Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
UKRAINIAN PROSECUTORS TARGET SELF-DEFENSE LEADERS
The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) has opened criminal cases against Minister of the Interior Yuriy Lutsenko and businessman Davyd Zhvania. Both were among the leaders of the 2004 Orange Revolution, which brought President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to power. Since 2007,... MORE
TURKEY PREPARES TO PAY THE PRICE FOR DROUGHT, POOR PLANNING AND ECONOMIC POPULISM
Turkey is likely to face power cuts again this summer as a combination of drought, poor planning and economic populism result in electricity production failing to keep pace with demand. According to official projections by the Turkish Energy Ministry, Turkey will produce 191 billion kilowatt... MORE
DEATHS OF CORRUPTION FIGHTERS OVERSHADOW NEW ANTICORRUPTION CAMPAIGN
In the wake of President Dmitry Medvedev’s decree setting up a presidential anticorruption council to draw up a national anticorruption program (see EDM, May 21), a number of observers, including politicians, experts and journalists, have weighed in with their ideas on how best to get... MORE
DMITRY MEDVEDEV LOOKS FAR BEYOND AN ENERGY ALLIANCE WITH ASTANA
Apparently, there was a great deal of political calculation aimed at sobering up adamant western leaders to the hard-line stance of the post-Putin Kremlin in Dmitry Medvedev’s first foreign trip to Astana as Russian President on May 22. Whatever may be the true motives of... MORE
EURO-ASIAN OIL TRANSPORTATION CORRIDOR PROPOSED AT KYIV ENERGY SUMMIT
The presidents of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania agreed on May 22 and 23 in Kyiv on steps to create a Euro-Asian Oil Transportation Corridor. The planned EAOTC is a centerpiece to the concept of an Energy Transit Space, which was also launched at... MORE
AKKUYU AND TURKISH NUCLEAR POWER
In an era of record-high oil prices, Turkey, which imports 90 percent of its energy needs, is considering any and all options, including nuclear. The country’s energy requirements are pitting the government against the country’s environmentalist lobby, one of the strongest in the Middle East.... MORE
RUSSIA AND CHINA: UNITED BY FOREIGN POLICY, DIVIDED BY ENERGY PRICES
The Kremlin has repeatedly pledged to forge what it calls a "strategic partnership" with China, and President Dmitry Medvedev came to the Chinese capital to reiterate these pledges. But while Moscow's and Beijing's respective positions have converged on international issues, bilateral economic ties have apparently... MORE
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