Author: Erkin Akkoyun

You are not Forgotten. Berlin, Brussels (12/5 – 40) In the vast mountain lands of Central Asia, a small ethnic group located at the crossroads of Afghanistan, China, and Russia is struggling for its very survival in the face of a national program that, some experts argued, is tantamount to ethnic cleansing. The Pamiris of Tajikistan were granted autonomy by the USSR and reside in Gorno-Badakhshan region known as the GBAO. For years, the Pamiris’ ancient traditions, peaceful religious faith, and highly educated populace, accused by Tajikistan President Imomali Rahmon of being “inbred” and run by “criminals”, have faced a…

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Prime Minister Unal Ustel hailed late Friday the “historic protocol” on cooperation with Türkiye. It was signed at a ceremony at the Rauf Raif Denktas Culture and Congress Center in Gazimagusa, also known as Famagusta. The 2023 Financial and Economic Cooperation Protocol signed by Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay on behalf of Türkiye and Ustel on behalf of the TRNC includes building 26 new schools, three hospitals, health center, national disaster and an earthquake center. Ustel said the deal has contributed to energy, transportation, agriculture, working life, public finance, industry and technology for…

PSA International Pte Ltd (“PSA”) has through its fully-owned subsidiary, PSA-BDP Turkey Supply Chain Solutions Pte Ltd, signed an Agreement to acquire 75% of the shares of privately-held ALISAN Logistics A.S. (“ALISAN”). ALISAN is a logistics company located in Türkiye and active in fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), chemicals, automotive industries and agro business. Upon transaction completion, ALISAN will be grouped under the auspices of PSA’s cargo solutions arm, PSA BDP. PSA’s Group CEO Mr Tan Chong Meng said, “The PSA Group has been actively collaborating with its stakeholders to offer logistics and supply chain solutions beyond the port. We…

Turkey’s Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA) has granted the first preliminary licenses to 12 large-scale projects combining battery storage with wind and solar capacity. “These are the first approvals since the announcement of the Energy Storage regulation in November,” Eren Engur, a board member for Turkish PV association Günder, told pv magazine. “The approved projects have a combined capacity of 744 MW. Since the new rules went into effect, 37 GW of renewable energy projects linked to storage have been submitted to EMRA. The rules allow storage facilities to operate in combination with unlicensed power plants. Such plants are also…

The top foreign policy aide to Turkish presidential challenger Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has told Newsweek he is hopeful that a new Turkish parliament will approve Sweden’s delayed accession to NATO before alliance members meet for their next summit this summer—if President Recep Tayyip Erdogan loses next month’s election. Ünal Çeviköz told Newsweek that the six-party opposition bloc, which is headed by long-time Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kılıçdaroğlu, is “optimistic” on Sweden’s proposed accession, which has been stuck in limbo for several months amid heated disputes between Stockholm and Erdogan. Kılıçdaroğlu is running slightly ahead of Erdogan in public opinion polls ahead of the May 14 election, raising the possibility…

You are not Forgotten. Berlin, Brussels (24/04 – 28.57) Tajikistan authoritarian regime under President Emomali Rahmon is holding many Pamiris in their prisons in Dushanbe, for “political” crimes as cited by the regime, including the slightest opposition to Rahmon who has ruled Tajikistan since 1994. This Eid-ul Fitr sees many such prisoners lamenting their fate in the dreaded cells while the rest of the world celebrates the joyous moment with families and loved ones. The Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) opened a criminal case against Sino Vazirbekov, the brother of civil activist Ramzi Vazirbekov, who…

Kazakhstan has elections on March 19 and for the first time in nearly 20 years, there’s a chance that candidates who are not from pro-government parties might win seats. Polls will be conducted for regional, district and city administrations known as maslikhats, as well as for the Mazhilis, the lower house of parliament. The Mazhilis elections will differ from the last four parliamentary polls (2007, 2012, 2016 and 2021). On June 5, voters in Kazakhstan approved changes to roughly one-third of the country’s constitution. Some of those changes affected the Mazhilis. There were 107 seats in the legislature, but nine…

The current loan portfolio of the EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) projects in Tajikistan was estimated at 524 million euros as of December 31, 2022. According to the bank, the EBRD’s loan portfolio is designed for the implementation of 68 projects. The major part of the investment portfolio (88 percent or 460 million euros) focuses on sustainable infrastructure, seven percent (35 million euros) – on industry, commerce and agriculture, and six percent (29 million euros) – on financial institutions, the EBRD said. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has been cooperating with Tajikistan since 1992, and it’s…

Last month, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was re-elected to what has become Central Asia’s most geopolitically and economically important country – Kazakhstan. Everyone knew he would win. His tenure follows political upheaval that began in 2022 as an old guard and new guard clashed. The reformist policies of past leadership, led by Nursultan Nazarbayev until 2019, a man whose successor named the capital after him (and then named it back to Astana) and who by law was referred as the country’s First President, are still in place. Nazarbayev and his younger predecessor are following the same path in many ways. “Kazakhstan has always done a good…