The U.S. and other statements recognizing the Georgian election’s validity come not a moment too soon. Such recognition can at least to some extent dissuade Georgian opposition leaders from resorting to risky confrontation tactics. Opposition leaders threaten to call continuous demonstrations demanding a recount or... MORE

An off-the-cuff response by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to a question by a journalist has unexpectedly reignited the long-running debate in Turkey over the Islamic headscarf by triggering a furious reaction from Turkish secularists. The headscarf has long been one of the main... MORE

Armenia’s economy appears to have expanded at a double-digit rate for the sixth consecutive year in 2007 despite the unresolved conflict over Karabakh and the resulting high cost of the country’s transport communication with the outside world. Official statistics show its gross domestic product increasing... MORE

Kazakhstan’s armed forces face a new shake up in 2008, designed to facilitate progress toward greater efficiency. Military reform in Kazakhstan has been underway for several years, resulting in structural changes and other, more targeted, reforms linked with manpower, such as “professionalizing” a proportion of... MORE

Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir is scheduled to pay an official visit to Turkey. The upcoming visit has renewed suspicions that the foreign policy of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is partly driven by ideological considerations, particularly feelings of Muslim solidarity. Since the... MORE

As Russia wraps up seasonal festivities with the Old Style New Year on January 13, it is beginning to acknowledge changes in the economic climate that are caused by a peculiar combination of over-heating and under-investment. The most acute symptom of this complex malady is... MORE

On January 13 Georgia’s Central Electoral Commission (CEC) approved and released the final, official results of the January 5 pre-term presidential election. The process took longer than expected, largely because of contentious counting of disputed votes from a number of precincts, amounting to decimal points... MORE

In a sign of their continuing suspicions of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), representatives of Turkey’s Alevi religious minority spurned what the government claimed was an olive branch by boycotting a banquet organized for them in Ankara on January 11. No reliable statistics... MORE