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

President Barack Obama's administration wanted to make the Moscow summit a success, and their Russian counterparts, though more skeptical, decided to follow this approach. Positive speeches were made and a cluster of agreements signed. Contentious issues were mentioned, but not emphasized. The atmosphere in U.S.-Russian... MORE

The riots in Urumqi, the capital of China's northwestern Xinjiang region populated by ethnic Turkic Uighurs, have resulted in the deaths of at least 156 people, mostly Uighurs, and hundreds wounded to the shock of the Turkish public. Uighur associations accuse the Chinese government of... MORE

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko may return to the idea of disbanding parliament and call snap elections. The opposition Party of Regions (PRU), which has the largest caucus in parliament, has disrupted parliament's work following its leader Viktor Yanukovych's failure to form a grand coalition with... MORE

Following a recent telephone conversation between the head of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso, and the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, the commission urged all E.U. member states to immediately begin filling gas storage facilities because they believe that a new Russian-Ukrainian gas war... MORE

On July 1, the Defense Industry Executive Committee (SSIK) took important decisions on new investments for the modernization of the Turkish military through greater domestic participation. Defying expectations, however, the SSIK postponed a decision on the multi-billion dollar general-purpose helicopter tender, for which an intense... MORE

Along with the crisis and lame-duck situation of state institutions, Moldova's multi-party system has also revealed its deficient substance. The Communist Party, anachronistic as such, has proven far stronger than all the other parties in terms of mass appeal and internal discipline. The party is... MORE

On July 8 Moldova officially enters the campaign for repeat parliamentary elections, barely three months after holding regular quadrennial elections. The repeat elections are scheduled for July 29, to be followed by the election of a new head of state in the new parliament. The... MORE

The June 22 attack on Ingushetia's president, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, which left him badly wounded, has sparked a discussion in Russia over what to do next in the North Caucasus as a whole and in Ingushetia in particular. Moscow's initial reaction to the attack on president... MORE