Viewing results 343 - 348 of 358
LONDON (TCA) — In December 1992, seven months after the start of the sectarian Tajik Civil War, the Russian 201st Motor Rifle Division recaptured the Tajik capital of Dushanbe which had been held by the United Tajik Opposition, a coalition of Islamists, nationalists and democrats. The 201st Division was a unit of the Russian Army, stationed in Tajikistan after the withdrawal from Afghanistan. The 201st were the border guards on the periphery of the Soviet Union with the 810 mile long border with Afghanistan to the south and the turbulent Chinese province of Xinjiang to the East. Continue reading
KABUL (TCA) — By the end of this month a four countries meeting between Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, and United States should take place in Kabul to consider a direct talks with the Taliban about peace. Will this type of “peace” in Afghanistan rehabilitate those malefactors that cause tremendous damage giving them a chance to spread more terror inside the country and beyond? Continue reading
BISHKEK (TCA) — Kyrgyzstan still holds on to overall economic growth – in contrast to its other major-size partners within the EEU namely Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, which have suffered from considerable contractions through the year 2015. In this country, the main question is not just growth, but how to adjust the breakdown of the national economy in such a manner that the staggering 40 per cent of the population consisting of deprived citizens can get the opportunity to improve their lives. Continue reading
BISHKEK (TCA) — Official statistics and overall public opinion tell that foreign direct investment in Kyrgyzstan is declining and there is no investment at all in small and medium enterprises (SME). Kyrgyzstan has to react and the Government should understand that due to different factors such as international crisis, currency problems, cashless Russia, and Eurasian Economic Union membership, the country needs a new industrial approach with income from the China trade being replaced with local production and processing. Continue reading
ALMATY (TCA) — Kazakhstan’s currency is in a very bad shape. There are various reasons for that, and although President Nazarbayev advises his citizens not to buy imported goods, people on the street feel the pinch and try to switch to dollars as much as they can. The crash in global prices of oil and other commodities has already brought Russia and Azerbaijan currencies to their lowest level losing more than 50%. Kazakhstan is not doing any better with the tenge moving, in about two years, from about 150 tenges per dollar to the incredible low level of close to 400 and the situation has much to do with the ever shifting National Bank policies. Continue reading
LONDON (TCA) — Amidst the wildest speculations that predominantly Shiite Iran might emerge as a powerful buffer to keep Sunnite extremism at bay for Central Asia and take the shape of a regional power broker, realities speak a different language. For the moment, Iran needs everybody else’s help a lot more than anybody else needs Iran’s. But where politics face a long haul, trade might have a unique and immediate opportunity – especially where the landlocked Central Asian former Soviet republics are concerned. Continue reading