OCT. 29 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijani border guards shot dead one armed Iranian after a group crossed the border illegally from Iran, media reported quoting Azerbaijan’s border agency. Tension between Azerbaijan and Iran has been rising for the past year, partly because of a series of shootouts along the porous border.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 111, published on Nov. 2 2012)
OCT. 5 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a deal with his Tajik counterpart, Emomalii Rakhmon, to extend Russia’s lease on a military base in the Pamir mountains. The deal extends Russia’s tenure on the base until 2044. In return, media reported that Russia had agreed to supply modern weapons.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 108, published on Oct. 12 2012)
OCT. 11 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – In one of Azerbaijan’s biggest terrorism trials, a court in Baku jailed 22 people for 10 – 15 years for plotting a series of attacks on behalf of Iran, media reported. Relations between Azerbaijan and Iran have been increasingly strained over the past 12 months.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 108, published on Oct. 12 2012)
OCT. 4 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian president Vladimir Putin flew into Tajikistan for the start of a two-day visit which is expected to culminate in a deal to extend Russia’s lease on a military base. The base is Russia’s largest overseas mission and is considered a vital component of its military strategy.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 107, published on Oct. 5 2012)
SEP. 27 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Baku jailed three men for planning to kill rabbis at a Jewish school, in a plot linked to Iran. The men, all Azerbaijani nationals, were given prison sentences of between eight and 14 years. Relations between Azerbaijan and Iran have worsened markedly this year.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 106, published on Sep. 28 2012)
SEP. 15 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Military exercises by the Russia-lead Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) started in Armenia. Media reported that 2,000 soldiers from Armenia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Belarus would be involved in the five-day exercises. Neither Azerbaijan nor Georgia is a member of the CSTO.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 105, published on Sep. 21 2012)
SEP. 14 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Sources in Dushanbe gave Reuters new details on a deal to extend a lease on a Russian military base. The sources said Russia would lease the base for another 20 – 29 years and in return sell weapons to Tajikistan for a discounted price. The lease on the base, Russia’s biggest overseas mission, is due to expire on Jan. 1 2014.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 105, published on Sep. 21 2012)
SEP. 20 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian President Vladimir Putin will sign an extension on the lease of Russia’s air base in Kyrgyzstan during a visit to Bishkek, Russian media reported. Mr Putin started his visit on Sept. 20. The Russian air base outside Bishkek is considered strategically important, particularly as a counter-balance to the US base at Manas airport.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 105, published on Sep. 21 2012)
SEP. 5 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan showed off its new military might by staging its first ever Caspian Sea military exercise, media reported. The exercise focused on defending an oil tanker and villages from attack by sea. Turkmenistan has earned huge sums from gas to China and other neighbouring countries.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 104, published on Sep. 14 2012)
SEP. 14 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – When Hungary allowed Ramil Safarov, a convicted murderer, to return to his native Azerbaijan it triggered a storm that encapsulates tensions in the South Caucasus.
Safarov was attending a military course in Budapest in 2004 when he crept into the room of Gurgen Markaryan, an Armenian army officer, and killed him with axe. It was brutal. Safarov smashed his axe into the sleeping Armenian several times, nearly severing his head.
But, after years in prison, he returned back to Azerbaijan and was immediately pardoned.
To Azerbaijanis, Safarov is a hero. He was promoted to major and given compensation for the time he spent in prison. In Armenia, though, he is a callous murderer.
The problem lies, of course, in a war over the mountainous enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh fought between Armenian-backed forces and Azerbaijan in the early 1990s. A ceasefire was brokered in 1994 but Azerbaijan and Armenia are still technically at war. Almost every week a skirmish along the borders of Nagorno-Karabakh kills a soldier.
Oil wealth has allowed Azerbaijan to re-arm over the past few years while Armenia, short of friends in the region, has looked to build a new alliance with neighbouring Iran.
The pardoning of Safarov has stoked tension at an already dangerous period.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 104, published on Sep. 14 2012)