Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
UN MISSION CONFIRMS GEORGIAN, REJECTS RUSSIAN VERSION OF AIR CLASH
On May 26 the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) released its report on the downing of a unmanned Georgian aerial vehicle (UAV), which was reconnoitering Russian-controlled Abkhazia on April 20. Contrary to UNOMIG’s traditional tolerance of Russian pressures on Georgia, this report holds... MORE
MEDVEDEV VISITS KAZAKHSTAN: SENDING SUBTLE SIGNALS TO THE WEST
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev made his first state visit on May 22 and 23, with Kazakhstan as his destination, before proceeding to China. Although he traveled east, his message seemed subtly calibrated for Western consumption. His arrival in Astana did not indicate any shift in... MORE
HEROIN TRADE BEING USED TO FINANCE THE PKK, A TURKISH REPORT CLAIMS
Turkey remains a major transit route for heroin trafficking with a substantial proportion of the revenue being used to finance radical organizations, such as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), according to a recent report by the Department for Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime (KOM) in the... MORE
NORD STREAM PROJECT FACING MORE UNCERTAINTIES AND DELAYS
Nord Stream, the Russo-German gas pipeline project on the Baltic seabed, seems to be receding into the distance. According to Chairman of the Russian Gas Society and Vice-Chairman of the Duma Valery Yazev, the project’s first trunk line is to become operational by 2012 and... MORE
THE KREMLIN TAKES THE SIDE OF LOCAL LEADER IN KALMYIKIA POWER STRUGGLE
This year saw a growing power struggle in the Russian southern republic of Kalmyikia where President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov who has been in office since 1993, is trying to get rid of his main political rival, Rady Burulov, the mayor of the capital of Elista. In... MORE
RUSSIA DOMINATES MONGOLIA IN THE NEW “GREAT GAME”
In the new “Great Game,” the U.S. and more lately China, jostle with a resurgent Russia for control of Central Asia’s vast energy and mineral resources. In no country is the triangular tussle more sharply defined than Mongolia. Dmitry Medvedev was inaugurated as President or... MORE
NATIONAL PRIDE HAMPERS TURKISH BORDER SECURITY
National pride remains an obstacle to improved security at Turkey’s notoriously porous borders, according to a recent report by the Turkish Dogan News Agency (DHA). On May 21 DHA reported that Customs officials in Ankara were opposed to a proposal by the United States to... MORE
A GEORGIAN CHARM OFFENSIVE IN MOSCOW
In an apparent attempt to defuse a tense diplomatic and military conflict with Russia over the breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the Georgian government is starting a major drive in Moscow to improve relations. The new Georgian ambassador to Moscow, Erosi Kicmarishvili, who... MORE
RUSSIA’S ROSNEFT CLAIMS MARKET LEADERSHIP
Russia's state-run oil company Rosneft pledged to maintain its self-proclaimed role of market leader. It now appears that the company's acquisition-based model of expansion will be put to the test. Rosneft emerged as leader of Russia's energy sector in 2007, and the company was set... MORE
POLICE FACED WITH NEW KYRGYZ “THIEF IN LAW” AFTER A TWO-YEAR BREAK
Two years after the death of criminal kingpin Rysbek Akmatbayev, who controlled organized criminal groups across Kyrgyzstan, the country’s new “thief in law” is 33-year-old Kamchybek Kolbayev (www.24.kg, May 25). Recently crowned in Moscow, Kolbayev, like Akmatbayev before him, has considerable influence over politics and... MORE