Central Asia

In recent years Nazarbayev played a role of father figure in the councils of the institutions that succeeded the Soviet Union, such as the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Collective Security Treaty Organisation and the Eurasian Economic Union.

The three thousand year old festival marking the arrival of Spring and Persian new year is celebrated in Iran, Azerbaijan, parts of Georgia, Central Asia and among diaspora communities world-wide

The signing of a new convention between the Caspian Sea littoral countries appears to be imminent. But Emil Avdaliani in this op-ed says that contentious issues remain, and Russia and other countries are strengthening their military presence in the region

Turkmen President ended his official visit to Azerbaijan. Both sides hailed the level of relations between the two countries, and declared themselves pleased with the results of the visit.

At the end of a short visit to Baku by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev a number of documents were signed including a joint declaration by the two heads of state

President Nazarbayev is expected to meet Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev and other Azerbaijani officials later today.

The first confirmed communication since 2014 with former President's daughter, Gulnara Karimova, comes from a Swiss lawyer.

The Israeli prime minister said at Ben Gurion airport before leaving for a trip to Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan that this was a trip to two important muslim countries, and that it represented both "continuity and breakthrough"

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov spoke about the importance of further consolidation of efforts aimed at development of balanced solutions of Caspian issues, including improvement of the legal framework needed to provide reliable foundation for development of mutually beneficial partnership in different spheres