APRIL 28 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Hundreds of small stall owners protested in Almaty after a fire ripped through a trading centre. The protest was one of the biggest acts of social discontent in Kazakhstan this year. There have been a number of suspect fires in trading centres in Almaty.
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(News report from Issue No. 229, published on April 29 2015)
APRIL 24 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan both moved their Victory Day military parades from May 9 to May 7 because their leaders were due to be in Moscow for the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany.
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(News report from Issue No. 229, published on April 29 2015)
APRIL 29 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Cycling’s Astana Pro Team, a Kazakhstan-backed franchise, will retain its World Tour Licence despite allegations of mass doping (April 24).
The International Cycling Union’s Licence Commission’s decision surprised many who had been urging it to take strong action to clean up the sport.
The International Cycling Union suggested in February that Astana Pro Team would lose its licence over what it described as “compelling grounds” that it had doped.
This would have embarrassed Kazakhstan. Last year an Astana Pro Team rider, Vincenzo Nibali, won the Tour de France.
Some online stories suggested that the International Cycling Union wanted to avoid a legal case with Astana Pro Team and so dodged scrapping its licence. Instead it said Astana Pro Team would be subject to special conditions next season.
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(News report from Issue No. 229, published on April 29 2015)
APRIL 24 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia’s government said it will hand out a one-off bonus of 1,000 lari ($431) to the 2,000 World War II veterans still alive to mark the 70th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany. The payment will boost the Georgian Dream coalition which has seen its popularity drop.
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(News report from Issue No. 229, published on April 29 2015)
APRIL 21 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s deputy PM, Abdyrakhman Mamataliev, said there were now 330 Kyrgyz nationals fighting for the radical IS group in Syria. It’s not possible to confirm this number, but if it is accurate this would be a major worry for Kyrgyzstan.
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(News report from Issue No. 228, published on April 22 2015)
APRIL 19 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Another Georgian national has been killed fighting for Ukrainian government forces against pro-Russia rebels in east Ukraine, Georgian media reported. It’s unclear exactly how many Georgians have been killed in Ukraine but some media say that it is probably as many as seven.
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(News report from Issue No. 228, published on April 22 2015)
APRIL 21 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Taking a conciliatory approach, Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey would mark the 100th anniversary of the killings of thousands of Armenians by Ottoman Turks with a ceremony in Istanbul for the first time. This a concession by Turkey, although it refuses to call the killings a genocide.
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(News report from Issue No. 228, published on April 22 2015)
APRIL 21 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The authorities in Turkmenistan plan on banning households from owning satellite dishes in an effort to block access to stations critical of its government, the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). RFE/RL said that it was the government’s main target.
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(News report from Issue No. 228, published on April 22 2015)
APRIL 19 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Central Asia and South Caucasus region will host its first Formula 1 Grand Prix next year in Baku.
Formula One boss Bernie Eccelstone gave the greenlight for Baku to host a Grand Prix despite lobbying from human rights and media groups who accuse the authorities in Azerbaijan of cracking down on civil liberties.
“Baku? No problem. That’s going to be another good race,” Mr Ecclestone told reporters ahead of the Grand Prix in Bahrain.
Formula One signed a deal with Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev last year to host a Grand Prix, but without Mr Ecclestone’s support the race wouldn’t have gone ahead.
On the human rights issue, he said that Formula One had done their checks. “I think everybody seems to be happy,” he said. “Doesn’t seem to be any big problem there.”
Human rights groups, the United States and the European Union may disagree — they have all heavily criticised Azerbaijan for locking up activists — but Mr Ecclestone’s comments will be a vindication for Mr Aliyev.
Mr Aliyev has sort to promote Azerbaijan through sport. Later this year, Baku will host the first European Games, it sponsors the shirts of major football teams and will host matches at UEFA’s Euro 2020 tournament.
But Formula One is another level up. It is one of the most watched sports in the world and is certainly one of the most glamorous and now it will act as a prism for viewers to discover Baku when they watch Formula 1 race through its streets in 2016.
It will be the second Grand Prix held in the former Soviet Union. Last year, Russia hosted a Grand Prix at Sochi.
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(News report from Issue No. 228, published on April 22 2015)
APRIL 21 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian president Vladimir Putin and French President Francois Hollande are among the foreign dignitaries due to fly to Yerevan on April 23, the day before the 100th anniversary of the killings of thousands of Armenians by Ottoman Turks.
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(News report from Issue No. 228, published on April 22 2015)