JAN. 11 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan’s interior ministry said police had arrested three suspected members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IUM) after a shoot-out in the east of the country near the border with Uzbekistan, media reported. One policeman died in the shoot-out. The IMU is linked closely with the Taliban in Afghanistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 120, published on Jan. 18 2013)
JAN. 1 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan stopped supplying gas to neighbouring Tajikistan, media reported quoting Tajik officials, during their annual gas price negotiations. Tajikistan is reliant on Uzbekistan for gas. Each year the two countries negotiate a new price for the gas, prompting Uzbekistan to briefly turn it off.
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(News report from Issue No. 119, published on Jan. 11 2013)
DEC. 26 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Tajik authorities flirted with blocking up to 131 websites ahead of a presidential election at the start of the year, media reported. An order to block the websites, mainly news and social media, was circulated on Dec. 20, only to be cancelled a week later. Tajikistan periodically blocks websites.
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(News report from Issue No. 118, published on Dec. 28 2012)
DEC. 10 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Perhaps it was just scare-mongering, but Nikolai Patrushev, the head of Russia’s National Security Council and a close adviser to president Vladimir Putin, said that his staff were monitoring Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan for signs of any re-emergence of the so-called colour revolutions, Russian media reported.
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(News report from Issue No. 117, published on Dec. 14 2012)
DEC. 7 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – It is dry, that’s for sure, but Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perceptions Index is also a decent benchmark of how countries are dealing with corruption in their systems — an issue that foreign investors, local businessmen, politicians and economists follow closely.
The 2012 edition makes for interesting reading on Central Asia and the South Caucasus.
Topping the table for the region is, again, Georgia at 51st place in the 176 country list. Armenia is next at 105th position, alongside the likes of the Philippines and Mexico.
Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan occupy 133 position with Russia and then follows Kyrgyzstan (154) and Tajikistan (157). Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan prop up the table in 170th position. Behind them lie only Somalia, North Korea, Sudan, Afghanistan and Myanmar.
And the big changes from last year? Well, Georgia continues to rise through the ranks, it was placed in 64th position last year, and Armenia has also jumped forward, from 129th in 2011. Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan have also improved their rankings, slightly.
Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have remained fairly consistent.
By comparison, though, the biggest faller from the Central Asia and South Caucasus region was Kazakhstan which fell 13 places in the rankings from 120th position in 2011.
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(News report from Issue No. 116, published on Dec. 7 2012)
DEC. 3 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Tajik authorities unblocked Facebook, a social networking website, and the website of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), a US-funded news service. Tajikistan worries the internet may spread unrest and has periodically blocked access to websites. Facebook and RFE/RL had been blocked for about a week.
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(News report from Issue No. 116, published on Dec. 7 2012)
NOV. 26 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Touted as an emerging superpower, India has still appeared sluggish in exerting its influence over Central Asia.
India’s moves in the region had been either incremental, such as talks with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan on military cooperation, or long term, such as the TAPI pipeline which will, if everything goes to plan, pump gas from Turkmenistan across Afghanistan and Pakistan to India.
This week, though, India took a giant leap forward in cementing real influence in the region. US energy company ConocoPhillips said it intended to sell its 8.4% stake in the Kashagan oil field development project not to Kazakh state energy company KazMunaiGas but to India’s state-run ONGC.
This is significant as KazMunaiGas would have had the first option to buy the stake. Instead, KazMunaiGas appears to have stood aside to allow ONGC in, although this could still change. It’s going to cost ONGC a reported $5b but with it comes significant influence. Kashagan is Kazakhstan’s most high-profile and prestigious energy project.
Websites have also reported that India wants to invest directly into Turkmenistan’s gas fields. If confirmed, this would be more evidence of India’s stirring ambition in the region.
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(News report from Issue No. 115, published on Nov. 30 2012)
NOV. 26-30 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Catherine Ashton, the EU’s foreign policy representative, completed a whirlwind tour of Georgia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. On her travels she met with opposition leaders as well as the heads of states. Her office said she discussed bilateral cooperation as well as human rights.
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(News report from Issue No. 115, published on Nov. 30 2012)
NOV. 29 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Media in Tajikistan reported that the government had blocked access to Facebook, the social networking website, and the website of US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The Tajik authorities have previously temporarily blocked media websites, including Facebook, on fears they could spread unrest.
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(News report from Issue No. 115, published on Nov. 30 2012)
NOV. 23 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – In a boost to Tajikistan’s economy, its government said that a subsidiary of Coca-Cola planned to build a $30m bottling plant in the country, AP news agency reported. AP’s report said that Coca-Cola Icecek was potentially prepared to double its investment within a decade.
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(News report from Issue No. 115, published on Nov. 30 2012)