Tag Archives: security

Azerbaijan improves ties with Iran

SEPT. 18 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Hassan Rouhani’s presidency in Iran is still in its infancy but there are signs that relations with Azerbaijan are improving.

This is important because over the past couple of years ties between the two neighbours have worsened dramatically and have, at times, threatened to destabilise the region.

Azerbaijan has moved increasingly close to Israel, Iran’s sworn enemy, supplying it with oil and buying military kit. Last year Azerbaijan-Iran relations hit a nadir when a leaked report suggested that Israel had negotiated a deal to use Azerbaijan as a base for its warplanes if a war with Iran broke out.

Azerbaijan’s government denied the report but the diplomatic damage had already been done. A series of spy scandals on either side of the border also added to the increasingly toxic relations.

This appears to have changed with Mr Rouhani’s election victory on June 15 and inauguration as president on Aug. 3.

Reports said the number of people using a major border crossing between Iran and Azerbaijan has increased this year. Official visits between the two sides have also accelerated. On Sept. 18, the head of Iran’s border police was in Baku. There he said that Iran supported Azerbaijan’s position on Nagorno-Karabakh, the region of the South Caucasus it disputes ownership of with Armenia.

2013 is an election year for both Azerbaijan and Iran and improved cross-border relations appears to be in the interests of both governments.

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(News report from Issue No. 153, published on Sept. 25 2013)

SCO summit held in Kyrgyzstan

SEPT. 13 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The leaders of Russia, China and the Central Asian states except Turkmenistan met in Bishkek for a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit. The SCO, described by some as a counterbalance to NATO, agreed to support Russia on blocking a US attack on Syria after a suspected chemical weapons attack.

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(News report from Issue No. 152, published on Sept. 18 2013)

Islamic militants’ plot foiled in Kyrgyzstan

SEPT. 16 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Police in Osh, south Kyrgyzstan, arrested three Islamic militants — two Kyrgyz and one Kazakh — who had returned from fighting in Syria and were planning a series of attacks, the Kyrgyz National Security Committee said. Reports from Syria say that men from Central Asia were fighting for radical Islamist groups.

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(News report from Issue No. 152, published on Sept. 18 2013)

Russian diplomat killed in Georgia’s breakaway region

SEPT. 9 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Gunmen shot dead a Russian diplomat in Georgia’s breakaway region of Abkhazia. Criminal deals have been touted as a possible motive for the murder of Dmitry Vishernev, First Secretary at the Russian consul, although his death could unsettle Georgia-Russia relations. Russia recognises Abkhazia’s independence.

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(News report from Issue No. 151, published on Sept. 11 2013)

Iran sends warning to Azerbaijan

SEPT. 2 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — In a thinly veiled reference to Azerbaijan’s weapons purchases from Israel, Iranian navy commander Habibollah Sayari told local media that some Caspian Sea countries wanted to disrupt peace in the region. Azerbaijan has been spending billions of dollars in recent years bolstering its military.

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(News report from Issue No. 151, published on Sept. 11 2013)

Violence erupts in Kazakhstan after concert is called off

AUG. 31 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Hundreds of youths in Almaty smashed cars and hurled bottles at police after a pop concert at a shopping mall was abruptly cancelled. Media reported that security forces called in specially armed riot police to control the crowds. Over 165 arrests were made and about a dozen people were injured.

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(News report from Issue No. 150, published on Sept. 2 2013)

Suicide in Azerbaijan’s military base

AUG. 29 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — A conscript in Azerbaijan’s army hanged himself at a military base, media reported. Human rights groups have previously criticised conditions for conscripts in Azerbaijan’s army which has seen a number of suicides in the past few years. They have said bullying is a common feature of life in Azerbaijan’s armed forces.

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(News report from Issue No. 150, published on Sept. 2 2013)

Lithuanian ambassador to be sacked after gaffe in Azerbaijan

AUG. 29 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — A diplomatic scandal centred on the status of the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh is likely to lead to the sacking of Lithuania’s envoy in Baku.

Lithuania’s media is reporting that Dalia Grybauskaite, the Lithuanian President, is likely to fire her envoys to Hungary and Azerbaijan after they were recorded describing Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Armenia.

The diplomatic spat not only embarrasses Lithuania but also acts as a wider reminder of Nagorno-Karabakh’s ultra-sensitive status. Azerbaijan and Armenia are still at war over Nagorno-Karabakh and only a 1994 UN negotiated ceasefire holds a shaky peace.

There are still almost weekly shoot-outs between the opposing armies and Azerbaijan has pledged to re-take the enclave from Armenia-backed forces.

Ms Grybauskaite has, apparently, acted after a recording of a private conversation between Arturas Zurauskas, Lithuania’ ambassador in Baku, and Renatas Juska, Lithuania’s ambassador in Budapest, surfaced on YouTube in July.

In the recording the men agree that Nagorno-Karabakh should be considered Armenian. They also refer to the enclave by its Armenian name, Artsakh. Azerbaijan stakes its own historical claim to the province.

The incident also serves as a reminder of the increased diplomatic clout that Azerbaijan’s burgeoning energy wealth has now given it.

(News report from Issue No. 150, published on Sept. 2 2013)

Azerbaijan buys weapons from S. Korea

AUG. 26 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan has asked South Korea about buying military planes, warships and artillery worth $3b, media reported. The story first surfaced in a Korean newspaper and hasn’t been confirmed by Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has spent billions of dollars on re-arming its military, mainly on kit from Russia.

(News report from Issue No. 150, published on Sept. 2 2013)

Islamists jailed in Kazakhstan

AUG. 15 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s Supreme Court sentenced six radical Islamists to up to 10 years in jail for plotting attacks against senior officials. Kazakhstan has been trying to quell a surge in attacks linked to radical Islamists over the past three years. Reports said the group plotted suicide attacks on major public buildings.

(News report from Issue No. 148, published on Aug. 19 2013)