Author: Aris Ekmekjian

Tel Aviv/Gaza. 19 January -50. After haggling with the terror organization HAMAS over 30 plus hostages are to be freed in a three-phase exchange. Donald Trump warned HAMAS make a deal or face the consequences. Delegation from Egypt, Qatar, Israel, the United States, and Europe worked hard on the deal. Trials and tribulations aside, even in the last moments of the settlement the anxiety ran high. Then the days of Freedom arrived. After 471 days in captivity Emily Damari, Doron Steinbrecher and Romi Gonen were set free. In a caldron of screaming HAMAS fanatics under heavy guard by some green…

Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Russia all gained something as a result of the second Karabakh war, while Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh lost almost everything, says Benyamin Poghosyan in this op-ed. The second Karabakh war ended with catastrophic results for Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. The trilateral statement signed by Russian, Armenian, and Azerbaijani leaders on November 10 was a clear capitulation of the Armenian sides. During the 26 long years of negotiations under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group, several settlement plans have been elaborated and offered to the conflict sides – the phased deal in December 1997, the union state…

Everything resembles a thriller novel. Early one morning in December last year, after months of undercover investigation and wiretapping, Belgian police officers raided dozens of locations across Brussels. Over the next 3 days, in apartments, hotel rooms and offices, they seized laptops, mobile phones and nearly 1.5 million euros in cash. The following week, 4 people were arrested on corruption charges, including 2 representatives, a former member of parliament and a current member of the European Parliament. Antonio Panzeri, a retired MEP from Italy, who eventually admitted that he was the mastermind of the corruption scheme. Meanwhile, Eva Kaili, vice-president of the…

Geneva (21/11) Following the publication of a report by the presidential committee, which dismissed the Channel 4 documentary on the Easter Sunday attacks, Azad Maulana – who has been in regular contact with Ravi Seneviratne and Shane Abeysekara via the Signal app – has confirmed that he will cooperate with an investigation led by them. Maulana also revealed that Nishantha Silva Kandappa, a former officer in the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), a refuge in Switzerland, has been in regular contact with him. He further disclosed that he did not respond to the presidential committee’s inquiry due to the influence of…

Terrorist group widening inroads among Caucasus extremists. Since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, Islamic State Khurasan Province (ISKP) has emerged as the most globally ambitious and active branch in both its operations and propaganda of all radical Islamic groups. ISKP is presently implementing a regionalization and internationalization strategy that has increasingly focused on extending its reach into Central Asia, as well as appealing to associated diaspora elements elsewhere, especially in Russia. The movement’s Central Asian contingent has accounted for a notable share of ISKP-linked activity outside of Afghanistan, but a rising number of instances of terrorist activity are more recently involving Russian nationals, Chechens, and others from its Caucasus region. Jihadism expert Aaron Zelin’s dataset found ISKP to be linked to 12 plots in 2023…

Developing Asia will likely end the year on a brighter note, the Asian Development Bank said on Wednesday, with growth in the region expected to be stronger than previously thought due mainly to a recovery in China’s economy. The ADB raised its 2023 growth forecast for developing Asia to 4.9% from 4.7% projected in September, but kept its growth outlook for the region at 4.8% next year. The ADB also revised upwards its growth projection for China to 5.2% from 4.9% previously, but maintained its growth forecast for the world’s second-largest economy at 4.5% next year. China’s economy grew at…

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed the second review under the Stand-By Arrangement with Armenia. This provides the country with access to about US$24.4 million (SDR 18.4 million), bringing the total access to about US$73.3 million (SDR 55.2 million). The Armenian authorities continue to treat the SBA as precautionary. Armenia’s strong growth momentum continued through 2023. Supported by robust private consumption and investment, the economy is projected to grow by 7 percent in 2023 before moderating to 5 percent in 2024. Over the medium-term, growth is projected to reach its potential of around 4.5 percent, while steadfast implementation…

Children are generally expected to be the main source of support and care for parents in many rapidly ageing Asian societies. But a form of gender bias still persists in this cultural phenomenon — one where sons are preferred over daughters, researchers from Monash University Malaysia’s Business School say. They warn that this could worsen gender inequality in Asian societies. But on the other side of the coin, the researchers found that living with daughters is more positively associated with older people’s happiness. Feng Yuying from Beijing agrees. Ms Feng is in her 60s and lives with her daughter, son-in-law…

Armenia and Azerbaijan on Wednesday swapped prisoners of war, a first step towards normalising relations since Baku retook control of the long-disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region in a one-day autumn offensive. It is the first time the neighbours have exchanged prisoners since the lightening September offensive. Azerbaijan’s military operation ended almost three decades of Armenian separatist control of Karabakh, forcing tens of thousands of ethnic Armenians to flee. Peace talks — mediated separately by the European Union, the United States and Russia — have since stalled, despite both countries saying an agreement could be signed by the end of this year. Baku on Wednesday announced it had freed more than two…

‘It took Armenia almost two and a half months to respond to Azerbaijan’s proposals on draft peace agreement, which has seriously delayed process,’ says Foreign Ministry Azerbaijan on Tuesday called on Armenia to avoid any “unnecessary delays” in peace talks between the two countries.
 “It took Armenia almost two and a half months to respond to Azerbaijan’s proposals on the draft peace agreement, which has seriously delayed the process,” said an Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry statement. “This stagnation in the peace negotiations does not contribute to stability and prosperity in the region,” it added. The statement reiterated Azerbaijan’s readiness to hold…