Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
AKP FORMING CLOSER LINKS WITH THE GULEN MOVEMENT
Reports in the Turkish press that the state-owned carrier Turkish Airlines (THY) had co-sponsored a conference in Istanbul on October 21-23, organized by the followers of exiled Islamist preacher Fettullah Gulen, have highlighted the increasingly close ties between the once-persecuted movement and Turkey’s ruling Justice... MORE
THE EU COMMISSION BETWEEN MOL AND OMV: ANOTHER “SLEEPWALKING” CASE?
Italy’s ENI energy champion CEO Paolo Scaroni recently noted that the European Union was “sleepwalking” on energy policy. “It seems incredible that the EU, which debates and legislates every aspect of our existence, including the bends of cucumbers and curves of bananas, failed to spot... MORE
MOSCOW WITHDRAWS FROM EUROPEAN SECURITY SYSTEM
“We don’t need no arms control” – was the message enthusiastically chanted by Moscow last week. It could have been a week of constructive engagement with Europe, as Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov paid his first visit to France, Chief of the General Staff Yuri Baluyevsky... MORE
NAZARBAYEV ORDERS DEFENSE AND SECURITY REFORMS
Last week, Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev again called for the reform of the country’s defense and security structures. On November 15, he ordered the various heads of the defense and security bodies to prepare detailed proposals for restructuring their agencies, as part of the ongoing... MORE
AKP UNDER PRESSURE TO STAGE MILITARY OPERATION INTO IRAQ
Since late October, when the Turkish government first threatened to launch a military operation against camps belonging to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, rarely a day has passed without the Turkish media reporting military movements close to the Turkish-Iraqi border in apparent... MORE
STANISLAV BELKOVSKY: PUTIN WILL LEAVE POWER COMPLETELY
The United Russia party and the recently created "For Putin" movement continue to push for President Vladimir Putin to remain in power in some capacity after his second and final constitutionally mandated presidential term ends next year. Putin himself recently hinted that he may be... MORE
AUSTRIA’S OMV DEAL WITH GAZPROM THREATENS NABUCCO PROJECT
OMV, Austria's state-controlled energy company, plans to hand over to Russia's Gazprom a 50% ownership stake in OMV's Baumgarten gas storage and distribution center near Vienna. With this move, OMV threatens to torpedo the European Union-backed Nabucco pipeline project for Caspian gas. OMV, alongside the... MORE
UKRAINE, RUSSIA FACE OFF OVER CLEANING UP OIL SPILL IN SEA OF AZOV
On November 11 a powerful storm arose in the northeastern Black Sea. By the end of it, Russia and Ukraine faced serious environmental damage from an oil spill and a potentially acrimonious diplomatic situation. According to Ukraine's Emergency Situations Ministry, after the storm four ships... MORE
AKP CONDEMNS JUDICIAL ATTEMPTS TO CLOSE KURDISH PARTY
Leading members of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have condemned attempts by the country's judiciary to close down the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP). On November 16 Public Prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya formally applied to the Turkish Constitutional Court for the closure of the... MORE
NEWSPAPER: PUTIN’S ENTOURAGE SEES NO ALTERNATIVE TO A THIRD TERM
Russian President Vladimir Putin recently gave the strongest hint to date that he plans on remaining at the helm of the ship of state following the end of his second and final constitutionally mandated term next May. Putin, who will head the federal list of... MORE