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The New Great Game Round-Up #60

Europe's dependence on Russian gas has been a thorn in Washington's side for quite some time. In recent weeks, the United States and its lackeys in Brussels tried hard to sabotage Gazprom's South Stream pipeline, to no avail. Austria, Italy, Serbia and a few other European countries are not willing to give up on the project. Washington and Brussels will certainly exploit the MH17 tragedy to put more pressure on these “traitors”. The U.S. collaborators in Europe have demonstrated repeatedly that they will do everything in their power to reduce Russia's influence in the European energy sector, if necessary at the expense of EU energy security. Gas from the Caspian Sea region is seen as the solution and UK Energy Minister Michael Fallon vowed during his recent visit to Azerbaijan that the West will counteract Russia's attempts to “interfere” with the Southern Gas Corridor. It is not exactly clear which interference Fallon is alluding to but his other statements suggest that he is full of it:

Implementation of Trans-Caspian gas pipeline to increase stability in region

The implementation of Trans-Caspian gas pipeline will increase stability in the region, UK Energy Minister Michael Fallon told journalists in Baku.

Commenting on the opinion that Russia's position on the said project is fairly rigid, Fallon noted that the Russia was sanctioned for actions against Ukraine.

“We will continue to use them in order to make it clear: any escalation of tensions in the southeast of the country will lead to new sanctions. We work on these issues with partners in Europe. The existing tension makes more relevant the issue of reducing Europe's dependence on Russian gas,” Fallon said.

The New Great Game Round-Up #59

While the Western media is still making a fuss about China's 'Ramadan ban', the Chinese authorities continue with their no-holds-barred anti-terror campaign. This week, courts in Xinjiang sentenced three people to life in prison and another 29 to prison terms ranging from four years to 15 years. They were convicted on charges of spreading terror-related audio and video files as well as organizing terrorist groups, making explosives and instigating ethnic hatred. As previously discussed, China is constantly looking for outside assistance in its fight against the 'East Turkestan forces'. So far, Beijing has largely relied on regional cooperation in this regard but, according to recent reports, the Chinese government is now also seeking to tap into the expertise of some more distant countries, which are not exactly allies of China:

China seeking Israeli counter-terror experts

China is recruiting foreign experts in counter-terrorism to assist the training of anti-terror personnel, state-run media reported Thursday, following a spate of deadly attacks which authorities blame on Islamist-inspired separatists.

The People’s Public Security University of China will offer visiting professorships to top specialists in the field from countries including the United States, Israel, Pakistan and Australia, the government-run China Daily said.

“The US and Israel have accumulated rich practical experience in fighting terrorism,” Mei Jianming, director of the university’s Research Center for Counter-terrorism, told the paper.

“The US is advanced in overall strategic research, and Israel is very proficient at tactical action in fighting terrorism.”

The New Great Game Round-Up #58

The situation in China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region has been very tense since the start of the one-year-long anti-terror campaign but the people in Xinjiang's capital Urumqi were particularly anxious on this Saturday because it marked the fifth anniversary of the July 2009 Urumqi riots, when almost 200 people were killed and over 1.700 injured in a series of violent riots over several days. Beijing accused the NED-funded Munich-based World Uyghur Congress (WUC) and its leader Rebiya Kadeer of planning the riots. Although the Chinese government did not back up this allegation with sufficient evidence, it is not implausible considering the WUC's close ties to Western intelligence and its key role in Washington's East Turkestan project. As usual, Kadeer and the WUC blamed the violence on government repression and the police's use of excessive force. This does not explain the takfiri mobs terrorizing Uyghurs and Han Chinese alike during the riots but nobody is going to deny the repression of the Uyghur population, which is now making the headlines once again:

China Restricts Ramadan Fasting In Xinjiang

Students and civil servants in China's far western region of Xinjiang have been ordered not to take part in fasting during the Islamic month of Ramadan.

Statements posted on July 2 on websites of schools and government agencies say the ban aims at protecting students' wellbeing and preventing the promotion of religion in schools and government offices.

Statements on the websites of local Communist Party organizations said members of the officially atheist party also should not fast.

The New Great Game Round-Up #57

At the beginning of this month, the United States handed back its only Central Asian air base to the government of Kyrgyzstan, after the Kyrgyz authorities had caved in to Russian pressure and refused to extend the lease on the Transit Center at Manas. Symbolizing the rocky relationship between the U.S. and Kyrgyzstan, a U.S. civilian contractor at the base, who had attempted to rape a local woman, was sentenced to four years in prison on the same day the Americans officially closed the Manas base. Romania is now hosting the Pentagon's Afghanistan air logistics hub but since the Americans do not plan to leave Afghanistan or Central Asia anytime soon, a new Central Asian air base is needed as well:

Uzbekistan may provide Khanabad Airfield to U.S. to replace Kyrgyzstan's Manas

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan Abdulaziz Kamilov and U.S. Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Laurel Miller discussed the current situation in Afghanistan and its impact on the processes within the region, according to an official statement of the press service of the Uzbekistan's Ministry.

Experts believe that the U.S. is looking for a new platform to support its troops in Afghanistan upon the withdrawal from the Kyrgyzstan's Transit Center at Manas Airport.

In Uzbekistan, the U.S. is interested in Khanabad Airfield that had been already provided to them in 2001. However, after the 2005 events in Andijan, the U.S. was expelled from the country for their support of local radicals. In response, Washington imposed a series of sanctions against Tashkent. Five years later, the U.S., however, realized what they had lost and began to seek the resumption of cooperation with Tashkent.

The New Great Game Round-Up #56

The power struggle between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and CIA puppet Fethullah Gülen continues to dominate the headlines in Turkey. At the beginning of this week, Turkish police detained 11 suspects, including Erdogan's former chief bodyguard and an ex-police chief, in a probe into the wiretapping of the Turkish PM. Gülen's shadowy network has tried to topple Erdogan by all available means, one of which was the leaking of incriminating conversations. Up to this point, all efforts have failed and Erdogan is fighting back with a vengeance. Ever since the conflict intensified, the Turkish PM has made the case for a retrial of the military officers, who were purged in a joint AKP-Hizmet operation, fueling speculation that Erdogan intends to join forces with his old enemies against Gülen. On Wednesday, Turkey's highest court paved the way for this alliance by ordering the release of 230 military officers convicted in the Sledgehammer trial. The power struggle has spread to several countries affecting even the annual Washington conference of the infamous American-Turkish Council (ATC). As previously discussed, the main battleground besides Turkey is Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani authorities did Erdogan another favor this week:

Azerbaijan shuts down ‘Gülen-linked’ schools

Azerbaijan’s government-run energy company has announced that private schools run by affiliates of the movement led by U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen have been closed down.

From February to April, the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) took over dozens of private high schools, university exam preparation centers and universities run by a Turkish education company called Çağ Ögretim, which is thought to be linked to the Gülen movement.

SOCAR announced on June 18 that it had decided to close the schools, which were operated by the company now known as Azerbaijan International Education Center, due to “high maintenance costs and difficulties in project management.”

The New Great Game Round-Up #55

The Great Game Round-Up brings you the latest newsworthy developments regarding Central Asia and the Caucasus region. We document the struggle for influence, power, hegemony and profits between a U.S.-dominated NATO, its GCC proxies, Russia, China and other regional players.

Last Sunday, Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, became the focus of attention, when ten terrorists dressed in uniforms of the Airport Security Force stormed Pakistan's largest and busiest airport sparking a five-hour gun battle with security forces that killed at least 39 people, including the ten attackers. Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), as the Pakistani Taliban is formally known, immediately claimed responsibility for the attack citing the killing of former emir Hakimullah Mehsud and government airstrikes in North Waziristan as motivation. Just a week before the commando-style assault on Karachi's airport, Pakistani media had talked about a split within the Taliban. One of the Mehsud factions led by Said Khan Sajna made public that they are leaving the TTP. Pakistan's government, sensing weakness, announced a group of tribal elders in Waziristan to evict all the foreign fighters from the region giving them an ultimatum of 15 days. Within these 15 days, the TTP responded in its own way and it did so with the help of some foreign fighters:

Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan Claims Karachi Airport Attack

A statement attributed to the IMU began circulating online on June 10. It included photos of 10 men wearing turbans and holding Kalashnikovs, claiming they were IMU fighters who carried out the attack in Karachi as revenge for “bombardments and night attacks with fighter jets” by Pakistani armed forces in the northwestern Waziristan region.

The attack left at least 39 dead, including the 10 militants. After securing the airport, Pakistani security forces claimed the gunmen were ethnic Uzbeks. “The militants appear to be Uzbek,” Reuters quoted one official as saying.

The New Great Game Round-Up #54

With the exception of Uzbekistan's leader Islam Karimov, the presidents of all Turkic countries travelled to Turkey this week for the 4th summit of the Turkic Council. Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov attended the summit personally for the first time indicating that Turkmenistan is ready to upgrade its status in the organization from observer to full member. Berdimuhamedov had already arrived a few days before the summit to discuss the strengthening of Turkey-Turkmenistan ties with top officials in Ankara. The two countries are set to sign a free trade agreement next year and Turkish President Abdullah Gül stressed during his meeting with Berdimuhamedov that Turkey “is ready to carry Turkmen gas to European markets.” Both Ankara and Ashgabat have repeatedly voiced their interest in delivering gas from the Central Asian republic to Europe, which has so far lost out to China in the quest for Turkmen gas. In the light of recent events, Europe and Turkmenistan have ample reason to finally implement this project:

Turkic leaders pledge energy, tourism cooperation

“Trying to reduce its dependency on Russian natural gas, Europe wants Turkmen gas supplies more than ever,” said Guner Ozkan, Caucasus and Caspian regions expert at the Ankara-based think-tank International Strategic Research Organization told the Anadolu Agency in an interview.

However, Ozkan pointed out that Russia is the strongest player in the Caspian region and it would be wrong to believe that Russia would not “intervene” in a project that will go through the Caspian and reach Europe to supply an alternative to Russian gas.

“The recent $400 billion agreement between Russia and China, will soften up Turkmenistan’s gas price negotiations with China,” Ozkan said, adding, “Turkmenistan needs alternative markets as well and reaching Europe through Turkey is imperative from this perspective.”

The New Great Game Round-Up #53

While the Western elites are gathering in Copenhagen to discuss the Russia-China 'gas deal of the century' and other pressing issues at their annual Bilderberg meeting, the Anglo-Americans' worst nightmare, closer Eurasian integration, is coming true. Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev welcomed his counterparts from Russia and Belarus in Astana this week to finally implement the idea of creating a regional trading bloc, which was first proposed by Nazarbayev in a speech at Moscow State University two decades earlier. Although the Western propaganda machine is busy covering up the war crimes committed by the Kiev regime and its forces in Donbas, it did not miss this opportunity to remind everyone of the fact that Ukraine will not join the new economic union due to NATO's successful coup d'état in Kiev. So for now, the Eurasian Economic Union consists of three countries:

Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan sign ‘epoch' Eurasian Economic Union

Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan signed the historic Eurasian Economic Union which will come into effect in January 2015. Cutting down trade barriers and comprising over 170 million people it will be the largest common market in the ex-Soviet sphere.

“The just-signed treaty is of epoch-making, historic importance,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

The troika of countries will cooperate in energy, industry, agriculture, and transport.

Citizens of Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan will have the right to work freely throughout the member states without having to be issued any special work permits, Putin said.

The New Great Game Round-Up #52

When Russian President Vladimir Putin travelled to Shanghai this week, the whole world paid attention. On the first day of his visit, the Russian leader attended the fourth summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA), where Chinese President Xi Jinping criticized NATO's Cold War thinking and made the case for turning the CICA into a security dialogue and cooperation platform covering the whole of Asia. Xi emphasized that security problems in Asia should be solved by Asians themselves. Therefore, the Chinese government advocates closer cooperation between the CICA and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). But the CICA summit and the remarks of China's President did not attract much attention because everybody was awaiting Xi's meetings with Putin and the signing of the 'gas deal of the century'. While Beijing demonstrated its support of Moscow in the ongoing conflict with NATO over Ukraine, the American media was already celebrating that no gas deal had yet been signed. However, it is never a good idea to count one's chickens before they are hatched:

Russia and China seal historic $400bn gas deal

After 10 years of negotiations, Russia's Gazprom and China's CNPC have finally signed a historic gas deal which will provide the world's fastest growing economy with the natural gas it needs to keep pace for the next 30 years.

The total value of the contract is $400 billion, Gazprom CEO Aleksey Miller said. However, the price of gas stipulated in the document remains a “commercial secret.”

Russia will supply China 38 billion cubic meters of gas per year via the eastern 'Power of Siberia' pipeline, which crosses Siberia and reaches China's populous northeast regions. A separate route that could deliver gas to China's western provinces and provide diversification is also in the works, according to Putin.

The New Great Game Round-Up #51

With the Chinese authorities struggling to get on top of the terror problem, new reports have emerged indicating that the recent terror campaign did not start on the last day of President Xi Jinping's four-day trip to Xinjiang with the attack at Urumqi's railway station but on the first day of Xi's visit with the killing of three senior Han Chinese officials in the autonomous region. According to CIA's Radio Free Asia (RFA), three senior county level officials were brutally murdered and their bodies dumped in the Kokkolyar Lake in Kashgar prefecture, where they had been on a fishing expedition. Police kept the incident under wraps and Chinese media did not report it until last Friday, when the state-backed Global Times confirmed the “tragic murder of three cadres by terrorists”. But all efforts to keep the increasing violence in Xinjiang out of the headlines during the visit of President Xi were eventually futile due to the attack in Urumqi, which was reportedly carried out by the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) also known as the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP):

Islamist group claims China station bombing: SITE

An Islamist militant group called the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) claimed responsibility for an attack at a train station in China's western city of Urumqi in late April that killed one and injured 79 people, the SITE Monitoring service said.

SITE, which tracks Islamist militant statements, said TIP had released a 10-minute video in the Uighur language showing the construction of a briefcase bomb it said was used in the station attack.

“A fighter is shown placing the explosive material and shrapnel of bolts inside a box, then inserting the detonation device in a briefcase with the explosive, and leaving the trigger exposed in an outside pocket,” SITE said of the video.