Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
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
GOVERNMENT AND JUDICIARY FACE OFF AS TURKEY PREPARES FOR THE POST-AKP ERA
On May 21 Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeal, the Yargitay, issued an official statement bluntly accusing the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of conducting a systematic campaign to undermine the influence and independence of the judiciary in the run-up to several important decisions by... MORE
U.S. COMPANY BANISHED FROM UKRAINIAN OIL AND GAS FIELD
The Ukrainian government has revoked the license to develop Black Sea oil and gas fields which was issued to Vanco Prykerchenska, a subsidiary of the US company Vanco Energy. Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said that the agreements which were concluded with Vanco in 2007 were... MORE
MOSCOW ENCOURAGES NORTH-SOUTH OSSETIAN IRREDENTISM AGAINST GEORGIA
On May 20 Moscow signaled officially that it was prepared to promote annexation of Georgia’s region of South Ossetia to the Russian Federation. The Russian government seems set to underwrite an ethnic irredenta there, seeking to put an Ossetian face on Russian state expansionism (as... MORE
ARE MEDVEDEV’S LATEST PROMISES TO FIGHT CORRUPTION SIMPLY “RITUAL INCANTATIONS”?
Acting on his promises to battle corruption, instill respect for the law and overcome “legal nihilism,” President Dmitry Medvedev has signed a decree setting up a presidential anticorruption council and appointed Kremlin chief of staff Sergei Naryshkin to head the council’s presidium, which will have... MORE
TURKEY EYES DEEPER ROLE IN SOUTHERN IRAQ
Of all Iraq’s neighbors, Turkey has the most intricate foreign policy toward the beleaguered nation, attempting to balance its concerns about the Kurdish PKK militants in northern Iraq with its support of the attempts of the government in Baghdad to pacify the country. Turkey's special... MORE
AZERBAIJAN CAN RESCUE THE ODESSA-BRODY PIPELINE PROJECT
The energy summit in Kyiv, to be attended by heads of state and government from Caspian, Black Sea and Baltic countries on May 22 and 23, is expected to revitalize the Odessa-Brody-Plock-Gdansk pipeline project for Caspian oil. This has become possible thanks to rapidly developing... MORE