Day: May 2, 2023

Bulgaria is interested in the Green Corridor Project, which involves the transportation of green energy from the Caspian Sea (Azerbaijan) through the Black Sea (Georgia) to Europe, the Ministry of Energy of Azerbaijan told Trend.

Azerbaijani Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov, during a meeting with Belgian Minister of Energy Tinne Van der Straeten, spoke about ongoing projects for the supply of natural gas and renewable energy sources from Azerbaijan in accordance with the strategic energy partnership with the EU.

The importance of improving the routes of the Southern Gas Corridor and the Solidarity Ring initiative for the transportation of additional capacities was also noted.

An exchange of views took place on the Green Energy Corridor project connecting Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania, and Hungary, in which Bulgaria is also interested.

An agreement was reached on cooperation with Belgium and the exchange of experience in the field of offshore wind energy.

Shahbazov invited his counterpart to Azerbaijan to participate in the Baku Energy Forum.

The 28th Baku Energy Forum is scheduled to be held on June 1-2.

Source: Trend News Agency

Azerbaijan took necessary measures to ensure its national security, for which a border checkpoint was installed on the border with Armenia, at the beginning of the Lachin-Khankendi road, Parvin Mirzazade, Ambassador-at-Large of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, writes in his latest article, Trend reports.

“So, on April 23, 2023, the historical event took place, which the Azerbaijani people had been waiting for over 30 years. Full national control has been restored on the external borders of Azerbaijan, which once again confirmed the correctness of the independent foreign policy chosen by President Ilham Aliyev, aimed at further strengthening the independence and sovereignty of the Republic of Azerbaijan,” he said.

As Mirzazade writes in his article, this act is fully in line with national legislation and Azerbaijan's international obligations. This checkpoint will carry out border and customs control of passengers and cargo crossing the border of the two states in both directions, which will no longer allow the Armenian side to transport military cargo and military personnel along the Lachin-Khankendi road.

Armenian propaganda launched a hysterical campaign "on a global scale", fanning theories of a far-fetched blockade, impending "deportation" and "second genocide" of the Armenian population of the Karabakh region, he added.

Mirzazade pointed out that the Armenian side, exploiting the subject of the so-called “blockade”, tried to internationalize the situation and, under the pretext of "humanitarian catastrophe", tried to attract new players from third countries and international organizations, which have long demonstrated their helplessness in addressing pressing global problems.

“All the provocations of the Armenian side, as well as the illegal use of the Lachin-Khankendi road, in violation of the agreements reached, forced Azerbaijan to take the necessary measures to ensure its national security. The Armenian leadership is dwelling on the past and is not thinking about the future of their country's population, whose numbers are decreasing exponentially. They still have time to accept the new geopolitical realities and sit down at the negotiating table to discuss proposals for a final peace agreement,” the author said

Source: Trend News Agency

A referendum on amending the Constitution was held on April 30 in Uzbekistan. The delegation of Tajikistan took part in this political event.

Tajik delegation included the Director of the Center for Strategic Studies Khayriddin Usmonzoda as an international observer.

According to him, epoch-making events are taking place in the history of New Uzbekistan, and, without a doubt, because the adoption of an updated Constitution will bring the country to a new level, to the qualitative development of the republic.

“This follows from the policy that the country’s leadership has been implementing in recent years. This course towards building a New Uzbekistan involves providing a regulatory framework, implementing reforms and achieving the goals set. We, as a neighboring country, are closely following the important events taking place in Uzbekistan. Since they directly affect the overall development of the countries of the Central Asian region,” he said.

According to the data, the turnout in the referendum of the Constitution was 81.39%.

Source: National information agency of Tajikistan

The Eighth Congress of the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA), where the President of the Football Federation of Tajikistan Rustam Emomali was re-elected as the CAFA President for a new four-year term, was held on May 2 in Dushanbe.

Following his re-election, Rustam Emomali thanked the leaders of the football federations of the countries that are part of CAFA for their trust, and stated that the further development of football in the region would continue through joint efforts.

Also, the President of the Football Federation of Afghanistan Mohammad Yusuf Korgar and the President of the Football Federation of Turkmenistan Arslan Ainazarov were elected as the CAFA Vice-Presidents.

The Secretary General of the Iranian Football Federation Hedayat Mombeni joined the new CAFA Executive Committee, and the Vice-President of the Kyrgyz Football Union Dastanbek Konokbaev became a member of the AFC Executive Committee representing CAFA.

The Congress was attended by FIFA President Gianni Infantino, AFC President Salman bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa, leaders and delegates of the Football Federations of Tajikistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan, as well as representatives of FIFA and the AFC.

In their speech, FIFA President Infantino and AFC President Al-Khalifa congratulated Rustam Emomali on his re-election as the CAFA President and wished him success in developing football in the region.

The heads of world and Asian football praised the work of CAFA, which during the global pandemic held dozens of competitions for the national teams of the Central Asian region. They have become an important stage in the preparation of teams for the Asian and world championships.

Source: National information agency of Tajikistan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the country is working hard to become energy independent and could do so after discovering new oil fields, APA reports citing Teletrader.

Erdogan stressed that new oil reserves have been discovered in the Cudi and Gabar areas, stressing the production capacity of the newly discovered fields is estimated at around 100,000 barrels per day.

The Turkish president insisted that his country is aiming to become an energy exporter, rather than a country that relies on others for energy resources.

Source: Azeri-Press News Agency

The authorities of the city of Tursunzoda, about 60 kilometers west of Dushanbe, have warned residents of the central part of the city to stop construction of additional buildings in their yards as the municipal redevelopment plan of Tursunzoda, which was approved back in 2017, includes the construction of modern multi-story apartment buildings and facilities in the central part of Tursunzoda. The city authorities had previously told Asia-Plus that the territory of Tursunzoda will be expanded by 537 hectares by 2030 and a total area of its central part will be 1,413 hectares. The city is expected to be expanded due to lands of three jamoats located around the city. The jamoats of Tajikistan (village communes) are the third-level administrative divisions, similar to communes or municipalities in the country. An official of the municipal government in Tursunzoda says the authorities, in particular, seek to move city's central bazaar outside the city. Besides, all industrial enterprises will be relocated from the city to a special industrial zone outside the city. Tursunzoda is a city in western Tajikistan, known for its aluminum smelting plant TadAZ. It is located 60 kilometers west of Dushanbe and 40 kilometers west of Hisor, near the border with Uzbekistan. It is near several rivers, Shirkent and Karatag immediately to the west and east of the city, and Kofarnihon further east. Its population is estimated at about 60,000 for the city proper and 350,000 for the city with the outlying communities as of the beginning of this year. Its population was given as 40,600 in the 1989 census, falling to 39,000 in 2000, and estimated at 37,000 in 2006. The city has the television station TV-REGAR and five newspapers, including Aluminiy Tojikiston (weekly), Diyori Tursunzoda (weekly), Region (private weekly) and Hidoyat (a monthly mouthpiece of the ruling People's Democratic Party), and two radio stations Radioi TadAZ and Sadoi Osiyo.

Source: Asia Plus

The bilateral meeting of the heads of foreign affairs of Azerbaijan and Armenia continues, APA reports.

The heads of foreign affairs met in Arlington to discuss the draft peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Note that on May 1, the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia met in Washington, DC, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in attendance.

Later, Jeyhun Bayramov and Ararat Mirzoyan held a bilateral meeting.

Source: Azeri-Press News Agency