Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
NEW KYRGYZ CONSTITUTION FAILS TO ADDRESS OLD PROBLEMS
On Sunday, October 21, Kyrgyzstan voted in a referendum for a new constitution and electoral law. According to the Central Elections Commission, voter turnout was 76%. Both the new constitution and electoral law were supported with 76% of voters favoring the new documents. While the... MORE
AKP GOVERNMENT CAUGHT BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE ON RESPONSE TO PKK ATTACK
Hundreds of thousands of Turks took to the streets in towns and cities across the country yesterday (October 23) to protest the killing of 12 soldiers in an attack by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) on October 21 (see EDM, October 22). They also called... MORE
LUKASHENKA FANS ANTI-SEMITISM IN BELARUS
At a press conference broadcast for the Russian media on October 12, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka criticized living conditions in the town of Babruisk, one of the centers visited by 70 visiting Russian journalists (SB-Belarus' Segodnya, October 13). The translated version of his remarks was... MORE
LEFTIST, PRO-RUSSIAN EXTREMISTS DEFY YUSHCHENKO OVER HISTORY
President Viktor Yushchenko’s recent efforts to commemorate World War II nationalist fighters have provoked a wave of pro-Russian and leftist extremism in Ukraine. Radical leftists disrupted commemorations of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) across Ukraine on October 14, and the Russian radical nationalist organization Eurasian... MORE
CAN UZBEKISTAN COME IN FROM THE COLD?
On October 18 Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov met with his Turkmen counterpart, Gurbanguly Berdimukhamedov for wide-ranging talks on international and regional issues. The summit was initially given only passing reference on Uzbek television, with reports mentioning the scheduled signing of cooperation documents (Uzbek TV First... MORE
PRESSURE ON AKP MOUNTS AMID FEARS OF ETHNIC VIOLENCE
The public pressure on Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to launch a cross-border military strike into northern Iraq has continued to mount. Further public protests have erupted following the October 21 ambush by militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in which 12... MORE
UN SECURITY COUNCIL EXPANDS UNOMIG MANDATE TO KODORI
The United Nations Security Council has approved a routine prolongation of the U.N. Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) mandate to operate in Abkhazia (United Nations, Report of the Secretary-General, October 15; Civil Georgia, October 16; Georgia Today, October 19-25). The Security Council’s resolution is less... MORE
PUTIN STILL HOPES ECONOMIC BOOM WILL HEAL NORTH CAUCASUS
On October 18 Russian President Vladimir Putin held his annual TV call-in show in the Kremlin. Questions came from teachers, students, scientists, farmers, and doctors from across Russia's 11 time zones. Two questions came from the North Caucasus republic of Dagestan, which prompted him to... MORE
TYMOSHENKO THE REAL WINNER OF UKRAINE’S 2007 ELECTION
Ukraine officially announced its parliamentary election results on October 15. Unlike the 2006 elections, no political force has contested the results. The Party of Regions closed its makeshift camp in downtown Kyiv on October 18 after declaring that they would take their 175 seats, despite... MORE
PKK STAGES ANOTHER DEADLY ATTACK NEAR IRAQ’S BORDER WITH TURKEY
At 12:10 am Sunday, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) staged its second attack in two weeks against a Turkish battalion stationed four kilometers off the Iraqi border, killing at least 12 soldiers and wounding 16. The incident has brought the Turkish government another step... MORE