On Tuesday September 19, 2023, the Republic of Azerbaijan launched a military operation against terrorist Armenian forces in Karabakh region, which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan sovereign territory but has been ruled by an ethnic Armenian “so called government” since 1994.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili’s recent visit to China and his meeting with President Xi Jinping heralded the establishment of a strategic partnership between China and Georgia. Garibashvili called his visit historic. Moreover, he expressed Tbilisi’s willingness to deepen its relationship with Beijing and support all the global projects—the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Global Civilizational Initiative, Global Development Initiative, and the Global Security Initiative—China is invested in to reshape international rules and norms and revise the world order.
A Russian Red Cross truck carrying humanitarian aid entered Nagorno-Karabakh from the Azerbaijani city of Aghdam on September 12.
It was the first delivery of supplies to the territory in nearly three months, since Azerbaijan shut down all traffic on the Lachin corridor, the only road connecting the Armenian-populated region to the Republic of Armenia.
US President Donald Trump announced his support for Azerbaijan in terms of natural gas supplies to European countries. In his opinion, such a solution will ensure global energy security. Obviously, such a situation cannot cause delight in Russia.
What did they talk about at the conference?
Over the past few days, footage has circulated across Azerbaijani social media appearing to show increased movement of Azerbaijani troops around Nagorno-Karabakh and along the border with Armenia.
Military shipments from Israel to Azerbaijan appear to have increased simultaneously, raising fears among Armenians of another impending attack from Azerbaijan.
Introduction
In the fluid global order, initiatives to articulate cooperation to its best mutual outcome, as for exchange of resources and synergies are relevant more than ever. The mighty Asian triangular format of RIC (Russia – India – China) is relatively well known although underreported in scholarly and popular writings.
With Western powers distracted by the war in Ukraine, China appears to be making cautious moves to cement its position in the wider Black Sea region.
The strategic partnership agreement released by Beijing and Tbilisi on July 31 surprised many in Georgia and in the West. While this diplomatic advance comes amid traditionally warm relations between China and Georgia, which signed a free trade agreement back in 2017, the reasons for and timing of the strategic cooperation document’s release highlight the fluid geopolitical situation in the South Caucasus; China’s attempts to advance its position in the unstable region; and, more importantly, Georgia’s efforts to maneuver between the collective West and the East, especially ahead of the crucial decision by the EU on whether to grant Tbilisi its long-coveted candidate status.
The country’s third repatriation was carried out with the help of the US, the UN and the Red Cross.
The government of Kyrgyzstan has said 95 wives and children of ISIL (ISIS) fighters have been repatriated from internment camps in Syria.
“The humanitarian mission on August 30, was carried out to repatriate citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic staying in a camp in northeast Syria,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Wednesday.
In a recent development, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan issued a stark warning about the escalating tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan, raising concerns over the potential outbreak of a new war. The two nations have a long history of conflict over the mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh, with efforts toward a lasting peace treaty showing limited progress. Diplomatic mediation by the European Union, United States, and Russia has yielded few results, leaving the situation highly volatile and complex.
A new wave of arrests in Uzbekistan have centered on religious lectures, songs, and social media posts, calling up memories of the not-so-distant Karimov era.
On May 31, a 57-year-old woman from Navai region was sentenced to three years of restricted freedom for liking a social media post in 2018, when she was in Turkey. The video she “liked” on the Odnoklassniki.ru social media platform was a religious speech in Uzbek delivered by a person named Rafik Kamalov.