Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
TURKEY AND GREECE: STILL SUSPICIONS BEHIND THE SMILES
Yesterday (December 6) Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan concluded a two-day visit to Greece in a sign of a continuing rapprochement between the two neighbors. However, although the recent improvement in ties has undoubtedly considerably reduced the possibility of the two countries going to war,... MORE
NEW YUSHCHENKO-TYMOSHENKO COALITION PASSES FIRST TESTS
The Our Ukraine – People’s Self-Defense bloc of Viktor Yushchenko (NUNS) and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (BYuT) have managed to set aside their differences and create a majority coalition in parliament. NUNS accepted Yushchenko’s choice for parliamentary speaker, and dissenters in Our Ukraine (NU), the... MORE
KAZAKHSTAN TO CHAIR THE OSCE: SPLITTING THE RUSSIA-LED BLOC?
The OSCE’s year-end meeting in Madrid has resolved that Kazakhstan shall hold the organization’s Chairmanship in 2010. In 2008 already, Kazakhstan will host the annual session of the OSCE’s Parliamentary Assembly (a body that severely criticized the conduct of Russia’s December 2 parliamentary elections, see... MORE
BAKIYEV SEEKS REMOVAL OF OPPONENTS BEFORE ELECTIONS
As the political campaign for Kyrgyzstan’s December 16 parliamentary elections intensifies, the Kyrgyz opposition is experiencing direct and indirect pressure from the government. Whereas Kyrgyz political parties show greater professionalism in designing and promoting their election campaigns, the government has crafted new techniques to curb... MORE
TURKEY TRYING TO GO LOCAL IN DEFENSE PROCUREMENT
Turkey has stepped up its efforts to secure as much as possible of its defense procurement requirements from local manufacturers. Turkey has long regarded the development of an indigenous defense industry as a strategic priority. Few in the Turkish military have forgotten the U.S. arms... MORE
ORGANIZATIONAL SETBACKS AT OSCE’S YEAR-END MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
A consensus-based decision that Lithuania would chair the OSCE in 2011 became the only bright spot on the organization’s horizon at its year-end meeting in Madrid (see EDM, December 4). Other organizational issues, however, increasingly jeopardize the OSCE’s viability, after robbing it of effectiveness. Russia... MORE
KREMLIN LANDSLIDE WILL PROMOTE CONFRONTATION
The December 2 elections to the State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, predictably ended in a landslide victory for the ruling United Russia party, headed by President Vladimir Putin. Only one opposition party -- the Communists -- will be represented in the Duma with... MORE
TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD SIGNALS STRONG TURKMEN-IRANIAN RELATIONS
On December 1 Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimukhamedov announced that construction has begun at the Turkmen-Iranian border city of Bereket on a railroad linking Iran, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan. The 900-kilometer (560 miles) railroad, with around 700 kilometers (435 miles) inside Turkmenistan, will provide greater capacity for... MORE
COURT EVIDENCE RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT INVOLVEMENT OF TURKISH OFFICIALS IN KILLING OF CHRISTIANS
Evidence presented to the court during the trial of five youths accused of killing three Christians in the southeastern town of Malatya earlier this year have raised questions about the involvement of state officials in the murder. On April 18, the five are alleged to... MORE
OSCE’S YEAR-END CONFERENCE NOT COPING WITH SECURITY ISSUES
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe held its year-end conference on November 29–30 in Madrid. Under Russian pressure and with the collaboration of the Spanish chairmanship, the organization registered new setbacks from which it may no longer be able to recover. Russian President... MORE