Ethnic Problems in Georgia and Russia
In the Caucasus geography, so many ethnical factors have been living through the centuries. Georgia is a small Caucasian mosaic as demographic. These ethnical differences make Georgia politics weak. After the collapse of the Soviets, Russia Federation has attempted to fill the authority gap appearing ...
Closing down of the so-called Afghan Turk schools in various cities of Afghanistan by the National Directorate of Security (NDS) over past months has turned into a hot topic in political and diplomatic circles and also among experts. At the present time, this issue has become more complicated after ...
The United States and the Upcoming Russian Presidential Election
Russia's national election is being held while the United States is trying to interfere in its internal affairs. In other words, the Russian authorities have repeatedly warned the United States about Russia's internal affairs. Recently Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned US ...
Chinese Reforms Have Turned Forty: Any Shift in Paradigm?
The 19th Communist Party Congress was held last week. The significance of the Congress and its outcomes lies in one point: the change or continuity in the reform paradigm. Understanding what is happening at the 19th Communist Party Congress is not possible without knowing what happened at the Third ...
Turkish Cultural Influence in Azerbaijan
The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 created a great opportunity for Turkey to be fully present in the five republics of Central Asia and the Caucasus - Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. In fact, Turkey, as the only Turkish- speaking country in the world, has tried ...
A New Level in Iranian-Russian Economic Relationship: Opportunities and Challenges
Within Iran's neighborhood, Russia's big consumer market is one of top priorities for Tehran to develop its economic and commercial ties. Reading economic history of Iran and Russia, one realizes the ebb and flow of bilateral trade performances. Recent deterioration of Russian relationship ...
Russia and Referendum on Independence of the Kurdistan Region
It is generally believed that the referendum on the independence of the Kurdistan region is not just a local issue, and not only will it be the beginning for the breakdown of Iraq, but also it will create a similar threat to its neighbors. For this reason, the announcement of the date of the referendum ...
A Good Start for the Cultural Interactions between Tehran and Baku
In the past week, an important event took place in the Iranian culture. Azerbaijan’s Week of Culture was held with the presence of Abulfas Garayev, Minister of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan, and more than sixty Azeri artists in the Iranian cities of Tehran, Isfahan and Ardabil. Four ...
Roots of Cold Ties between Iran and Tajikistan
Looking at the general trend of relations between Iran and Tajikistan since the collapse of the Soviet Union shows that the level of relations between the two countries has always been far removed from existing capacities. In particular, over the past two years, this has become more conspicuous than ...
Long Season of Republicanism in Armenia
The sixth parliamentary elections in Armenia was held on April 2, 2017 to choose the composition of the National Assembly, as Armenians call it “Azgayin zhoghov”, but this election was more than anything affected by the amendments to the constitution of Armenia and the political restructuring ...
Nowruz, a Ritual for Thanking God for His Blessings
Ze kuy-e yār miāyad nasim-e bād Nowruzi. Az in bād ar madad khāhi cherāgh-e del bar afruzi. ...
On Recent Unrest in Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan once again witnessed protests and political confrontation between the groups supporting and opposing the central government in Bishkek, but this time, the presidential palace also hosted one of the most serious external elements affecting the domestic processes, i.e., the Russian ...
Turkmenistan Presidential Election: Could We Expect Change?
The presidential election of Turkmenistan on February 12, 2017 is interesting for some reasons. This is the first time three different parties have introduced their candidates for the presidential election in Turkmenistan. This round of election has witnessed so far the presence of the largest ...
Tribal Social System and Political Stability in Turkmenistan
Tribal social structure in the Turkmen community has unique and interesting features. Throughout history, the Turkmen tribes and even clans have always been recognized from each other by distinct identities; at the same time, at times they have been united against a foreign enemy, and have shown ...
Due to the political developments in recent years, it is probably not far-fetched to hear news about changes to the constitution in the countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus. Constitutional amendments in the Republic of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan are recent examples of these developments ...
New Sufism and the Unexpected Effect of Fundamentalism in Central Asia
In “Sufism” literature and in historical studies related to different periods of the communities’ tendency toward mysticism, Sufism and Sufi order (though specialists in this field distinguish between these terms), the important characteristic is the concurrent governing spirit of ...
Temporary Change in Strategies of Uzbekistan in the Transition Period to Mirziyoyev
After the death of Karimov, Uzbekistan’s foreign policy has produced a new literature these days in some expert circles which analyzes the change and reform of past trends of Tashkent, and hopes to see a convergent environment created in the Central Asia in the future. Clearly, this happens ...
Muharram Mourning Ceremonies in Central Asia
Commemoration of Imam Husayn's uprising has unique features in each of the countries of Central Asia. These features depend on the country's ethnic and religious characteristics as well as population size and distribution. For example, the people of Tajikistan have a strong cultural connection ...