TCA
TASHKENT (TCA) — A presentation of Uzbekistan’s first cosmetics plant built in partnership with South Korea was held in Tashkent, the Jahon information agency reported.
TCA
ALMATY (TCA) — The OSCE-supported eighth annual Central Asian Forum on Internet Development began on May 24 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
TCA
ASHGABAT (TCA) — Wang Chen, vice chairman of China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee, praised the fruitful cooperation between Turkmenistan and China under the Belt and Road Initiative during his visit to Turkmenistan on May 22-24, Xinhua reported.
TCA
BISHKEK (TCA) — NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on May 24 reiterated the organization’s commitment to Afghanistan but also called on Russia to support an Afghan-led peace process, Afghanistan’s TOLOnews agency reported.
TCA
ASTANA (TCA) — Kazakhstan’s lawmakers have given preliminary approval to controversial bills that would ban independent candidates from running in presidential elections and enable the authorities to strip “terrorists” of Kazakh citizenship, RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service reports.
Paul Goble
BISHKEK (TCA) — Different opinions between the five littoral states of the Caspian Sea — Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan — have for many years blocked energy projects and other initiatives planned without the participation of Russia. A proposed agreement announced in January did not materialize and now the littoral states are finding alternative ways directing their traffic to other carriers and ports. The following article by Paul Goble, entitled ‘Collapse of Russian Shipping in the Caspian Puts Moscow’s Regional Strategy at Risk’, originally published by The Jamestown Foundation’s Eurasia Daily Monitor, explains the ongoing situation at various ports and the great decline in traffic through the Russian ports:
