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Drones kill 4 in Novorossiysk and set a fuel-oil terminal alight in the port that ships Kazakhstan's oilBrent clears $100 for the first time since July, with Azeri Light at $108 against the $65 in Baku's budgetGeorgia promises to double its ports by 2032 for a corridor whose shallowest link is on the other seaRussia's defence minister tells Dushanbe the Afghan border gets special attention and its drone units get Russian help
Erdogan's Black Sea shipping mechanism would start at the berth where Kazakh oil loads
Turkish FactorAnalysis4 Sept

Erdogan's Black Sea shipping mechanism would start at the berth where Kazakh oil loads

Flying home from Bishkek on Wednesday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the reporters on his plane that the Black Sea needs «a mechanism that will permanently secure the safety of commercial shipping», and that Turkey's concern covers «all civilian sea transport», beyond ships under its own flag or management. He named no design in the remarks Haber7 printed. The ships with the most to gain are the tankers that load Kazakhstan's oil at Novorossiysk, where the Caspian Pipeline Consortium's terminal logged three attacks in July.

Ashgabat takes a new Turkish ambassador's letters
Turkish FactorBrief31 Aug

Ashgabat takes a new Turkish ambassador's letters

Serdar Berdymukhamedov received Sener Cebeci's credentials on Friday; the readout speaks of fraternal relations of a long-term, strategic nature.

The Bosphorus stops both ways for a hull the war already stopped
Turkish FactorBrief21 Aug

The Bosphorus stops both ways for a hull the war already stopped

Istanbul suspended traffic in both directions on Friday morning to walk a casualty through the strait: the Liberian-flagged bulker Great Ocean, 289 m, struck by drones near the Kerch Strait entrance about a month ago, went south under tow to a repair yard.

Moscow rejects the moratorium and says no formal proposal ever arrived
Turkish FactorBrief17 Aug

Moscow rejects the moratorium and says no formal proposal ever arrived

Moscow rejected Hakan Fidan’s Black Sea moratorium on Friday, calling it a half-measure and denying that any formalised Turkish appeal had arrived through official channels. Ankara had not answered by Monday morning, and the war keeps washing up on Turkish shores.

Uzbekistan is guest of honour at a gathering Ankara does not convene
Turkish FactorBrief14 Aug

Uzbekistan is guest of honour at a gathering Ankara does not convene

The Kurultaj opens on the Bugac puszta today. Tomorrow’s ceremony lists the secretary general of the Organization of Turkic States, the culture ministers of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, the president of TURKSOY and one Turkish party official. The host is a Hungarian foundation and the mayor of a village of two thousand.

Ankara's condolences on 10 August went to Colombia
Turkish FactorBrief13 Aug

Ankara's condolences on 10 August went to Colombia

Eight Uzbek citizens and one Tajik citizen were killed at Nizhnekamsk on 10 August. The Turkish foreign ministry issued a condolence statement that day, numbered 155, about an earthquake in Colombia. It has published four releases since 10 August and none of them mentions the nine.

Russia's first answer on the Black Sea moratorium comes from a Duma deputy
Turkish FactorBrief11 Aug

Russia's first answer on the Black Sea moratorium comes from a Duma deputy

Turkey's proposal for a moratorium on maritime strikes drew its first Russian pushback on Tuesday, at parliamentary level.

The shipping war’s damaged ships head for the yards
Turkish FactorBrief11 Aug

The shipping war’s damaged ships head for the yards

Two of the vessels hit off Novorossiysk this month now have names and destinations: the container ship LDR Yasar is under damage assessment in Samsun, and the dry cargo carrier Gulluk is sailing to Istanbul for repairs.

Turkey reopens the straits without saying why it closed them
Turkish FactorAnalysis10 Aug

Turkey reopens the straits without saying why it closed them

Tankers bound for Novorossiysk are moving again after a pause Ankara never explained and now calls a set of temporary measures. In Astana, the Energy Ministry put its detour list on the record on Monday.

Turkey pauses the straits, and Kazakh oil waits
Turkish FactorAnalysis10 Aug

Turkey pauses the straits, and Kazakh oil waits

From Thursday to Sunday, vessels bound for Novorossiysk could not get permits to transit the Turkish straits. The pause revealed a second gate on Kazakhstan’s main export route, and nobody in Astana holds the key.

Ankara puts two names on the shipping war
Turkish FactorAnalysis4 Aug

Ankara puts two names on the shipping war

Turkey’s foreign ministry on Tuesday named two Turkish-owned ships hit in a single evening off Novorossiysk and told the warring parties to make the Black Sea safe for civilian navigation. Kazakhstan’s export recovery now depends on how much of that warning the tanker market believes.

Tokaev and Erdogan hold meeting in Astana
Turkish FactorAnalysis14 May

The Turkic Moment: What Erdogan's Astana Visit Reveals About Kazakhstan's Strategic Choices

Thirteen agreements, a record trade surge, and a new medal — but Ankara and Astana are reading the partnership through different lenses