Author: Olivier Depaul

Rahmon’s war against the Ismaili. Dubai (5/7 – 75) The government of Tajikistan’s campaign against the operations of a charitable organization funded by the Agha Khan, the spiritual leader of the country’s Ismaili minority, has intensified over the past few weeks. In the most recent development, the authorities have revoked the license of the Aga Khan Lycée in Khorog, the capital of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region, or GBAO. A source at the Aga Khan Foundation told Eurasianet that June 30 was the last day that the secondary school would operate under its aegis. The Aga Khan Development Network, the umbrella…

The 2023 French Spring Festival is being held after three years and it is one of the biggest events that will take place to celebrate the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Sri Lanka and France. The 11th edition of the festival is being organized by the Embassy of France in Sri Lanka and Maldives and the network of Alliances Françaises in Sri Lanka and Maldives and will be held from the 24th of June till the 13th of July. It will showcase the diversity of artistic collaborations between the two countries and celebrate the encounters between Sri Lankan creation…

“Court decision to close down the Kyrgyz service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Radio Azattyk dealt a serious blow to media freedom in Kyrgyzstan and should be reversed,” stated the International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR). This decision is the most recent in a series of troubling developments undermining freedom of expression and access to information in the country and should be strongly and unequivocally condemned by the international community, the statement said. On 27 April 2023, a local district court in Bishkek ruled in favour of a petition filed by the Ministry of Culture, Information, Sports and Youth…

Responding to the news that the Kyrgyzstani authorities are charging 27 activists who protested against a border agreement with Uzbekistan with “attempting to overthrow the government”, Heather McGill, Amnesty International’s Researcher on Central Asia, said: “It is absurd that these individuals are being tried on the trumped-up charge of attempting to overthrow the state. The activists and politicians facing prosecution are being unjustly penalized merely for exercising their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression.” “The many procedural violations that have marred this case speak to the fact that these accusations are politically motivated and designed to stifle state…

BNP Paribas, the euro zone’s biggest bank, saw profit more than double in the first quarter from a year ago, bolstered by the sale of its U.S. retail division while revenue beat estimates. This allowed the French bank to beef up its capital and liquidity buffers, at a time when European lenders strive to restore confidence in a sector battered by turmoil. Revenue of just over 12 billion euros ($13.20 billion) in the period exceeded the company’s compiled consensus of 11.7 billion as net interest income ticked higher in the usually difficult French retail market, the bank said on Wednesday.…

Kiev intends to use small operational special forces in kayaks to force the Dnieper River, German media reported. Bild, citing a source, writes that Ukraine has been purchasing special equipment since January 2023 and attracting experts to force the Dnieper. One of the German instructors said that he had trained about 40 Ukrainian soldiers. Bild obtained photos from a training camp in eastern Ukraine, where Ukrainian special forces are being trained to paddle and disembark in full combat gear. The Kiev regime believes that kayaks are the most suitable means for crossing the Dnieper, since they are silent, small in…

Iraq halted crude exports from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region and northern Kirkuk fields on Saturday, an oil official told Reuters, after the country won a longstanding arbitration case against Turkiye, Reuters reports. The decision to stop shipments of 450,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude relates to a case from 2014, when Baghdad claimed that Turkiye violated a joint agreement by allowing the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to export oil through a pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. Baghdad deems KRG exports via Turkish Ceyhan port as illegal. The International Chamber of Commerce ruled in favour of Iraq on Thursday,…

French financial prosecutors on Tuesday raided several of France’s biggest banks, including Société Générale and BNP Paribas, as part of a multicountry investigation into what authorities say is one of Europe’s biggest tax thefts. More than 150 financial investigators and 16 local magistrates swarmed the Paris-area headquarters of the French banks, as well as the offices of HSBC Holdings, Natixis and BNP’s Exane unit, in an early-morning action intended to gather evidence for an investigation of a tax avoidance scheme in which the banks allegedly bilked the French treasury out of vast sums. The raids were part of what European…

Putin’s war of aggression in Ukraine is fueling new concerns about the Balkans – but an expert recalls the core of the current escalation in Kosovo. Ohrid/Berlin – In mid-March, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti came closer than ever to an agreement on the Kosovo conflict – although it was an agreement without signatures. Because of the war in Ukraine, the West fears that Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin will use such conflicts in the Balkans for himself. But the Eastern Europe expert Marina Vulović is certain: “The danger is being portrayed disproportionately.” Kosovo conflict and…

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that EU enlargement should extend from the Balkans to Georgia and reach Ukraine and Moldova. However, this is possible only with full membership in the union of Turkey. “It is necessary to start a new process of EU enlargement. It should spread from the Balkans to Georgia, reach Ukraine and Moldova… this region cannot be complete without Turkey’s participation in it,” the Foreign Minister said at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Bucharest (TASS quote). Mr. Cavusoglu stated that Turkey will continue to be a player in the center of the conflict region…