Tag Archives: society

Azerbaijan finds corpse in Caspian

MARCH 13 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Another male corpse was found in the Caspian Sea, possibly one of the missing men from an oil platform that collapsed into the Azerbaijani sector of the sea that killed 9 people in December. Bodies of the dead men have been washing up across the Caspian Sea coastline. The year before, at least 30 people had died when a storm caused a fire at a Caspian Sea oil rig.

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(News report from Issue No. 321, published on March 20 2017)

Protests grow in Armenian capital after ‘Bread Provider’ dies

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YEREVAN, MARCH 20 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Thousands of demonstrators have marched for four consecutive days through the Armenian capital demanding answers from the government about the death of 49- year old Artur Sargsyan, one of the men arrested and imprisoned last year for capturing a police station.

His death and the subsequent demonstrations have galvanized support for opposition groups only a fortnight before a parliamentary election, the first to be held under a new constitution that shifts power away from the presidential office.

The mainly young protesters have marched arm-in-arm through Yerevan shouting for the government to resign and holding aloft pictures of Sargsyan, known by his nicknamed as ‘The Bread Provider’.

During the two-week-long capture of the police station in July by a group of opposition gunmen, Sargsyan had broken through a police cordon to give them food. He was arrested when they surrendered, and died on March 16 in a hospital 10 days after ending a 25-day hunger strike.

For President Sargsyan and his Republican Party the death and protests, estimated at being 1,000-strong every night, have come at precisely the wrong time. They don’t want voters to see TV footage of police forcibly pulling young protesters off the roads and into their waiting vans.

Richard Giragosian, director of Regional Studies Center based in Yerevan, said that protests have been the defining image of Armenia over the last couple of years and that these latest demonstrations reminds voters of this.

In 2015 there were weeks of protests and clashes with police over a proposed electricity price increase and in 2016 there were more clashes between police and supporters of the gunmen who had captured the police station.

“Although the aftermath of his death may be fairly temporary, and limited to a spontaneous outburst of anger, nevertheless, public anger and deep discontent have also defined this country’s coming election,” said Mr Giragosian said.

The only public opinion poll so far, published on March 6 by Gallup, showed that the party led by millionaire Gagik Tsarukyan, who is broadly sympathetic to the current government, would receive 26.4% of the votes compared to 22.8% for the Republican party.

The poll also showed the other seven political parties and blocs, considered the real opposition forces, failing to pass the threshold to win seats.

The demonstrations may shift that, though, Mr Giragosian said “The government’s arrogance has already undermined both their position and popularity,” he said.

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(News report from Issue No. 321, published on March 20 2017)

Georgian official investigate archpriest

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MARCH 8 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s prosecutors said they are investigating archpriest Giorgi Mamaladze for planning to kill Shorena Tetruasvili, an aide to Patriarch Ilia II, when he was caught carrying cyanide as he boarded a plane in Tbilisi bound for Germany this year. Initially, prosecutors said archpriest Mamaladze had been planning to kill the head of the Georgian Orthodox Church as he rested in Germany after medical treatment.

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(News report from Issue No. 320, published on March 13 2017)

Azerbaijan considers smoking ban

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MARCH 10 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s parliament debated a bill that could ban smoking in public places, media reported, the first step towards imposing tougher rules over smoking and cigarette advertising in a country notoriously fond of the habit. Azerbaijan’s neighbours in the South Caucasus, and also in Central Asia, have already imposed some restrictions on smoking. Smoking is currently banned in Azerbaijan in sports facilities, educational area and healthcare buildings.

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(News report from Issue No. 320, published on March 13 2017)

Gulen schools will not close, says Kazakhstan

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MARCH 6 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s ministry of education refuted a statement from Turkey which said that 33 Kazakh-Turkish schools linked to the Gulen Movement would be transferred to Turkish control. Turkey blames the Gulen Movement for a coup attempt last year and has looked to close all institutions linked to it, including a series of schools across Central Asia. Both Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have said that they will not close the Gulen schools. Last year, Kazakhstan rebranded the Gulen-linked schools as “Bilim Innovative Lyceums”. Bilim means education in Kazakh.

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(News report from Issue No. 320, published on March 13 2017)

Car ownership in Kazakhstan rises up 400%

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MARCH 10 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The number of registered cars in Kazakhstan has nearly quadrupled since 2000, media reported quoting interior ministry figures. It said that there were now 4.4m cars registered in Kazakhstan, compared to 1.3m in 2000. Environmentalists have said that in Almaty, the thick smog that hovers over the city is, at least partially, linked to the high car use. There have been calls to try and curb car ownership in Kazakhstan.

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(News report from Issue No. 320, published on March 13 2017)

Russian diplomat flees after car crash in Kyrgyzstan

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FEB. 23 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The first secretary of Russia’s embassy in Bishkek fled Kyrgyzstan days after driving his car through a red light and smashing it into a lorry, killing the driver. Bishkekers reacted with anger after news that Viktor Pukhov had been allowed to leave Kyrgyzstan for Russia was reported in local media.

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(News report from Issue No. 318, published on Feb.24 2017)

Blast at Uzbek chemical factory kills five

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FEB. 24 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — A blast at a chemical plant in Ferghana, east Uzbekistan, on Feb. 23 killed several people, the Uzbek government said.

It declined to give any more details about the blast, other than to report that an investigation had been set up, but the Sputnik news agency quoted a source at the fertiliser factory as saying that at least five people had been killed and that several more had been injured.

“A total of five people have been killed at the site of the explosion, all of them were part of a repair team. Several others are now in a hospital,” the source told Sputnik, a Russian news agency.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty said that the blast occurred at the ammonia production facility of the Farg’onaazot company which produces fertilisers.

Analysts will look at how Presi- dent Shavkat Mirzioyev, in power since September when Islam Karimov died, and his government handle this industrial accident – both releasing information about it and dealing with any potential local anger.

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(News report from Issue No. 318, published on Feb.24 2017)

Georgian MPs consider smoking ban

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FEB. 21 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgians MPs are considering strengthening new laws which limit smoking in public places, media reported. A law being brought in from July will force restaurants and hotels to ensure that a certain proportion of their floor space is designated to be no smoking. But some MPs are now arguing that this law does not go far enough and that a blanket ban on smoking in public places is needed.

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(News report from Issue No. 318, published on Feb.24 2017)

Scrap metal hunters stealing dozens of man hole covers every day in Kazakh capital

ALMATY, FEB. 10 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Aset Issekshev, the mayor of Astana, said that dozens of manhole covers have been stolen to be melted-down and sold for scrap, causing major disruptions to the Kazakh capital’s infrastructure at it battles through another freezing winter.

Kazakh media quoted Mr Issekshev as saying that two areas of Astana had been cut off from the electricity grid and from heating after copper wire was stolen.

“Right now we are faced with the situation where between 10 and 15 cast iron covers are being stolen every day,” Kazakh media quoted him as saying to a group of entrepreneurs.

“Children are falling in them every day.”

He said the scrap metals hunters were selling the lumps of metal on Kazakhstan’s Black Market.

Astana is trying to put on its best face for EXPO-2017 which starts in June. Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev has been building up to the exposition for years as an opportunity to showcase the capital he built on the steppe.

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(News report from Issue No. 317, published on Feb.17 2017)