Yesterday, March 18, the Ukrainian parliament called an early election for the post of mayor of Kyiv. This is a victory for Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s bloc (BYuT), which spearheaded a campaign to oust Kyiv Mayor Leonid Chernovetsky, accusing him of corruption. However, there is... MORE

Parliament’s March 18 vote to call pre-term elections for Kyiv’s city mayor was a second major victory for Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko this month, following the new gas contract with Russia signed on March 6. The vote is symbolically important because Ukraine’s legislation requires that... MORE

During their visit to Moscow this week, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates held meetings with President Vladimir Putin and president-elect Dmitry Medvedev. They also met with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov to discuss such... MORE

This week U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited Moscow, but their arrival was not accompanied by any breakthroughs on U.S.-Russian differences on missile defense, arms control, and Kosovar independence. Still, both sides reported “good progress.” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov... MORE

Turkey’s February 21-29 military incursion into northern Iraq is roiling Turkish domestic politics. Both right-wing and left-wing parties accuse the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) high command of yielding to pressure from Washington, as U.S. Secretary of... MORE

Armenia’s embattled leadership has unleashed an unprecedented crackdown on the opposition following the bloody suppression of street protests against the official results of last month’s disputed presidential election. More than a hundred supporters of the main opposition presidential candidate, former president Levon Ter-Petrosian, have been... MORE

On March 10-11, Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimukhamedov visited Uzbekistan, Central Asia's most populous country, where he was greeted by Uzbek President Islam Karimov. The visit was intended to further develop ties between the two countries, Karimov commented. In response, Berdimukhamedov hailed Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan’s "constructive... MORE

The latest employment figures released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TURKSTAT) suggest that, despite six years of robust macro-economic growth, Turkey is failing to create enough jobs for its growing population. On March 17, TURKSTAT reported that, at the end of 2007, the unemployment rate... MORE