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Central Asia
Russia, Turkey sign agreement on Turkish Stream gas pipeline project
Turkey and Russia signed the strategic Turkish Stream gas pipeline agreement on Oct. 10, Vestnik Kavkaza reports. The pipeline will carry Russian natural gas to Turkey and on to Europe under the Black Sea. During the signing ceremony with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said…
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East Asia
Post-Soviet military bloc to hold drills in three member states in 2017
The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) plans to hold large-scale collective forces’ drills dubbed Combat Brotherhood on the territory of Armenia, Kazakhstan and Russia in October 2017, Chief of the CSTO Joint Staff Colonel-General Anatoly Sidorov said on October 7, TASS reports. “This year, four CSTO exercises have been held…
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East Asia
N. Korea could have up to 100 deliverable nuclear weapons in four years
North Korea could have up to 100 nuclear weapons in as early as four years that can be delivered on long-range, road-mobile and submarine-launched ballistic missiles, a U.S. think tank has said. The RAND Corp. made the estimate in a report released over the weekend on five major threats the…
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West Asia
Ruling Party Prevails in Georgian Parliamentary Elections
Georgia’s governing party has won parliamentary elections according to near-complete results released amid accusations of vote rigging from the opposition, RFERL/RL reports. With votes in 99 percent of the constituencies now counted, the Georgian Dream party had clinched about 48.6 percent while the opposition United National Movement (ENM) came in…
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South East Asia
Iran and Vietnam cancel visa regime
Iran and Vietnam have signed two documents for bilateral cooperation in the presence of the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang, Vestnik Kavkaza reports. The first document was signed by the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Vietnamese counterpart Phạm Binh Minh. The agreement…
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Central Asia
Path to self-reliance for Afghanistan
Nematullah Bizhan – The Korea Times The Brussels Conference on Afghanistan this week marks an important opportunity to create a roadmap for the country’s future. While Afghanistan’s current path has led to some progress, it is far from the most direct route to prosperity – not least because of deep…
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Central Asia
Kazakh and Russian Firms Sign Uranium Enrichment Deal
Firms from Kazakhstan and Russia have signed a deal on uranium-enrichment services, RFERL reports. The agreement was signed on October 4 in Astana by representatives of Kazakhstan’s uranium operator Kazatomprom and Russia’s Center for Uranium Enrichment during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Kazakhstan’s capital. According to the document, Kazakhstan…
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East Asia
China marked Martyrs’ Day
Chinese people commemorated the anniversary of the founding of China before a ceremony marking Martyrs’ Day at Tiananmen Square in Beijing Friday, Sept. 30, 2016. Chinese President Xi Jinping and other Chinese leaders presented flower baskets and scores of ordinary people filed up to lay a single flower each on…
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West Asia
Georgia Reaches Out for the Ethnic Vote
On the eve of Georgia´s October 8 parliamentary elections, political parties have been courting the rural minority vote more than ever before. Although ethnic Armenians and Azerbaijanis in Georgia have traditionally cast their votes for the ruling party of the day, experts say this is likely to be different this…
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East Asia
