Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
EU REPORT TO PRESS TURKEY ON MINORITY RIGHTS
The European Commission’s annual Progress Report on Turkey’s candidacy for EU membership, which will be published tomorrow, November 6, will press Ankara to grant greater rights to the country’s ethnic and religious minorities, including its sizeable Kurdish community. The report will be made public amid... MORE
DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE IN MINSK
Today, November 2, members of the European diplomatic corps, including ambassadors and their families, will visit the mass burial site of Kurapaty, recalling the 70th anniversary of executions conducted by the Stalin regime in Belarus. This event follows closely upon the commemoration on October 28—the... MORE
ST. PETERSBURG POISONINGS: PART OF SILOVIKI FACTIONAL FIGHT?
An officer with the Federal Narcotics Control Service (FSKN) and a former colleague of his were recently found dead in St. Petersburg, the apparent victims of poisoning. If deliberate poisoning is confirmed, it would suggest that an under-the-carpet battle between rival Russian special services may... MORE
FROM SOVIET “PEACE” FRONTS TO RUSSIAN “HUMAN RIGHTS” ORGANIZATIONS IN EUROPE
Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced plans to create an “Institute for Freedom and Democracy in Europe,” with Russian funding. Putin revealed this project during the European Union-Russia summit just held in Mafra, near Lisbon. The Institute is supposed to defend and promote “human rights... MORE
THREAT OF MILITARY ACTION IN IRAQ STRAINING TURKEY’S TIES WITH ITS MUSLIM ALLIES
There are increasing signs that Turkey’s threat to stage a military incursion into northern Iraq against camps of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is straining the country’s ties with its Muslim allies. Since it came to power in November 2002, the moderate Islamist Justice Development... MORE
CHECHENS AMONG RUSSIAN “PEACEKEEPERS” DURING INCIDENT IN GEORGIA
On October 30 an APC-borne Russian “peacekeeping” unit attempted to take control of the Ganmukhuri youth camp, situated within Georgian-controlled territory near the Georgian-Abkhaz demarcation line. Firing warning shots the Russian soldiers disarmed, bound, and beat bloody the three Georgian policemen who guarded the youth... MORE
BEIJING RAISES STAKES IN TURKMEN GAS GAME
On October 31, oil trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange soared to a record-high $95.08 a barrel for December delivery before settling to $94.53. As the Western energy market has become increasingly jittery, China, now the world’s second-largest oil import market, has made its... MORE
RUSSIA STRUGGLES TO FINALIZE CASPIAN GAS PIPELINE DEAL WITH TURKMENISTAN
On October 26, Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdimukhamedov and Gazprom deputy CEO Valery Golubev were reportedly in discussions about what the Turkmen presidential press service described as “issues of drafting inter-governmental agreements on the expansion of the existing gas transportation system in Central Asia and the... MORE
ANKARA MOVES TO BECOME LESS DEPENDENT ON ENERGY IMPORTS
Amid the continuing tensions over a possible Turkish military incursion into northern Iraq, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is pushing ahead with its plans to establish a nuclear power program. On October 24 the Parliamentary Industry, Commerce, Energy, Natural Resources, Information, and Technology... MORE
RUSSIA FORCING OSCE OUT OF ELECTION OBSERVATION ROLE
Russia has disabled the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe from observing Russia’s parliamentary elections. Ahead of the December 2 vote, the OSCE has yet to be admitted to Russia to observe the electoral campaign. And when the observation mission will finally be allowed... MORE