On July 8, Istanbul hosted the first joint ministerial meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)-Turkey strategic dialogue, which served to highlight the growing multi-dimensional ties between the country and the Middle East. Ankara has increased the frequency of bilateral meetings with the regional states,... MORE

July 10 marked fifteen years since Alyaksandr Lukashenka's victory in the second round of the 1994 presidential election in Belarus. Though he has retained power partly by undemocratic means, repressing opponents and monopolizing the media, his success is nonetheless remarkable and worthy of analysis.In the... MORE

U.S. President Barack Obama's first summit meeting in Moscow with Russian leaders did not warrant headlines in the Ukrainian media. The top story, understandably, continued to be the seemingly unending political crisis in the country, as a consequence of which, American-Russian summitry was buried in... MORE

Turkish President Abdullah Gul has taken positive steps towards resolving the Kurdish question. Gul recently invited the Kurdish nationalist Democratic Society Party (DTP) parliamentarian, Selahattin Demirtas to accompany him on his visit to China (NTV, June 24). In addition, eight DTP mayors from Kurdish cities,... MORE

Today, the northwestern part of the North Caucasus region (comprised of the republics of Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachaevo-Cherkessia and Adygeya) is increasingly becoming one large battlefield. An affluent resort area during the Soviet period, today the region attracts very few Russian visitors, primarily due to its instability.... MORE

Rebels in Ingushetia and Chechnya continue to target the police and military in the two troubled republics. The chief of the forensics department of Ingushetia's interior ministry, Magomed Gadaborshev, died today of wounds sustained during an attack on July 7. Gadaborshev was shot by unknown... MORE

The Russian word "dacha" loosely means "country house." The dacha concept, however, is much broader than that. It personifies both the Russian way of life, and the Russian dream, if there ever was one. Dachas come in different shapes and sizes, ranging from summer wooden... MORE

Since Barack Obama declared that the U.S. government will prioritize restoring the international basis for its fight against al-Qaeda within Afghanistan, Turkey has emerged as a key source of support for this new approach. In March, before his appointment as foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu signaled... MORE

The two-day summit in Moscow between U.S. President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev failed to attract significant attention among the Central Asian states. The summit was seen in Central Asia as a purely U.S.-Russia affair. The event did not promise any drastic... MORE

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov declared on July 7 that the June 22 suicide bombing that seriously wounded Ingush President Yunus-Bek Yevkurov was organized by Chechen rebel leader Dokka Umarov, who is emir of the Caucasus Emirate, and Akhmed Yevloev (aka Emir Magas), leader of the... MORE