Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
TURKEY DETERMINED TO PRESS AHEAD WITH IRANIAN GAS DEAL
The Turkish Energy Ministry has repeated Turkey’s determination to press ahead with a new natural gas agreement with Iran, despite objections from the United States. On October 3, Turkish Energy Ministry officials announced that that Turkey would not seek international financing for the $3.5 billion... MORE
GAZPROM THREATENS TO REDUCE SUPPLIES TO UKRAINE
On October 2 Gazprom warned Ukraine via mass media that it would reduce gas deliveries from November onwfard, unless Ukraine pays $1.3 billion dollar worth of arrears to Gazprom. According to company spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov, these arrears accumulated for gas supplied during the nine-month period... MORE
RUSSIA AND GEORGIA STILL TEETERING ON BRINK OF WAR
Last week Georgia’s former defense minister, Irakli Okruashvili, accused the country’s pro-Western President Mikheil Saakashvili of large-scale corruption and conspiring to kill Badri Patarkatsishvili, a prominent businessman. Okruashvili claimed that then-prime minister Zurab Zhvaniya, who was found dead in a friend’s apartment in 2005, actually... MORE
MOSCOW CONSIDERS ANTI-DUMPING MEASURES AGAINST CHINA
Moscow is facing an increasing deficit in bilateral trade with China. Russian industries have found themselves hard-pressed by Chinese competition, and business leaders are calling for the introduction of anti-dumping measures, indicating a looming trade dispute between the two neighbors. Russian officials have long recognized... MORE
AKP FACING A CONSTITUTIONAL TRAP OF ITS OWN MAKING
An attempt by Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to circumvent the country’s secularist establishment’s opposition to Abdullah Gul becoming president looks set to return to haunt it later this month. Under the current constitution, the president is elected by parliament. In April this... MORE
WILL PUTIN STEP DOWN EARLY IN ORDER TO RUN AGAIN?
Over the last few weeks, President Vladimir Putin’s has elevated long-time associate Viktor Zubkov as prime minister, “accepted” the pro-Kremlin United Russia party’s “invitation” to head its list of candidates for the upcoming State Duma elections, and strongly hinted he may become prime minister (Putin... MORE
RUSSIA SETTING UP “COLLECTIVE PEACEKEEPING“ FORCES
On October 2 Russia’s Nikolai Bordyuzha, secretary-general of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, told mass media that the CSTO is creating its own “peacekeeping” forces. The member countries are Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Bordyuzha outlined the political and military concepts underlying... MORE
TURKMENISTAN PONDERS PARTNERSHIP WITH WASHINGTON
Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimukhamedov delivered a keynote speech at the UN General Assembly on September 25, indicating that Ashgabat wants to “open up” to the outside world and build a more durable environment to further its economic interests. Praising the role of the UN in... MORE
POLL SUGGESTS LEVELS OF PIETY UNCHANGED, HEADSCARF STILL INDICATOR OF SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS IN TURKEY
A recent opinion poll suggests that levels of piety in Turkey have remained virtually unchanged since the moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) first came to power in November 2002. According to a study conducted by A&G research in September 2007, 61.4% of adult... MORE
UKRAINIAN ELECTION OVER, BUT ITS OUTCOME UNCLEAR
Ukraine’s September 30 early parliamentary election produced a hung parliament, just like the regular election in March 2006. Like last year, the Party of Regions (PRU) of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych scored more votes than other parties. The Our Ukraine-People’s Self-Defense bloc (NUNS), backed by... MORE