Week In Review: Meetings, Talks, and More

Orda has put together a brief synopsis of news from the past week.

The heads of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) gathered in Moscow this past week. Putin called the member nations Russia's closest neighbors, friends, and strategic partners. Ironically, the Russian president held talks with the leader of Armenia. The two nations' relations have become noticeably strained. Pashinyan agreed with Putin on withdrawing Russian border guards from the Agarak checkpoint.

Pashinyan presented Putin with The Crossroads of Peace project, Armenia's preferred option for the region's communications as opposed to the Zangezur Corridor. Azerbaijan has pushed for the latter, resulting in a standstill in logistics coupled with geopolitical tensions between Yerevan and Baku. At the CIS meeting, Pashinyan also declared Armenia's readiness to sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan "already this month." However, there didn't seem to be anything concrete about steps for moving forward that haven't already been voiced.

Commenting on Agarak, Pashinyan's Press Secretary, Nazeli Baghdasaryan, stated that Russian border guards would continue to serve on the Armenian-Iranian border alongside their Armenian counterparts. Armenia has gradually been assuming control over its border in the past year. Experts have noted that the Agarak checkpoint switch-up may benefit Ankara, the West, Moscow, Tehran, and Yerevan, according to The Caucasian Knot. Some stated that Moscow did this as a political gesture for Tehran. Notably, Putin later met with the Iranian president in Turkmenistan. 

Kazakh President Qasym-Jomart Toqayev also visited Turkmenistan this past week. He and Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedow held talks and signed several agreements aimed at boosting bilateral cooperation. Meanwhile, Uzbekistan is set to invest $1 billion in developing Afghanistan's energy infrastructure. Five agreements regarding the mining sector were also inked; their price tag is $1.15 billion.

The Chair of Qazqgaz's board noted that the deal signed during Toqayev's visit between QazaqGaz and Turkmengaz would cover three areas. The more noteworthy aspects are TAPI, the import of commercial gas from Turkmenistan, and QazaqGaz's involvement in gas fields in Turkmenistan, such as the Galkynysh field.

A month ago, Turkmenistan and Kabul resumed construction operations on the long-delayed TAPI project. Doubts remain on whether the pipeline will come online. If completed, it could transport around 33 billion cubic meters of gas annually from Turkmenistan's Galkynysh gas field to Pakistan and India. 

Returning to the topics surrounding the South Caucus, Georgia's ruling party again initiated impeachment procedures against President Salome Zourabichvili. The reasons for it are the same as before; supposedly, Zourabichvili violated the constitution by not authorizing trips abroad with the government.

Zourabichvili had previously refused to sign the anti-LGBTQ+ bill sign, though it was signed into law regardless. South Ossetia later announced the closure of the border with Georgia to protect its population from potential threats stemming from Georgia's radical "pro-Western elements."

The announcement emerged as Georgia's parliamentary elections are scheduled for October 26. Against this backdrop, three Georgian TV channels received fines for refusing to air the Georgian Dream party's election ad, which depicts war-torn Ukraine side-by-side with a peaceful Georgia. Reacting to similar banners, Ukrainian authorities did not hesitate to slam the party's method for election promotion almost two weeks prior.

In Kazakhstan, a conservative Majilis deputy sent a request to recognize the organization "Feminita" as extremist, labeling it and the LGBTQ+ community as a world-class evil organization that wants to "destroy Kazakhstan's youth." Feminata had previously held what its members referred to as the "Lesbian Qurultay."

The event caught the attention of "The Union of Parents of Kazakhstan." Uninvited, its members tried to storm into the event on its third day. The union's chair, Bagila Baltabayeva, was among them. The organization is known for its conservative, anti-LGBTQ+, and anti-vaccine stances. Baltabayeva, meanwhile, initiated the petition against "LGBTQ+ propaganda."

The Moscow Stock Exchange also joins in as other noteworthy news. Sanctions brought about two mutual Russian investment funds taking its place as a Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) shareholder. Coincidentally, according to Bloomberg, sanctions have not stopped tankers from resuming the transportation of Russian oil. At least 21 of the 72 tankers sanctioned as of April 2024 have resumed operations. Bloomberg also reported that India has become Russia's second-largest restricted technology supplier.

Two days before The Moscow Stock Exchange's departure, Russia and Tajikistan Cooperation signed cooperation plans involving the Ministries of Tajikistan, Russia, and Rosatom. A day later, Emomali Rahmon discussed education, science and technology, and the regulation of labor migration with Valentina Matviyenko, Russia's Chairperson of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly. Paradoxically, Russian authorities continue to push for tightening the laws despite needing a foreign labor force. In a recent survey, more than half of Russian companies questioned stated that they could not hire such workers sufficiently.

On a less "friendly' note in Russian-Tajik relations, Shohin Samadi, The head of Tajikistan's Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, responded to Mikhail Matveev's unwarranted remarks.

Matveev, a Russian Duma deputy, claimed that in some schools, the history of the Tajikstan is presented as "anti-Russian propaganda." Samadi dismissed the claims, also stating Matveev's assertions about "The 90s genocide" in Tajikistan were goading international enmity and division. Samadi called on Tajik and Russian authorities to give a suitable assessment.

This past week, the case involving 11 journalists came to a close in Kyrgyzstan. In January 2024, a criminal case was opened against the journalists. They faced charges of "incitement to mass unrest" following investigations aimed at exposing government corruption.

Makhabat Tazhibek Kyzy, the head of the Temirov Live project, was sentenced to six years, and Azamat Ishenbekov was sentenced to five. Journalists Aktilek Kaparov and Aika Beyshekeeva were given three-year suspended sentences, while the other defendants were acquitted. International organizations were quick to condemn the trial, accenting Kyrgyzstan's continuing pressure on its media landscape.

On October 8, Belarus law enforcement reported on a criminal case against 45 people. There were no clarifications against who exactly, however. The case concerns "Platform 2025" adopted at the "New Belarus" conference in August 2024. The Belarusian Investigative Committee claimed their alleged plan involves the consolidation of "extremists" to "coordinate actions" during the 2025 presidential election in Belarus.

Not long before, reports emerged that Belarusian law enforcement compiled lists of people to be detained before the elections.

Later in the week, Russia's Roskomnadzor devised a new "legal" way to impede internet traffic. The agency prepared a new decree allowing it to slow down any site via an extrajudicial decision of the Prosecutor General's Office. In a conversation with Forbes Russia, experts stated they believe neither would have to report such actions publicly.