Wednesday, April 9, 2013

CACI Forum

"The Central Asia Caucasus Institute"

The April 26 Almaty ‘Istanbul Process’ Meeting: Towards Clarity on Post 2014 Afghanistan?

 In November 2011 Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, the UAE, and Uzbekistan met in Istanbul to develop a new agenda for cooperation in the "Heart of Asia." The U.S., U.K. and other countries became "supporting nations" to this effort, as did the UN, CICA, SCO, OIC, NATO, and ECO. So far, the "Istanbul process" has embraced confidence building measures in various areas, as well as the "Silk Road vision" of reopening transport channels between Europe and Asia via Afghanistan.