Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
Russia Says It May Abandon Nord Stream Pipeline and Switch to LNG
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned on November 12, and Gazprom Vice-President Aleksandr Medvedev echoed on November 18, that Russia might abandon the project to lay a gas pipeline, Nord Stream, on the Baltic seabed to Germany. Instead, Putin and Medvedev asserted, Russia could switch... MORE
Alevis Highlight Their Demands in Ankara
On November 10 Turkey's Alevi community, a religious group that differs from Sunni Islam, organized a "Grand Alevi Rally" for the first time in the history of the Turkish Republic. Approximately 50,000 Alevis from different cities came together to demand rights for Alevi communities. The... MORE
Azerbaijan-Georgia Corridor: Growing Transit Volumes Bolster Security
Russia’s invasion of Georgia severely disrupted the operation of the energy transit corridor during August and September, causing revenue losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars to Georgia, Azerbaijan, and the oil and gas companies. Physical damage to the corridor, however, turned out to... MORE
Russia and the World Gold Market
One might ask how far Kremlin-backed Russian companies will go in their quest to take control of valuable gold mining assets not only in Eastern and Central Europe, but in South America and Central Asia as well. One example of their efforts is the recent... MORE
Russia Wants New Airbase in Tajikistan
Russia’s defense priorities within Central Asia are changing in the aftermath of its war in the South Caucasus. There, the Russian armed forces rediscovered the importance of airpower, which it used efficiently to achieve rapidly its operational goals to the surprise of some Western analysts.... MORE
Erdogan visits the United States: Economy and Relations with Obama on the Agenda
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the United States to attend the G-20 Summit, where he joined the leaders of developed and industrializing nations to discuss the global financial crisis. In addition to his participation in the summit activities, Erdogan held bilateral meetings with... MORE
Azerbaijan Hosts Energy Summit
Presidents and other senior officials from 14 countries in the Caspian, Black Sea, Central European and Baltic regions, as well as U.S. and EU delegations, attended an energy summit on November 14 in Baku. The event signaled political support for connecting Caspian basin oil and... MORE
Lithuania Refuses To Acquiesce in EU Negotiations with Russia
The European Union announced the start of negotiations on a new, expanded partnership agreement with Russia at a summit in Nice on November 14. Following Russia’s invasion of Georgia and within days of threatening to target missiles at EU member countries allied to the United... MORE
Medvedev Sorted Out the EU but Got Lost at the G-20
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had been looking forward to last weekend, expecting nothing but joy from the back-to-back summits with the EU in Nice and the G-20 in Washington. The predictable decision of the European Commission to reopen negotiations with Russia on a new Partnership... MORE
Ergenekon Network Exacerbates Anti-Americanism in Turkey
The reading of the 2,455-page indictment against 86 suspects in the first trial against Ergenekon, a criminal network accused of plotting to overthrow the government, was completed at the trial's 11th hearing. When the process of reading the indictment ended, suspects started giving testimony in... MORE