Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
European Commission 2008 Progress Report on Turkey Details AKP Shortcomings
On November 5 the European Commission released its 2008 progress report about Turkey. The report examines political and economic criteria as well as Turkey’s ability to assume the obligations of membership in terms of state and social structure, that is, intellectual property rights, free movement... MORE
Kyrgyz Government Reduces Rights of Religious Groups
On November 5 the Kyrgyz parliament agreed to increase the number of members required to register religious organizations from 10 to 200. According to the ruling Ak Zhol party, such measures were necessary to restrict the spread of religious extremism in the country and modify... MORE
Medvedev Tests the New U.S. President on the Morning After his Election
The forecast by U.S. Vice President-elect Joseph Biden that Russia would challenge a President Barack Obama soon after he would be elected has come true even sooner than could be expected. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev attacked the United States, its policies, and some of its... MORE
Little Hope in Moscow for a Breakthrough in Relations with U.S.
There seems to be a serious desire in Washington to try to improve faltering relations with Moscow, which were strained by the Russian invasion of Georgia in August. It is expected that the new U.S. administration will try to show its ability to parley and... MORE
Turkey Supports Pakistan in Opposing U.S. Cross-Border Strikes
Many analysts have commented on Turkey's increasingly innovative and confident foreign policy initiatives, most recently its Caucasian Stability and Cooperation Platform to defuse tension in a region recently torn by armed conflict between Georgia and Russia. Ankara is now using its good offices in an... MORE
Oil Development in Kazakhstan Underscores Significance of Azerbaijan-Georgia Transit Corridor
Effective from November 1, Chevron’s subsidiary TengizChevroil is significantly augmenting oil shipments from Kazakhstan, via Azerbaijan and Georgia, to international markets. This development adds to the evidence that business confidence is returning to the Azerbaijan-Georgia transit corridor, in the aftermath of the Russia-Georgia war. The... MORE
Is Yushchenko’s Top Aide Backing Ruthenian Separatist Movement?
The leaders of Subcarpathian Ruthenians (pidkarpatski rusyny) have urged Kyiv to grant autonomous status to their native area, Ukraine’s westernmost Transcarpathian Region. There was no official reaction from the Ukrainian government, but several parties accused them of separatism; and a criminal investigation has been launched.... MORE
YugoRosGas—Another Gazprom Scandal
Russian Gazprom’s opaque European network of subsidiaries and silent partners, which have been mired in numerous scandals over the past decade, is once again involved in what appears to be a major scam. This time it involves YugoRosGas, a gas middleman operating in Serbia with... MORE
AKP Unable To Decide on Its Kurdish Policy
On November 2 Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the eastern province of Hakkari to deliver a speech at a congress of his Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) local branch. In Hakkari, where the Democratic Society Party (DTP) has a strong municipal presence, DTP... MORE
Moscow Summit on Karabakh Falls Short of Kremlin’s Goals
Presidents Dmitry Medvedev of Russia, Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, and Serge Sarkisian of Armenia met on November 2 near Moscow to discuss the current state of negotiations on the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. With those negotiations moving slowly forward at several levels and on their own momentum,... MORE