On September 13 experts from the Center for Military Analytical Research in Baku launched an unprecedented attack on the Azeri defense ministry, arguing that the country had stepped back from its cooperation with the United States and NATO. The controversy erupted over a semantic nuance,... MORE

Turkey and Iraq held the first ministerial meeting of the High Level Strategic Cooperation Council (HLSCC) in Istanbul on September 17-18. To give substance to the HLSCC (EDM, August 12), eight Turkish and ten Iraqi ministers with responsibility for various portfolios gathered at a joint... MORE

The Deputy Chairman of the Spiritual Board of Muslims of Karachaevo-Cherkessia and Stavropol, Ismail Bostanov, was murdered in the city of Cherkessk on Sunday (September 20). Interfax quoted a law enforcement source in Karachaevo-Cherkessia as saying the attack took place when Bostanov's was stopped at... MORE

The state-run natural gas monopoly Gazprom has moved to control natural gas resources in Russia's vast eastern regions by taking over new gas deposits and building new gas pipelines. In late August, Gazprom argued that the Chayadinskoye deposit lacked sufficient reserves to fill the Yakutiya-Vladivostok... MORE

Given the de facto Turkish-Russian naval condominium that has evolved in the Black Sea (EDM, September 17, 18), Turkey was in a position to be an influential factor in upholding maritime security in the Black Sea basin, thanks to its naval superiority and privileged relations... MORE

The smooth performance of the power-sharing mechanism connecting President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has given way to grinding and clanking as their recent statements betray deepening disagreements. Kremlin-watchers have long been puzzled about the lack of visible tensions between the co-rulers, despite... MORE

The Syrian President Bashar al-Assad visited Turkey on September 16-17 as the special guest of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during which the two countries signed landmark agreements to deepen their bilateral relations. Assad attended a Ramadan fast-breaking dinner on September 16, held in his... MORE

The poor state of Ukrainian-Russian relations, as vividly noted in Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's August letter to President Viktor Yushchenko, the expulsion of two Russian spies from Ukraine and Russia's newly adopted law giving its military the right to intervene abroad is intensifying the debate... MORE

Chechnya's experience under the leadership of Ramzan Kadyrov -that is, the ostensible rule of law and order with the local police force seemingly in full control of the situation- could not leave the neighboring North Caucasus republics unaffected. The very public support that Moscow and... MORE

This week has seen little let up in the insurgent violence that has been on the rise across the North Caucasus for many months now.Unidentified gunmen shot up a police car in the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria, Nalchik, on the evening of September 17, wounding one... MORE