NOV. 13 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbek border guards shot and killed a Kyrgyz man on their shared border, US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported, only a few days after two other men were injured in a similar incident. Tension has been rising along the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border, threatening stability in Central Asia.
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(News report from Issue No. 209, published on Nov.19 2014)
NOV. 13 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbek president Islam Karimov is weakening and is unaware of the real situation in Uzbekistan, his grandson, also called Islam Karimov, said in an interview with the BBC’s Uzbek language service. Mr Karimov Junior gave the interview in an apparent attempt to bolster his mother, Gulnara Karimova, who is under arrest in Tashkent.
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(News report from Issue No. 209, published on Nov.19 2014)
NOV. 12 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uznews.net, a Russian-language dissident website reporting on Uzbekistan, has temporarily closed after being hacked. The editor of the website, Galima Bukharbayeva, told the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty website that she may have to close the website permanently.
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(News report from Issue No. 209, published on Nov.19 2014)
NOV. 11 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbek border guards shot and injured a Kyrgyz man along the Uzbekistan- Kyrgyzstan border, media reported. The Uzbekistan- Kyrgyzstan border is one of the most fragile border zones in the region. Analysts have said that any spark could destabilise Central Asia.
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(News report from Issue No. 208, published on Nov.12 2014)
NOV. 7 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Through its subsidiary Super iMAX, Korea Telecom will launch a 4G technology in Uzbekistan in 2015, media reported. South Korea is one of the biggest investors in Uzbekistan. The 4G service will be available in Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara.
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(News report from Issue No. 208, published on Nov.12 2014)
NOV. 7 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian mobile provider MTS is testing equipment ahead of its re-entry into Uzbekistan, media reported. MTS, which is owned by Russia’s Sistema, quit Uzbekistan after a major row with the authorities in 2012 over alleged unpaid tax bills. It since appears to have made up and has agreed to return to the country.
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(News report from Issue No. 208, published on Nov.12 2014)
NOV. 6 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The authorities in Uzbekistan have sacked the powerful head of the Tashkent police force, Colonel Abdumajid Mullajonov, and several of his deputies, media reported.
Over the past year intrigue has gripped Uzbekistan over the demise of the once all-power daughter of President Islam Karimov, Gulnara Karimova, and her associates. Sources in Tashkent said, though, that dismissal of Colonel Mullajonov, the son of the Central Bank chief, was not linked to politics.
Instead media said he had been sacked for corruption and bribery.
The importance of the change of leadership at the Tashkent police force is to highlight the flux that these powerful Uzbek institutions are currently going through.
Uzbek sources said Colonel Mullajonov allegedly misappropriated businesses of a sugar magnate who was a close business partner of Ms Karimova, and that he owned dozens of fuel stations in the two largest cities in Uzbekistan.
Uzbek politics, business and power are closely linked. The sacking of Colonel Mullajonov and his colleagues adds more intrigue to a fluid domestic situation.
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(News report from Issue No. 208, published on Nov.12 2014)
NOV. 3 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Islamic Development Bank has agreed to loan Uzbekistan $100m to build extra rural housing, media reported. This is the second major loan by intergovernmental agencies for rural housing in Uzbekistan. In 2011, the Asian Development Bank approved a loan of $500m.
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(News report from Issue No. 207, published on Nov. 5 2014)
OCT. 30 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan may officially be neutral but it is still discussing regional security issues with NATO.
NATO’s liaison officer for Central Asia Alexander Vinnikov met with Turkmen officials to discuss various bilateral security options, media reported. This was the second major security meeting held by Turkmenistan in October. Earlier in the month President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov met with Uzbek President Islam Karimov to discuss cooperation.
The main worry for Turkmenistan is the growing Taliban threat along its border with Afghanistan. The Taliban has increased their activities, triggering the Turkmen military to bolster its defences.
It’s also concerned about a re-galvanised Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). The IMU emerged in the 1990s and had targeted Uzbekistan. In the 2000s it joined the Taliban fighting NATO forces in Afghanistan and this year claimed responsibility for an attack on Karachi airport. More recently, the IMU has publicly declared its support for the so-called Islamic State extremist group which is fighting in Syria and Iraq.
If the IMU did become a major threat to Central Asian states once again, Turkmenistan, with all its gas riches and long border with Afghanistan, could well be in its sights.
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(News report from Issue No. 207, published on Nov. 5 2014)
OCT. 30 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan’s sum currency lost 20% of its value over a few days because of the depreciation of the Rouble, Russian media reported quoting a Central Bank official. Economists have warned of a ripple effect across Central Asia from the worsening Russian economy.
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(News report from Issue No. 207, published on Nov. 5 2014)