After a three-sided meeting with the Russian President, the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan announced that they were ready to speed up the talks on the Karabakh problem – part of the strife that has lingered since the breakup of the Soviet Union.

• January 23, 2012

China's premier, Wen Jiabao, was in the Persian Gulf this week talking about oil.
China has become increasingly concerned about all the threats of conflict with Iran in the Persian Gulf, which supplies China with a great deal of its oil.

• January 21, 2012

Iran is being paid for oil sales to India through a Turkish bank, the managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company said Friday on Mehr news agency.

• January 21, 2012

Insights into Turkish Domestic and International Politics during December 2011

Key Points:

• The TSK mistakenly bombs unarmed Kurdish smugglers near the Iraqi border, adding yet another incident that sets back Turkish-Kurdish relations and possibly fueling further violence.
• Military, economic and political ties are severed between France and NATO ally Turkey following the National Assembly’s vote to move an Armenian genocide bill forward.
• Turkey’s Central Bank sells off over $1 billion in dollars to combat rising inflation, though by month’s end the rate had surpassed 10%.
• Azerbaijan and Turkey agree to a new gas transport and supply deal for the Shah Deniz field, upsetting some in Brussels who feel the new pipeline could undermine the time consuming progress for NABUCCO. READ MORE

• January 21, 2012

Iran warns its Arab neighbors that in the event of the introduction of sanctions against the country they should not increase oil production. Otherwise, as promised by representatives of the Islamic Republic, the region may expect catastrophic consequences.

• January 19, 2012

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu Wednesday said both the European Union and Iran have expressed their readiness to resume talks on the nuclear issue.

• January 19, 2012

Japan pledged on Friday to keep cutting purchases of Iranian crude in the clearest public offer of support yet among Asia's big buyers for U.S. efforts to tighten an international noose around Iran in an escalating dispute over its nuclear ambitions.

• January 19, 2012

Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd called on China to consider halting its oil purchases from Iran in deference to efforts by the international community of pressuring Tehran to abandon its nuclear program.

• January 19, 2012