Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
TURKEY’S OVERHAULS ITS COUNTER-TERRORISM POLICY
On October 14 the Turkish authorities announced that the Turkish Interior Ministry would be restructured to improve coordination of Turkey’s counter-terrorism efforts (Radikal, Milliyet, Vatan, NTV, October 15). The announcement was contained in a statement released after a meeting earlier in the day of the... MORE
RUSSIAN CONSUMER PRICES STILL RISING DESPITE PLUNGING SHARE PRICES
Russia’s stock markets have recently been hammered along with those elsewhere in the world, and perhaps even more so, with Russian markets having lost two-thirds of their value (or about $1 trillion) since June. It is, however, rising prices, not falling share prices or teetering... MORE
THE GAS TANGO IN KYIV
With President Viktor Yushchenko’s disbanding of the Ukrainian parliament on October 8 and legal squabbles over new elections, the continuing Ukrainian-Russian negotiations over 2009 gas supplies for Ukraine appear to have taken a back seat to the political drama being acted out in Kyiv. How... MORE
NEW TURKMEN GAS FIELDS CHANGE THE STRATEGIC GAS EXPORT PICTURE
On October 13 and 14 in Ashgabat, the British consultancy company Gaffney, Cline & Associates (GCA) presented the first results of its audit of Turkmen gas reserves. According to its research, the South Yoloten-Osman deposits, situated in the south-east of the country, contain four trillion... MORE
TURKEY COMPLETES A MAJOR STEP IN THE MARMARAY PROJECT
Turkish engineers swelled with pride when the first Bogazici Koprusu (Bosporus Bridge) opened in 1973, spanning Istanbul's historic channel between Asia and Europe. When opened, it was the longest suspension bridge outside the U.S. It was followed 15 years later by the Fatih Sultan Mehmet... MORE
RUSSIA DISCARDS ITS “PEACEKEEPING” OPERATION IN ABKHAZIA
At the CIS summit in Bishkek on October 9 and 10, Russia announced the termination of the “CIS collective peacekeeping operation in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict zone.” Moscow describes its move as a common decision of the assembled heads of state and government, in a final... MORE
RUSSIA COUNTS ITS BLESSINGS IN THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS
A distinct note of triumph is entering the statements of Russian officials on the scale and possible consequences of the global economic crisis. It is President Dmitri Medvedev who was doing most of the talking last week, while his “senior partner” Prime Minister Vladimir Putin... MORE
ARMENIA, GEORGIA TO BOOST ECONOMIC TIES AFTER SOUTH OSSETIA WAR
Armenia and Georgia have pledged to strengthen their commercial and other links in hopes of overcoming the negative economic consequences facing both South Caucasus states after the recent Russian-Georgian war. Tbilisi has also officially expressed its overall satisfaction with Yerevan’s neutrality in the conflict. Armenia,... MORE
TURKEY BITES THE BULLET
On October 10 the Turkish government announced that it was preparing to initiate a long-term dialogue with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in an attempt to increase pressure on the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), whose main camps and bases are located in the mountains of... MORE
HUNGARY’S MOL WINS FUEL MARKET SHARE IN CENTRAL EUROPE
Hungary’s MOL energy company is advancing its organic development and regional consolidation in the gas and oil product sectors. The privately owned MOL is now free to focus on those strategies after defeating a hostile takeover attempt from Austria’s partly state-controlled OMV conglomerate. OMV finally... MORE