Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles

ALIYEV’S RECENT SCHEDULE: BALANCED FOREIGN POLICY OR BAD TIMING?

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Last Friday, May 5, Azerbaijan hosted the ninth summit of the ten-member Economic Cooperation Organization. The meeting convened in Baku and was attended by Hamid Karzai, president of Afghanistan; Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of Iran, Daniyal Akhmetov, prime minister of Kazakhstan; Medetbek Kerimkulov, first vice prime... MORE

GEORGIA NEAR EXIT FROM CIS

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The presidents and other officials of Georgia and Ukraine have announced in recent days that they are considering the possibility of their countries' quitting the Commonwealth of Independent States or minimizing their participation. Stung, Russian officials are threatening severe retaliatory measures against the two countries... MORE

DAGESTAN: THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM?

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The North Caucasus is poised for a possible rebel offensive. Police and army troops in North Ossetia and Ingushetia have been on high alert since April (see EDM, April 20). Tensions grew even higher after the homes of several ethnic Russians were attacked in Ingushetia... MORE

STUNG BY CHENEY’S COMMENTS, MOSCOW PLAYS ENERGY CARD

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Following U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's visit to Kazakhstan May 5-6, Russian officials and executives moved to intensify Moscow's energy maneuverings in Central Eurasia. While Cheney was in Astana, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev traveled to Uzbekistan for talks with President Islam Karimov.... MORE

WILL WASHINGTON LEAD THE KARABAKH PEACE PROCESS?

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After a failed February attempt to break the deadlock in negotiations between Armenian President Robert Kocharian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, observers thought the Karabakh peace process was dead. But following a few quick fixes in the current proposal, international mediators have come to believe... MORE

AGREEMENT AT HAND ON OIL TRANSPORT FROM KAZAKHSTAN TO AZERBAIJAN

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Following Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's late April visit to Washington and U.S. Vice President Richard Cheney's early May visit to Kazakhstan, a breakthrough seems imminent on the project to connect Kazakhstan with the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline. Officials in Kazakhstan now anticipate that Presidents Nursultan... MORE

ABKHAZIA SLIDES TOWARD RUSSIA, BUT GEORGIA HOLDS ONTO ITS CLAIMS

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May 6 marked the second anniversary of the restoration of Georgia's full jurisdiction over the Ajarian Autonomous Republic. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, attending the celebration in Batumi, Ajaria's main city, stated that this process "should surely be completed" in breakaway Abkhazia (TV-Imedi, Regnum, May 6).... MORE

KARIMOV’S SEARCH FOR SECURITY PARTNERS LEADS TO PAKISTAN

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Uzbek President Islam Karimov visited Pakistan on May 2, making a point of placing security atop the agenda for bilateral meetings. Karimov is staking considerable political capital on deepening Tashkent's relations with Pakistan, principally based on building economic ties and appealing to mutual security interests... MORE