Sixteen countries attended the first two preparatory meetings earlier this month, including Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Jordan, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Spain and Turkey.

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This year's schedule began with simultaneous events in China, Australia and New Zealand, and will climax with the season-ending championships in Turkey in late October.

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It was not until the end of October that military officials even confirmed the existence of the village, where a cluster of between 50 and 100 trailers house officers from Britain, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Jordan, the Netherlands, Italy, France, Qatar, Turkey, Belgium and Canada.

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Also delivering statements were representatives of Libya, Japan, Viet Nam, Russian Federation, Costa Rica, Mexico, Uganda, Burkina Faso, China, Austria, Turkey, Croatia, Sweden (on behalf of the European Union), Norway, New Zealand, Brazil, Peru, Morocco (on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement), Canada, Indonesia, Guatemala, Bangladesh, Serbia, India, Uruguay, Australia, Tunisia, Pakistan, South Africa, Argentina, Nigeria, Thailand, Venezuela and Nepal.

UN: Security Council

Along with the 27 EU member states and the US, the alliance includes: Australia, New Zealand, Cambodia, Thailand, the Philippines, Japan, Vietnam, South Korea, Nigeria, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine.

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