidnapped in Yemen.
Medical studies represent a climbable social ladder in Tajikistan, as well as providing a route to work abroad. Moving to another country has been a lucrative option for Tajik medics who also want to support their family at home.
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(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)
MARCH 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Azerbaijan began the trial of six men accused of fighting with the extremist IS group in Syria, media reported. The men are part of a group of 26 people arrested last year.
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(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)
MARCH 312015 (The Conway Bulletin) – In his annual address to the nation, Georgian President Georgy Margvelashvili said Russia’s annexation of Crimea and alleged support for rebels in eastern Ukraine threatened to destabilise the region. These were some of the strongest comments yet from Georgia on Ukraine.
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(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)
MARCH 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan has issued an order to nearly double the size of its army to 100,000 soldiers, media reported.
Although no official reason was given for the increase in the size of the military, the Turkmen government has become increasingly nervous about the spread north of the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Last year, news leaked out of Turkmenistan that the authorities had ordered the mobilisation of more officers for its army. Now it appears that it needs more soldiers too.
The Turkmen news website, Chronicles of Turkmenistan, also reported that Russian military observers had been seen patrolling parts of the border with Afghanistan.
Russia and the Central Asian states which border Afghanistan — that’s Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan — have all warned about a potential threat to regional stability from the spread north of the Taliban.
Some analysts have said that the governments of these countries are over-stating this threat to play into their security agenda.
Even so, Turkmenistan appears to be pursuing a major mobilisation agenda.
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(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)
MARCH 25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan has once again raised the security stakes in Central Asia by ordering an increase in the size of its army.
Reports from the Turkmen-Afghan border also said Russian military advisers have been seen working with Turkmen forces.
This would possibly represent a major change in policy for Turkmenistan which has always promoted its neutral credential.
Central Asian states have becoming increasingly worried about the potential march north of the Taliban in Afghanistan once NATO forces quit the country. They have warned at various times that an attack is imminent. Russia, which maintains a large military base in Tajikistan, has issued similar warnings.
Last year, Turkmen forces set up checkpoints inside the Afghan border after what it described as a series of Taliban raids on its border-posts.
This is worrying for Europe because the EU wants to boost gas supplies from Turkmenistan. It wants to reduce its dependence on Russia for gas but doesn’t want to then start relying on a conflict-impacted Turkmenistan.
Turkmenistan also has aspirations to supply gas to a wider group of clients including Pakistan and India. To do this it needs stability in Afghanistan and along its borders.
There are some dissenters, though. Some analysts have been increasingly sceptical and said that Russia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have been talking up the prospect of a Taliban incursion into Central Asia because it suits their security agenda.
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(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)
MARCH 19 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia, NATO and various Western powers criticised a deal made between Russia and the Georgian breakaway region of South Ossetia as a threat to regional security.
The day before, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an “alliance and integration” deal with South Ossetia. Georgia said this was virtually an annexation of the region.
“It’s a cynical and provocative step by Russia,” media quoted Georgian foreign minister Tamar Beruchashvili as saying. “We consider it a move aimed at annexation.”
Relations between the West and Russia are particularly strained at the moment over the Kremlin’s annexation of Crimea last year and its involvement in funding rebels in eastern Ukraine.
Under the deal, S.Ossetia’s security forces become aligned to Russia’s. This is similar to deal already signed by Abkhazia.
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(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)
MARCH 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – On a trip to European capitals, Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambayev asked the European Union to provide military assistance to help stop the rise of the extremist group IS in Central Asia. IS has targeted Central Asia as a fertile recruitment ground.
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(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)