Since early 2008 eight Kyrgyz citizens have been brutally killed in Moscow and St. Petersburg by members of local skinhead movements. All of the victims were male labor migrants from rural Kyrgyzstan who had come to Russia to find work. Besides the murders, over 30... MORE

Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon has further deepened bilateral relations with Iran. During his visit to Tehran on February 9-10, he signed three main agreements relating to energy and transport cooperation. However, the bilateral talks also included meetings between the defense ministers and other officials, signaling... MORE

Russia’s Lukoil has halted oil supplies to Germany through the Druzhba pipeline for the remainder of February and “until further notice.” This is the third interruption in Russian oil deliveries by pipeline to Germany in the space of 13 months. Russia’s pipeline monopoly Transneft halted... MORE

Viktor Baloha, the head of Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko’s staff, has left Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine–People’s Union party (NSNU). Baloha apparently gave up on making NSNU a reliable, strong political party capable of winning national elections. It is widely expected that Baloha will launch a new... MORE

Yesterday, February 19, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan began a two-day official visit to Russia. The trip comes on the heels of Ankara’s recognition of Kosova’s declaration of independence, made the previous day. Underlining the complexities of Turkish-Russian relations, Babacan released a statement noting that... MORE

The most salient features of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s February 6 address to the nation, presented at a joint session of government and parliament and broadcast on two national television channels, were its brevity and poor delivery. Occasionally interlacing his discourse in Russian with passages... MORE

The European Union has intensified its efforts to turn the Nabucco pipeline project into a reality, now that Turkey has pledged to throw its weight behind the project. Due to its geographical proximity to the suppliers, Turkey is a linchpin in the network, which is... MORE

The Turkish military is expected to use the opportunity provided by the National Security Council (NSC) meeting on Thursday, February 21, to issue a strongly worded warning to the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government over its attempts to lift the headscarf ban in universities... MORE