JUNE 24 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Highlighting Turkmenistan’s increasing importance as an energy supplier, Israel sent its first ambassador to Ashgabat, media reported. The arrival of Ruevan Daniel, a former agent of the Israeli intelligence services Mossad, as Israel’s ambassador may also sour Turkmenistan’s relations with neighbour Iran.
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(News report from Issue No. 141, published on July 1 2013)
JUNE 29 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — US pop diva Jennifer Lopez sung at a private concert for Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov. Her set included a rendition of Happy Birthday. Western media outlets criticised Ms Lopez for agreeing to travel to Turkmenistan, which has a poor human rights record, for the concert.
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(News report from Issue No. 141, published on July 1 2013)
JUNE 16 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmenistan will give passports to people who also hold dual Turkmen-Russian citizenship, media reported. The announcement potentially ends a 10-year feud and will soothe strained relations with Russia. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that in 2003 Turkmenistan’s parliament voted to annul dual Turkmen-Russian citizenship.
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(News report from Issue No. 140, published on June 24 2013)
JUNE 10 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmenistan has officially lost its one-party parliament after an election for five vacant seats voted in a member of the newly formed Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (PIE), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported. Analysts, though, have said PIE is a stooge party and is not genuine opposition.
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(News report from Issue No. 139, published on June 17 2013)
JUNE 17 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The figures in the BP Statistical Review of World Energy can be dry but the stories behind the figures are important.
The 2013 edition is an important barometer for the energy-centric economies in Central Asia and the South Caucasus. The most telling figure for the region in this year’s edition of the review was that oil consumption in Kazakhstan grew by over 10% in 2012.
This is a large jump. In the countries covered in the review only Israel’s oil consumption increased at a higher rate. The global rise in oil consumption in 2012 was 0.9%.
The increase reflects Kazakhstan’s emergence from a sharp economic retraction triggered by the global crisis of 2008/9 when oil consumption fell.
Last year Kazakhstan, with a population of 17m, consumed 265,000 barrels of oil per day. By comparison, Uzbekistan, population 29.5m, consumed 82,000 barrels/day and Turkmenistan, population 5m, consumed 100,000 barrels/day.
Across the Caspian Sea, BP reported that Azerbaijan, population 9.3m, consumed 93,000 barrels of oil per day, a jump of 5.4%. This rise in Azerbaijan’s oil consumption, although not as big as Kazakhstan’s leap, still shows an increase in economic activity.
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(News report from Issue No. 139, published on June 17 2013)
JUNE 5 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan started construction on a new rail link that should boost trade between the three neighbours, media reported. The 400km route will run from Panj on the Tajik-Afghan border, across northern Afghanistan to Atamyrat in central Turkmenistan and cost $1.5b to build.
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(News report from Issue No. 138, published on June 10 2013)
MAY 30 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — On a trip to Ashgabat, Turkish President Abdullah Gul signed a framework deal with his Turkmen counterpart Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov to transport gas from Turkmenistan to Europe. Turkmenistan is looking for additional transport routes to pump gas to clients in Europe, China and the Middle East.
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(News report from Issue No. 137, published on June 3 2013)
MAY 22 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmenistan aims to start production at its Galkynysh gas field, the world’s second largest, by the end of June, media quoted officials as saying. Gas production at Galkynysh will consolidate Turkmenistan’s status as global leader in energy supplies.
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(News report from Issue No. 136, published on May 27 2013)
MAY 22 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — After pressure from human rights groups, the Turkmen authorities released Rovshen Yazmuhamedov, a reporter for the US-funded internet and radio media group Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Police detained Mr Yazmuhamedov earlier in May. Reasons for Mr Yazmuhamedov’s detention were never made public.
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(News report from Issue No. 136, published on May 27 2013)
MAY 26 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Ashgabat, the Turkmen capital lying on the edge of the Kyzylkum desert, received the Guinness World Record for the highest density of marble buildings in the world. Flush with profit from gas sales, Turkmenistan’s leaders have re-built Ashgabat with white marble since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
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(News report from Issue No. 136, published on May 27 2013)