FEB. 21 2020 (The Bulletin) — Russia denied accusations made in February by Britain and the US that it was behind a massive cyber-attack against Georgia in October 2019 that paralysed thousands of websites. “This is synchronised propaganda organised by Washington, London, Tbilisi and others,” it said in a statement.
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— This story was first published in issue 438 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020
ALMATY/Jan. 16 2020 (The Bulletin) — A senior Kazakh government official accused by human rights activists of ordering police to open fire at protesters in the oil town of Zhanaozen in 2011 has been promoted to head the State Guard Service.
General-Colonel Kalmukhanbet Kassymov is seen as a hardline loyalist. He was Kazakhstan’s interior minister between April 2011 and February 2019 and will now head up one of the most senior paramilitary units in the country. The State Guard Service is tasked with providing security for President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and also for former president Nursultan Nazarbayev.
At least 14 people were killed in Zhanaozen in December 2011 when striking oil workers clashed with security forces during celebrations for the 20th anniversary of Kazakhstan’s independence from the Soviet Union. Video shot on shaky mobile phones showed police firing at fleeing workers.
Human rights groups have accused Gen. Kassymov of ordering armed police from central Kazakhstan to travel to Zhanaozen, in the western oil region of Mangistau, to confront and, ultimately, shoot protesters.
Gen. Kassymov, 62, is a professional policeman, making his way up through the ranks to become deputy head of the Zhambyl region police force in 1990 before moving into the Presidential Administration in the newly independent Kazakh government. From February 2019, after nearly eight years as Kazakhstan’s interior minister, Gen. Kassymov was made Secretary of Kazakhstan’s Security Council and an aide to the President.
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— This story was first published in issue 434 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020
JAN. 3 2020 (The Bulletin) — Belarussian General Stanislav Zas was appointed Secretary-General of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) ending more than a year of rows and acrimony over who was going to lead the FSU military group. In 2018, after only 1-1/2 years into his 3-year posting, Armenian general Yuri Khachaturov was arrested for ordering police to shoot protesters in Yerevan in 2008.
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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020
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DEC. 28 2019 (The Bulletin) — Separatist forces controlling the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia released Vazha Gaprindashvili, a senior Georgian doctor, after holding him since Nov. 9 for crossing into the province illegally. They had given him a prison sentence of one year and nine months on Dec. 20 but had then changed their minds and released him. Tension has been rising around the breakaway region. Russia backs its independence but only a handful of other Russian proxies have backed the Kremlin. Dr Gaprindashvili, head of Georgia’s association of orthopaedics and traumatologists, said that he had done nothing wrong in trying to reach a patient in South Ossetia on Nov. 8 as he does not recognise its independence.
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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020
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JAN. 8 2020 (The Bulletin) — Officials from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan met in Tashkent to approve technical documents that they said should lay the basis for the demarcation of their shared border, a dispute that has at times over the past 30 years has triggered violence. A series of meetings between officials to decide on the border issues are scheduled for this year.
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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020
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JAN. 12 2020 (The Bulletin) — The leader of the Georgian breakaway region of Abkhazia, Raul Khajimba, resigned after protesters stormed the presidential administration building. They accused Mr Khajimba of fabricating victory in an election last year. Abkhazia is essentially a Russian vassal state, with Russian military bases. The Kremlin and a handful of allies have recognised its independence since a Russia-Georgia war in 2008.
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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020
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JAN. 6 2020 (The Bulletin) — The security forces in Tajikistan arrested dozens of people over the New Year period who they said are linked to the banned Muslim Brotherhood group, media reported. Tajikistan banned the Muslim Brotherhood in 2006. It has carried out a number of purges since of Muslim Brotherhood members, although rights activists have said that the real targets may just be opposition supporters.
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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020
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YEREVAN/Jan. 3 2020 (The Bulletin) — Armenia and Azerbaijan moved quickly to show support for Iran, which has become a key trading partner over the past few years, after the assassination of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani by a US drone.
Both governments, though, need to tread a fine line as they can’t be seen to be backing Iran too strongly or they risk damaging relations with the US.
In a press release two days after the assassination, Armenia’s foreign minister, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, said that he had spoken with his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif to express his condolences about the assassination.
“The Foreign Minister of Armenia stressed the importance of preventing further tensions and de-escalating the situation through peaceful means,” the statement said.
And it was a similar message from the Azerbaijani foreign ministry.
Azerbaijani and Iranian relations were so strained only a few years ago that they almost came to war. It was disclosed that Israel had developed a secret deal with Baku to use an Azerbaijani airbase so that its warplanes could launch strikes against Iran.
Now, though, relations are much improved and the two countries have a handful of joint venture manufacturing units operating together, including a car production plant.
“The Azerbaijani side calls on all parties involved to refrain from violence and be committed to strengthen regional security,” the Azerbaijani foreign ministry said in a statement.
“Minister Mammadyarov expressed deepest condolences to the leadership and the people of the Islamic Republic of Iran on the death of general Qasem Soleimani.”
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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020
— Copyright owned by the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin
JAN. 10 2020 (The Bulletin) — The authorities in southern Kyrgyzstan temporarily evacuated people living in the village of Kok-Tash because of a series of attacks on the border town that they blame on Tajiks, media reported. Clashes in Kok-Tash, which included gunfire, last month hospitalised several people. Tension between Tajiks and Kyrgyz have been rising.
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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020
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DEC. 19 2019 (The Bulletin) — Dozens of US soldiers who deployed to the Karshi-Khanabad former Soviet base in southern Uzbekistan in September 2001 to attack al Qaeda forces in neighbouring Afghanistan have developed cancer, media reported. They said that the base, known by soldiers as K2, was littered with chemical weapon spills and radioactive waste.
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— This story was first published in issue 432 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 27 2019
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