Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
COLLAPSE OF CYPRUS TALKS DELIVERS ANOTHER BLOW TO TURKEY’S EU AMBITIONS
The collapse of the latest attempt to restart the stalled Cyprus peace negotiations has come as a further blow to Turkey’s hopes of reviving its bid for full EU membership. On December 11, 2006, the EU suspended eight of the 35 policy chapters of Turkey’s... MORE
SHORTFALLS IN RUSSIAN OIL DELIVERIES TO GERMANY
Russian oil deliveries to Germany through the Druzhba pipeline fell abruptly in the month of August by some 30%. Lukoil is mainly responsible for the deliberate reduction in supplies that had been pre-contracted. Supply shortfalls had begun in July on a small scale, before the... MORE
RUSSIANS CLOSE TO BUYING ANOTHER MAJOR ARMENIAN ENTERPRISE
A Russian financial-industrial group looks set to acquire an Indian-owned company that develops the bulk of Armenia’s gold reserves. The deal, if it goes through, will give a further boost to Russia’s already strong economic presence in the South Caucasus states resulting from not only... MORE
REBELS CONCENTRATE FORCES IN MOUNTAIN AREAS OF THE NORTH CAUCASUS
This summer the rebels in the North Caucasus have intensified their activities. The militants are very active now in some areas and still quiet in others, but it is clear that preparations for future attacks are under way in republics such as Dagestan, Chechnya, Ingushetia,... MORE
TURKISH STATE STEPS UP PRESSURE ON KURDISH POLITICIANS
Hopes that the presence of the Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) in Turkey’s new parliament would facilitate dialogue and the formulation of a solution to Turkey’s long-running Kurdish problem appear to be receding. On Tuesday (September 4) an Istanbul judge ruled that the prosecution of... MORE
ENERGY MARKET CONSOLIDATION VERSUS FOREIGN STATE TAKEOVERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE
In common with the Baltic states and Poland, which face the risk of being caught between Russian and German energy policies, Hungary is facing a similar two-front problem, albeit with country-specific differences. In Hungary’s case, Russia and Austria (with Germany in a lesser role) seem... MORE
KAZAKH PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS RESURRECT COMMUNIST-STYLE ONE-PARTY RULE
The August 18 snap elections for Kazakhstan’s national parliament and local assemblies brought, as predicted, a landslide victory for President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s Nur Otan party. With amazing speed, on the morning of August 19 the Central Election Committee announced that Nur Otan had gained 88.5%... MORE
KAZAKHSTAN CRACKING DOWN ON HIZB-UT-TAHRIR
Kazakhstan’s National Security Service (KNB) is continuing to crack down heavily on the activities of Hizb-ut-Tahrir, the Islamic Party of Liberation. According to the KNB press service, on August 24 intelligence officers disrupted a cell of the banned religious party in Mangistau Region (western Kazakhstan).... MORE
TURKISH MILITARY BRACES FOR NEW BATTLE OVER CONSTITUTION
Following its failure to prevent the election of Abdullah Gul as Turkey’s president, the Turkish military is now regrouping and preparing for the next battle in what is likely to be a long campaign to preserve the ideological legacy of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who founded... MORE
PRESIDENT SEZER SNUBS ERDOGAN IN THE FIRST ROUND OF THE WAR OF ATTRITION BETWEEN THE AKP AND TURKEY’S SECULAR ESTABLISHMENT
On August 16, Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer publicly humiliated Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the first move in what is likely to be a long war of attrition between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Turkey’s ruling secular military and bureaucratic... MORE