Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
IS UKRAINE ON THE BRINK OF AN ENERGY CRISIS?
Come January 2009 Ukraine will, in all likelihood, begin paying Russia’s Gazprom in the range of $400 per 1,000 cubic meters for natural gas or $22 billion per year. Presently the country pays $179 per 1,000 cubic meters, or $9.9 billion per year. Will it... MORE
ERGENEKON INDICTMENT DASHES HOPES OF FINAL RECKONING WITH TURKEY’S “DEEP STATE”
On July 25, the 13th Serious Crimes Court in Istanbul formally accepted the indictment in the 13-month investigation into the shadowy ultranationalist group known to the Turkish media as Ergenekon (see EDM, July 24) and set a date of October 20, 2008, for the first... MORE
MOSCOW FORCING CZECH REPUBLIC TO GUESS AS TO REASONS BEHIND OIL SUPPLY CUT
Earlier this month, Russia suddenly reduced crude oil deliveries to the Czech Republic through the Druzhba pipeline, from 500,000 tons down to 300,000 tons (see EDM, July 15). The Czech Republic is coping with the situation, at least for now, thanks to its access to... MORE
YUSHCHENKO SWITCHES SUPPORT FROM OUR UKRAINE TO UNITED CENTER
On July 12 Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko’s fourth party of power United Center held its inaugural congress in pompous style at the Ukrayina Palace, broadcast live on state television Channel 1. Although presidential secretariat head Viktor Baloga was touted by the Ukrainian media as the... MORE
PUTIN’S ATTACK ON MECHEL – ANOTHER SILOVIKI POWER PLAY?
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin last week accused the Russian coal and steel producer Mechel of price-fixing and made a veiled threat against the company’s owner, Igor Zyuzin. Critics say Putin’s comments, which caused the value of Mechel’s shares to plummet 33 percent, show that despite... MORE
ISTANBUL BOMBINGS RAISE FEARS OF NEW WAVE OF TERRORIST ATTACKS
On the evening of July 27, two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were detonated in Menderes Caddesi, a street in the Istanbul working class neighborhood of Gungoren. By midday local time on July 28 the death toll stood at 17, all of them civilians. Another 154... MORE
THE IRON SILK ROAD ADVANCES FURTHER
Presidents Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia, and Abdullah Gul of Turkey inaugurated on July 24 in Kars the construction work on the Turkish section of the Kars-Tbilisi-Baku (KTB) railroad. A project of inter-continental significance, connecting Europe and Asia through the South Caucasus,... MORE
SUB-ROSA WARFARE IN THE CRIMEA
On the evening of July 24, 2008, Russian State Duma member Konstantin Zatulin was banned from entering Ukraine for one year when he arrived in Simferopol airport in the Crimea with a group of Russian parliamentarians to take part in the commemoration of the 1,020th... MORE
ISRAELI-KAZAKH COOPERATION GROWS
Since 1991 Kazakhstan has pursued a multilayered foreign policy, juggling its evolving foreign initiatives from hydrocarbons to military cooperation with its former Communist master Russia through growing relationships with China and the United States. Now a fourth player is entering the market—Israel, not for Kazakhstan’s... MORE
TURKEY AND ARMENIA: FROM SECRET TALKS TO “SOCCER DIPLOMACY”?
On July 24, the presidents of Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan formally inaugurated the Turkish section of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad, which will eventually provide the first ever rail link between the three countries. Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony, Turkish President Abdullah Gul declared, in an unmistakable... MORE