Speaking at the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) summit in Moscow on September 5, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev went out of his way to show his country’s commitment to this heavily militarized organization, which unites four Central Asian countries, Armenia, and Belarus under the watchful... MORE

On September 16 Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan harshly criticized the EU for the slow pace of Turkey’s accession negotiations. Speaking at an iftar—the meal at sunset at which Muslims break their daytime fast during the month of Ramadan—held for foreign ambassadors in Ankara,... MORE

Preparations for the parliamentary elections scheduled for September 28 are well under way. Chair of the Central Election Commission Lidziya Yarmoshyna has declared that the election is intended to "smash stereotypes" about Belarus (Moscow Times, September 14). Although some opposition parties are taking part, Charter... MORE

Following a bilateral meeting in Moscow, Kyrgyz Prime Minister Igor Chudinov announced an agreement with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to begin cooperation in the hydro-energy sector (www.24.kg, September 17). Furthermore, Russian Gazprom will explore natural gas reserves in Kyrgyzstan. Chudinov was vague about how... MORE

The Turkish military is as committed as ever to defending the principle of secularism enshrined in the country’s constitution but will resist attempts to be dragged into party politics, General Ilker Basbug, the new chief of the Turkish General Staff (TGS), told journalists in Ankara... MORE

The reverberations from the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers investment bank after its shares dropped more than 80 percent before the September 15 opening bell on the New York Stock Exchange have thrown Wall Street into a volatile situation with worldwide echoes, and the fiscal uncertainties... MORE

Although the Georgian-Russian military conflict and its still uncertain aftermath may have produced no considerable change in Iran’s foreign policy, the projection of Russian power has created a new security dilemma for the Islamic Republic. Iranians certainly hope that the crisis will open new diplomatic... MORE

With the U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsing and the U.S. government bailing out insurance giant AIG, Russia’s stock markets continued their steep fall on September 17 after recording record losses the previous day. The ruble-denominated MICEX fell by 17.5 percent and the dollar-denominated RTS... MORE