Moqtada al-Sadr, the most prominent Shi'ite opponent of the United States' military presence in Iraq, paid an official visit to Turkey for talks on the political situation in neighboring Iraq. This was al-Sadr's first public appearance since 2007. The Turkish media reported that Ankara had... MORE

On April 29 the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's (SCO) Council of Defense Ministers met in Moscow to discuss enhancing military and security cooperation to counter terrorism, separatism and extremism. The meeting served as an important preparation for the SCO Summit in Yekaterinburg on June 15-16. The... MORE

Gazprom may be preparing to take over a large part of the Hungarian domestic gas distribution network. A new, highly opaque deal is in the works as a result of which Hungary's energy security could be threatened. On April 28 Emfesz KFT, a major Hungarian... MORE

On May 1, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced major revisions in his cabinet. While some ministers retained their posts, eight were removed and nine new members were brought into the cabinet, with another seven assigned to different positions (Today's Zaman, May 2). The... MORE

Most Azerbaijani politicians as well as the general public believe that the recent developments in Turkey's bilateral relationship with Armenia were aimed only at influencing Barack Obama's April 24 statement. Supposedly, Turkey wanted to provide a reason for Obama to avoid using the word "genocide"... MORE

On February 26, Moscow ordered an inspection of the Far Eastern Jewish Autonomous Region (Birobidzhan) which borders China. Since 1991, the population of this region has declined by 15 percent, while there has also been a steady influx of Chinese migrants. Now, some local night... MORE

On April 27, Turkey and Syria launched their first joint military exercise on their border. The three-day long land exercises between border forces involved an exchange of units to enhance joint training and interoperability, and are expected to be followed by similar exercises in the... MORE

As elections approach in Ukraine, controversial historical and linguistic issues are high on the agenda within a country divided along regional and cultural lines. The nationalists including President Viktor Yushchenko, often perceive Moscow's hand behind this, while their opponents complain that the Ukrainian language and... MORE

At the oil and gas conference just held in Baku, Industry and Energy Minister Natig Aliyev, confirmed that Azerbaijan strives for access to European markets as the main export destination for Azerbaijani gas and, potentially, for Turkmen gas via Azerbaijan to Europe (Turan, April 27).The... MORE

Norway's StatoilHydro company, commercial operator of the gas export pipeline from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field, has publicly identified Turkey as stalling on the transit agreement for Shah Deniz gas to Europe. StatoilHydro's latest statements corroborate the concerns of European and Azerbaijani officials on this issue... MORE