MARCH 12 2015 (The Bulletin) – A court in the northern Tajik town of Khujand is trying 23 men for allegedly belonging to an offshoot of the banned Islamic extremist group the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), media reported. Tajikistan says is has become increasingly concerned about Islamic extremism.
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(News report from Issue No. 223, published on March 18 2015)
MARCH 18 2015 (The Bulletin) – The black flag of the extremist group IS has been seen flying in north Afghanistan close to the border with Central Asia, the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported. This is important because Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have both said they are worried about the Taliban moving north.
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(News report from Issue No. 223, published on March 18 2015)
MARCH 18 2015 (The Bulletin) – Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a treaty with the Georgian breakaway region of South Ossetia that underlined the Kremlin’s alliance with the rebel state. Georgia has previously said Russian moves to solidify its hold on South Ossetia and Abkhazia are a breach of international law.
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(News report from Issue No. 223, published on March 18 2015)
MARCH 4 2015 (The Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s security services said they had detained six men linked to the extremist IS group who planned a string of attacks in the country. The authorities in Azerbaijan have previously said they are worried about the radicalisation of some of its population by IS.
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(News report from Issue No. 222, published on March 11 2015)
MARCH 6 2015 (The Bulletin) – Russia started military exercises in the Georgian breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, a show of force that Georgia’s government said was provocative. The Kremlin earlier this year signed a military pact with Abkhazia that also ratcheted up tension in the region.
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(News report from Issue No. 222, published on March 11 2015)
MARCH 6 2015 (The Bulletin) – A military court in Kazakhstan sentenced Nurlan Zholamanov, the former head of Kazakhstan’s border forces, to 11 years in prison for corruption. Zholamanov’s imprisonment is one of the biggest cases in the government’s high-profile anti-corruption drive.
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(News report from Issue No. 222, published on March 11 2015)
MARCH 5 2015 (The Bulletin) – Russia’s defence minister, Anatoly Anatonov, said IS groups in Afghanistan posed a threat to Tajikistan. Russia has been a consistent siren on Tajikistan, warning of the threat to its stability once NATO withdraws from Afghanistan. Russia maintains a garrison in Tajikistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 222, published on March 11 2015)
MARCH 4 2015 (The Bulletin) – The highest court in France rejected an appeal by lawyers of former Kazakh opposition figure Mukhtar Ablyazov against his extradition to either Ukraine or Russia . This decision paves the way for a governmental decree to extradite Ablyazov who is wanted by Kazakhstan on various charges.
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(News report from Issue No. 222, published on March 11 2015)
MARCH 2 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia accused Azerbaijan of shooting dead two of its soldiers around the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. There was no immediate Azerbaijani reaction to the accusation but it does appear to be an escalation. A 1994 cease-fire keeps a fragile peace around Nagorno-Karabakh.
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(News report from Issue No. 221, published on March 4 2015)
MARCH 2 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – IS and other radical Islamic groups have turned southern Kyrgyzstan into a rich recruitment grounds, the head of the Kyrgyz National Security Committee, Rakhat Suleimanov, said. Some Western analysts, though, have questioned the veracity of these claims saying that they allow the security services to clamp down on dissent.
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(News report from Issue No. 221, published on March 4 2015)