South West Asia

by Vladimir Rozanskij | AZERBAIJAN

In the age of sovereignism, Azerbaijan rediscovers one of the largest and longest-lived empires in the Muslim world to claim the historical roots of its statehood ion opposition to Tehran. Akhmedov: ‘The political and economic reforms of its founder Šakh Ismail Khataj should be studied’. Ancient events as a key to reading today's battles of the Aliev dynasty.

by Vladimir Rozanskij

For the first time since the ‘velvet revolution’ of 2018, the Armenian premier showed his face shaved of his beard. A gesture to wink at the need to ‘bring the country back to zero’, an expression he increasingly used to call for ‘looking at the real Armenia and not the land of dreams’.

| 18/11/2024
| ARMENIA

In his speech at the UN Conference underway in Baku, the Vatican Secretary of State reiterated Pope Francis’s appeal for the 2025 Jubilee. “A new international financial architecture” is needed “that can truly ensure for all countries, especially the poorest and those most vulnerable to climate disasters, both low-carbon and high-sharing development pathways”.

| 13/11/2024
| AZERBAIJAN – VATICAN
by Vladimir Rozanskij

The opposition continues its mobilisation every night, denouncing the vote manipulations that would have led to the new success of the pro-Russian Georgian Dream. Documents are being collected for an international enquiry, while the outgoing government remains in a wait-and-see position, pointing to divisions between the parties and not believing in their ability to truly involve the population in the protest.

| 07/11/2024
| GEORGIA
by Vladimir Rozanskij

How many hold the pro-Russian government responsible for fraud that overturned the exit-poll results are pouring into the streets of downtown Tbilisi amid rising tension. President Zurabišvili and leaders of the opposition (which appeared divided into four different parties) do not recognize the results, which give the Georgian Dream 53.92 percent of the vote in a divided country. The Kremlin cries "destabilization on behalf of the Europeans."

 

 

 

| 30/10/2024
| GEORGIA
by Stefano Caprio

The war in Ukraine is forcing the peoples of these countries to make a clear choice, against their own conscience. Moldovans want a place in the world, not just in the "Russian world", to which they already belong. Even more heart-wrenching is the choice Georgians have to make this weekend, deciding their country’s future in addition to picking their representatives in parliament.

| 26/10/2024
| RUSSIAN WORLD

The place of worship, dating from the 4th century AD, was found in Artaxata. The discovery is the result of joint work of archaeologists from the University of Münster and the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia. For experts, it is also a "significant" find because the kingdom was the first in history "to adopt Christianity as its official religion”.

| 26/10/2024
| ARMENIA – TURKEY
Editor's choices
 
by Gianni Criveller
AsiaNews director spoke today in Rome at the conference “The Spirit knows where he takes us” organised by the John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute. The “triple dialogue” refers to the path of interiority, the commitment ...
| 01/04/2025
| VATICAN - ASIA
 
Pope Francis has approved his canonisation, together with that of Archbishop Ignatius Maloyan, killed in the Armenian genocide. A lay catechist, To Rot was killed in 1945 for defending marriage against the Japanese who, in order to ingratiate themselves ...
| 31/03/2025
| VATICAN – OCEANIA
 
by Daniele Frison
The former Minister of Justice was unjustly detained for 2,454 days for her opposition to the former president's drug war methods. The families of the victims had hoped for a mandate from the International Criminal Court. Today Duterte supporters ...
| 28/03/2025
| PHILIPPINES
 
by Dario Salvi
Khalil Sayegh, originally from Gaza and co-founder of Agora Initiative, talks about a population tired of war and the domination of the extremist movement. Today the protests are more evident because Hamas is weakened and cannot ‘repress them with ...
| 28/03/2025
| ISRAEL - PALESTINE
 
by Giorgio Bernardelli
The Israeli academic and scholar of “intractable conflicts” talked to AsiaNews about the way the Gaza war is going and its consequences for Israeli society. Talking about peace today is considered a threat. Seventeen-year-olds “don't ...
| 18/03/2025
| GATEWAY TO THE EAST
 
by Giorgio Licini *
The parliament of Papua New Guinea has approved an amendment that identifies the nation as an ‘independent Christian state’. Fr Giorgio Licini (Caritas Papua New Guinea): it risks being an empty statement, without resolving the ...
| 18/03/2025
| PAPUA NEW GUINEA
 
by A Voice from Shanghai
A Catholic voice from Shanghai reminds AsiaNews of the case of the auxiliary bishop who resigned from the Patriotic Association when he was ordained and has been living in seclusion ever since. It was hoped that the tormented appointment of Mgr Shen ...
| 18/03/2025
| CHINA
 
by Vladimir Rozanskij
The agreement between Kyrgyz and Tajiks-sealed by the embrace between Žaparov and Rakhmon-affects as much as 1,000 kilometers of border and and comes after discussions and clashes dating back to the twentieth century, when both states were under Moscow's ...
| 17/03/2025
| CENTRAL ASIA
“L’Asia: ecco il nostro comune compito per il terzo millennio!” - Giovanni Paolo II, da “Alzatevi, andiamo”