Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
PUTIN COMPARES U.S. MISSILE DEFENSE TO CUBAN CRISIS
Expectations before the regular meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the EU leadership had set a new record low, and the summit in Mafra, Portugal, last Friday, October 26, generally lived up to them. The top priority for the Portuguese EU presidency has been... MORE
DEFENSE RELATIONS: LONDON LOOKS TO ASHGABAT
On October 21 London refocused British diplomatic efforts in Central Asia from Kazakhstan to Turkmenistan. The Turkmen state news agency publicized a visit to Ashgabat by an official from the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), wrongly suggesting this was the FCO’s director for Russia... MORE
KAZAKH COURT DECISION AGAINST CHEVRON CARRIES POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS
The unprecedented tough line taken by the Kazakh government in its row with the Italian Agip consortium may set an ominous precedent for prolonged confrontations with other Western companies. In a second challenge to Western investment, the district court in Atyrau region recently upheld the... MORE
GEORGIAN RADICAL OPPOSITION FANCYING REGIME CHANGE
Georgian opposition parties held demonstrations last week and this in Kutaisi and Batumi, respectively, and plan a mass protest rally in Tbilisi for November 2 during a high-level international gathering hosted by President Mikheil Saakashvili. This is the first wave of protest rallies since Georgia’s... MORE
POLITICAL GAME OF KING-MAKING IN GEORGIA
Restoring the monarchy in Georgia has become a declared goal of the United Opposition, an umbrella of numerous small parties. Their leaders have quickly moved from the slogan “Georgia Without a President”—meaning without President Mikheil Saakashvili—to the idea of monarchical restoration. This idea would remain... MORE
RUSSIA PUSHES OIL COMPANIES TO FIND MORE OIL IN EASTERN SIBERIA
On October 19 Russian Natural Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev reported to President Vladimir Putin on the progress of the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline and pledged to crack down on energy companies found to be violating their license agreements. The use of natural resources in... MORE
ONE YEAR TO GO, BUT AZERBAIJAN’S PRESIDENTIAL RACE ALREADY HEATING UP
As Azerbaijan’s ruling Yeni Azerbaijan party celebrates the fourth anniversary of Ilham Aliyev’s presidency, political parties and groupings in the country are already looking ahead to the 2008 presidential election. On September 19, leaders of Musavat, one of the main opposition parties in the country,... MORE
CLASHES WITH PKK CONTINUE AS TURKEY PREPARES ECONOMIC SANCTIONS AGAINST IRAQI KURDS
As Turkey presses ahead with the military buildup on its border with Iraq, the Turkish media are continuing to report clashes between the security forces and militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). A group of around 80-100 PKK militants reportedly infiltrated Turkey from northern... MORE
OIC COULD MEDIATE BETWEEN TURKEY AND KURDS IN IRAQ
Amid the escalating tension between Ankara and Baghdad over the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) staging guerrilla attacks into Turkey from their bases in northern Iraq, one international organization might prove to be an honest broker in defusing the situation through diplomatic means—the Organization of the... MORE
U.S. FLOATS “ZERO OPTION” ON MISSILE DEFENSE IN EUROPE
The row between Moscow and Washington on missile defense (MD) has moved into the realm of Cold War rhetoric and typical Cold War “peace initiatives.” These are grand-sounding public offerings of extravagant compromises that are primarily publicity stunts. Last June, during the G-8 summit in... MORE