Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
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
OSCE’S DEMOCRACY AGENDA SET BACK AT YEAR-END MEETING
President Vladimir Putin’s November 30 decree, suspending Russia’s participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty, was one of several Kremlin-inflicted humiliations of the OSCE during the organization’s year-end meeting in Madrid. In a parallel move, Russia imposed crippling restrictions on the ability of... MORE
EUROPEAN ENERGY CONSUMERS LIKELY TO LOSE KAZAKHSTAN BATTLE TO “ORIENTAL BLOC”
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s November 21-23 Balkan tour, which came on the heels of his trip to the United Arab Emirates and Syria (see EDM, November 15), symbolically demonstrated Kazakhstan’s adherence to its trumpeted multi-vector foreign policy. Astana’s efforts to boost energy cooperation with Slovakia,... MORE
AKP TARGETING THE KURDISH VOTE
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) will target Kurdish voters in the run-up to the March 2009 local elections, AKP Deputy Chairman Hayati Yazici has announced. Yazici said that the AKP had set its sights on taking control of the municipality in Diyarbakir, the... MORE
UNITED RUSSIA “WINS” A CONSTITUTIONAL MAJORITY IN THE STATE DUMA
Preliminary results from Russia’s December 2 parliamentary election show that four parties have won representation in the next State Duma, with the lion’s share going – to no one’s surprise – to the United Russia party. According to the Central Election Commission, as of 10... MORE
RUSSIA HAS VOTED AS ORDERED, NOW WHAT?
The big political event that happened in Russia yesterday, December 2, can hardly be called “elections,” since few of the 60 million Russians who cast their vote really cared about whom they were electing to the lower house of parliament. From the October 1 moment... MORE
RUSSIA SEEKS TO REVIVE ITS ENERGY PROJECTS IN TAJIKISTAN
Russian officials recently reiterated their continued interest in a major energy project in Tajikistan, while authorities in Dushanbe remain hesitant. Meanwhile, a sizable Tajik labor migrant community has become a continued irritant in bilateral relations. Moscow is prepared to complete the Rogun hydroelectric power plant,... MORE