Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
Turkey Is Optimistic About Nabucco as Budapest Summit Approaches
In the midst of the gas transit row between Russia and Ukraine and discussions on diversifying the continent’s energy supplies, Turkey is pleased to see an opportunity for itself. Turkey is seeking a mediating role in the diplomatic standoff between Russia and Ukraine. Following his... MORE
Russian-Ukrainian Gas Crisis Fuelled by National Identity
Western media coverage of the latest Ukrainian-Russian gas crisis has largely ignored the national identity component of the conflict, and yet this is the main factor fuelling poor relations between Ukraine and Russia. Inter-elite corruption in the energy sector comes second to national identity issues.... MORE
Gazprom’s Destabilization Plan for Ukraine and Southeast Europe
When the tense horse trading among the EU, Ukraine and Russia about allowing EU monitors to observe how Russia was renewing the flow of gas to Europe and how Ukraine was transporting this gas ended on January 13, most Western observers were mildly optimistic that... MORE
Erdogan’s Middle East Diplomacy: A New Nasser in the Making?
Since Israel’s Gaza offensive began, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has used harsh rhetoric about Israeli operations in Gaza. Erdogan’s sharp criticism of Israel has motivated the Turkish public to take to the streets to protest against the Gaza offensive (see EDM, January 7).... MORE
Ukrainian Law Bars Transferring Ownership of the Gas Transit System
Gaining some form of control over Ukraine’s state-owned gas transit system has been a constant objective of Russian policy since the 1990s. That 30-year-old system’s worn-out condition, its mismanagement, and the insolvency of its operator Naftohaz Ukrainy are providing Gazprom with a wide opening to... MORE
Russia Seeks Control of Ukraine’s Gas Transit System Through a Consortium
Russia and some circles in Germany are reactivating the idea of a consortium to control Ukraine’s gas transit system. Moscow hopes to profit from the crisis atmosphere it has itself created since January 1 by stopping gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine. Blaming Ukraine in... MORE
A Restart of U.S.-Russian Relations
During a confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, President-elect Barack Obama's choice for secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton, criticized the outgoing Bush administration for having downgraded the role of arms control and announced the new administration’s intention to engage Russia in more... MORE
Guest Commentary: Russian “Security Net” Must Not Be Abandoned
In December 2008, when these lines were written, it was difficult to understand the prospects of the world and domestic financial-economic crisis. For Russia, however, the current turbulence may be useful, because it offers a good pretext for changing many elements of social policy to... MORE
Investigation Deepens Divisions Within Turkey
As Turkish police have been uncovering arms and ammunition buried deep beneath the ground in various places in Ankara, divisions within the Turkish political scene, the judiciary, and the intelligence services, as well as the politically powerful Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), have widened. The caches... MORE
Russia Suspected of Trying to Take over Ukraine’s Gas Transit Network
Russia was supposed to resume pumping gas to the EU through Ukraine on January 13 following trilateral Moscow-Kyiv-Brussels talks, but the Russia-Ukraine gas row is far from over. Neither the issue of Kyiv’s debts, the very existence of which Ukraine denies, nor the conditions of... MORE