Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles

GAZPROM’S CHALLENGE TO BELARUS: INTERNAL REACTIONS

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On August 2, Belarusian president Alyaksandr Lukashenka declared that his country would dip into its reserves to pay its existing debt to Gazprom of $456 million (Itar-Tass, August 2). His decision brought a temporary halt to the current crisis raised by Belarus's failure to meet... MORE

NEW GAS PIPELINE TO LINK AZERBAIJAN AND ITALY, VIA TURKEY

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Since the 1991 collapse of the USSR, resource-poor but strategically vital Turkey has sought to position itself as a major transit hub for burgeoning Caspian energy exports. For 15 years Ankara looked on helplessly as Russia, invoking its rights under the 1936 Montreaux Convention, turned... MORE

KREMLIN SABER RATTLING INCREASES AHEAD OF SCO SUMMIT

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Last week Russian President Vladimir Putin, while meeting activists and leaders of pro-Kremlin youth movements, used rather bizarre language to describe Russia's standoff with Great Britain over the murder of former spy Alexander Litvinenko in London last November. According to the official Kremlin website, Putin... MORE

RUSSIA’S GAS PIPELINE NETWORK FACES REALITY CHECK

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In recent weeks Russia has announced a number of high-profile export-oriented gas pipeline projects, notably the Europe-bound Nord Stream and South Stream, the China-bound Altai route, and the Caspian pipeline in Central Asia. However, all these pipelines will be connected with the existing Gazprom pipeline... MORE

TOKYO INVESTS IN STRONG TIES WITH BISHKEK

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Japan was the first Asian country to get actively involved in the Central Asian region following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Besides opening embassies in all of the Central Asian states, Japan has also sought to establish economic ties and implement cultural and educational... MORE

REELECTED TURKISH PM SEEKS NEW, “EUROPEAN STYLE” CONSTITUTION

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Fresh from his July 22 electoral victory, returning Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced plans to draw up a new, “more democratic and civilian constitution” (Today’s Zaman, August 1). The planned changes for the new constitution include more limited presidential powers, judicial review... MORE

KREMLIN INTENSIFIES MILITARY BUILD UP IN NORTH CAUCASUS

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On July 30 the Kavkaz Center website posted a new statement from Doku Umarov, leader of the Chechen rebels and the North Caucasus insurgency. Umarov declared, “We [the insurgents] are ready for any kind of big event. Many ask when a large-scale attack will be.... MORE

MOLDOVA’S PRESIDENTIAL INSTITUTION INCREASINGLY DYSFUNCTIONAL

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“Politics in Moldova is in fact Geopolitics” (Flux, July 20). This recent observation by a pro-Western party leader in Chisinau has quickly become common wisdom. It defines the real stakes in the political changes resulting from President Vladimir Voronin’s non-transparent negotiations with the Kremlin and... MORE