Turkmenistan and Saudi Arabia sign cooperation pacts
King Salman of Saudi Arabia and the leader of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov held official talks in Riyadh on May 1. King Salman underlined the importance of bilateral relations and said that two countries are ready to improve relations on trade, investment, energy, agriculture, tourism, combating terrorism and extremism. Saudi Gazette reports that the monarch praised […]
Russia and China to hold computer-assisted military drills
Russia and China will hold the first computer-assisted missile defense exercise in May 2016, TASS reports. The press office of Russian Defense Ministry said, “The Russian and Chinese defense ministers decided to hold the first Air and Space Security 2016 joint computer-assisted command and staff exercise in May 2016 on the premises of the Central […]
Tajikistan Bans the Russian-Style Surnames
Tajikistan has officially banned the surnames with “Russian” endings. Jaloliddin Rakhimov, the Deputy Chief of the Tajik Service for Registration of Citizens, told RFE/RL on April 29 that the new regulations were approved by President Emomali Rahmon in March, RFERL reports. According to new regulations all surnames which have Russian ending such as “-ov,” “-ev,” […]
IRI Poll: Georgians Maintain Pro-Western Attitudes
International Republican Institute (IRI) released a poll about political choices of Georgian people between Russia and the West. “According to the poll, 85 percent of those surveyed say they support joining the European Union and 79 percent support joining NATO. Georgians list the European Union and the United States as important partners while 71 percent […]
Saudi FM Visited Kazakhstan
Adel al-Jubeir, Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia paid his first official visit to Kazakhstan on April 27. Al Jubeir met with his counterpart Erlan Idrissov and president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev. Two sides discussed bilateral relations, economic cooperation, investment and petrochemical development. Erlan Idrissov said, “This is the first official visit of the Foreign Minister […]
Islamic Organisation for Food Security established in Kazakhstan
Member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) established the Islamic Organisation for Food Security on 28 April in Kazakhstan. The new initiative has been created after the 7th Islamic Ministerial Conference on Food Security and Agricultural Development of the OIC in Astana. Minister of Agriculture of Kazakhstan, Assylzhan Mamytbekov talked at the conference: […]
Russia and China to Increase Military Exercises
Russia and China announced the increase of joint military exercises in 2016. Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu met with Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan on April 27. The talks were held at the 5th Moscow International Security Conference, TASS reports. Shoigu said: “We highly appreciate a high level of Russian-Chinese contacts both at the state […]
Russian court jails an Armenian due to IS participation
The Russian court jailed an Armenian militant for joining to IS. Vazgen Zargarian, an Armenian resident of Kazakhstan, is sentenced by the North Caucasus Regional Military Court in Rostov-on-Don because of his attempts to join the IS in Syria. He was previously arrested in 2015 while he was trying to go Syria, RFERL reports. Religious […]
Afghan and Korean Journalists Discussed the Media
Korea-Afghanistan Media Workshop was held on 27 April in Seoul. Major Korean and Afghan journalists discussed the media mechanism and freedom in the world. Asia Journalist Association(AJA) organized a workshop with the major journalists from Afghanistan. Lee Sang Ki, the founder president and Ashraf Dali, the president of AJA, made the opening remarks. Jeongho Nam […]
Uzbek President: “We Need Russian Help in the Region”
Uzbek president Islam Kerimov paid an official visit to Moscow between 25-27 April. Russian president Vladimir Putin has invited him to discuss several topics and to boost bilateral relations according to the website of Russian presidency. Two sides signed five documents on trade, military cooperation, culture, sports and technical issues. An intergovernmental agreement was signed […]