Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
UKRAINIAN MINISTER, MAYOR TRADE ACCUSATIONS OF CORRUPTION
When Kyiv Mayor Leonid Chernovetsky publicly accused Ukrainian Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko of corruption. Lutsenko denied that allegation and punched Chernovetsky in the face. Chernovetsky sued him, and Kyiv prosecutors launched a criminal case against Lutsenko. In return, police, whose boss is Lutsenko, re-opened an... MORE
TURKEY STILL HANGING ON THE MILITARY’S WORDS AND SILENCES
Even if it doesn’t overshadow Turkey to the extent that it did a decade ago, on January 30 the Turkish military demonstrated that it still has the ability to bring the country to a halt while hanging not just on its words, but even on... MORE
WILL RUSSIA’S NEXT ANTI-CORRUPTION CAMPAIGN SUCCEED WHERE OTHERS FAILED?
In his January 22 speech to the Civic Forum, a gathering of representatives from Russian non-governmental organizations and other groups sponsored by the Kremlin-appointed Public Chamber, President Vladimir Putin’s likely successor declared that the fight against corruption must become a “national program.” First Deputy Prime... MORE
GEORGIAN OPPOSITION PARTIES ON THE CONFRONTATION PATH AGAIN
On January 29 a dozen opposition parties and three of the six losing presidential candidates issued an ultimatum-like list of 17 demands to Georgian authorities (Civil Georgia, January 29). The declaration is formally addressed to Parliament Chair Nino Burjanadze, because the oppositionists do not recognize... MORE
NEW KYRGYZ INTERIOR MINISTER LAUNCHES POLICE REFORM
Kyrgyz leaders intend to reform the country’s police force, by decentralizing its organizational structure. Such reforms, if properly implemented, could create a useful additional network for gathering information designed to aid the authorities in combating terrorism. The announcement from Bishkek comes at a time when... MORE
U.S.-TURKISH MILITARY COOPERATION DEEPENS AFTER ROUGH PATCH
The United States seems finally to have abandoned its hesitant attitude on supporting Turkey’s fight against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), but Ankara is increasingly driving the agenda. On Sunday, January 27, Turkey’s deputy chief of the General Staff, four-star General Ergin Saygun, arrived in... MORE
OMV JOINS WITH GAZPROM TO UNDERCUT NABUCCO
On January 25 Austria’s state-dominated OMV energy company and Russia’s Gazprom signed an agreement to turn the Baumgarten gas transmission center near Vienna into a joint venture. Owned 100% by OMV until now, and ranked as the second- or third-largest gas transmission center in continental... MORE
NO RECKONING WITH REALITIES IN RUSSIAN ECONOMIC POLICY
The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos last week was an unusually somber affair. Anti-globalization protesters were conspicuous by their absence, but the schmoozing among the cosmopolitan business elite was overcast by the heavy turbulence on global stock markets caused by the... MORE
NINE CANDIDATES REGISTER FOR ARMENIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION AS CAMPAIGNING BEGINS
Campaigning for Armenia’s upcoming presidential election officially kicked off on January 21 and is turning nasty amid an intensifying war of words between the country’s current and former leaders. Prime Minister Serge Sarkisian, outgoing President Robert Kocharian’s favored successor, and his most outspoken challenger, former... MORE
AKP PRIORITIZING HEADSCARF OVER EU
Hopes that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) would attempt to revive Turkey’s stalled bid for EU membership appear set to be the first victim of the party’s efforts to lift the ban that currently prevents women wearing headscarves from attending university. In recent... MORE