Viewing results 325 - 330 of 383
OSH, Kyrgyzstan (TCA) — Afghanistan’s Taliban and the dreaded terror organisations Daesh and Al-Qaeda have launched a third offensive against the country’s border area with Tajikistan, following two earlier attempts to take control of the strategic area on Tajikistan’s southwestern border. The geopolitical impact of the place is enormous, and the danger of it falling into enemy hands becomes more and more acute by the day – leaving distant players in the broader conflict wringing their hands – and doing pretty little. Continue reading
LONDON (TCA) — Kyrgyzstan and other Central Asian countries are constantly trying to attract foreign investment, which is very important for the local economies and one of the most important answers to persistent economic stagnation. The inability to solve this problem during at least the past decade requires a consideration on how the attraction of foreign investment has been handled and the several reasons behind the failure, involving not only large multinationals but also small and medium foreign entrepreneurs. Continue reading
LONDON (TCA) — Has the failed coup attempt in Turkey been a warning sign that its controversial head of state should behave? Or has it been an attempt by hardliners dissatisfied that he was starting to show signs of behaviour? What it has demonstrated is that a nation suffering from severe personality splits remains unpredictable and its future course, either with or without Erdoğan, unclear. For Central Asia’s regimes, it means that they have to remain on the alert on all levels while keeping their heads cool. Continue reading
BISHKEK (TCA) — The visit of Germany’s Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel to Bishkek this week, part of a tour in the region which also included Mongolia as the end destination to join a summit of Eurasian heads of government (including Russia’s Dmitry Medvedev and China’s Li Ke-qiang), has not gone unnoticed in Germany. In Kyrgyzstan, President Atambayev has seized the opportunity to boost his own profile. Substance and tangible results of the visit, however, look hard to distinguish. Continue reading
LONDON (TCA) — Recep Erdoğan’s “mea culpa” and his attempts to get Turkey back on the political scene have been met with mild tolerance – but with less enthusiasm than he might have hoped for. The maneuver could restore “business as usual” between the former USSR and Turkey, but the latter is now under close watch by virtually everybody and “rebuilding mutual trust” is no matter of words but of deeds, the ball remaining in Turkey’s camp. Continue reading
LONDON (TCA) — The longstanding plan to destroy the secular states of Central Asia and eventually that of Russia cherished by Daesh and its connected Central-Asian groups has been complicated by Turkey’s recent reconciliation move towards Moscow. This could explain the choice of Istanbul as the latest terror target and the fact that it was masterminded and carried out by former Soviet citizens, probably including at least one Kyrgyz and one Uzbek perpetrator. Continue reading
