Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
ARMENIAN LOCAL ELECTIONS REMAIN INTRA-GOVERNMENT CONTESTS AMID OPPOSITION APATHY
Over the past 15 years Armenians have grown accustomed to a great variety of political groups vying for power in their country. They must therefore be amazed by the glaring lack of choice in unfolding local elections across Armenia, races that are largely contested by... MORE
CHINA, RUSSIA FLOAT IDEA OF SELLING BAIKAL WATER
Chinese and Russian officials are considering the possibility of diverting water from Lake Baikal in Siberia through Mongolia to China's Inner Mongolia Region. According to an unnamed official from China's Ministry of Water Resources, Russian officials contacted them in May about such a project (Chinadaily.com.cn,... MORE
TALIBAN FORCES NOW ATTACKING SUNNI LEADERS IN AFGHANISTAN
Yesterday, June 1, a suicide bomber struck the grand mosque in Kandahar City, southern Afghanistan, killing at least 27 people and injuring scores of others. Among the dead was the Kabul police commander, General Akram Khakraizwall. The attack was carried out during a ceremony held... MORE
ZHVANIA’S DEATH STILL CONTROVERSIAL TOPIC IN GEORGIA
The almost-shelved investigation into the February 3 death of Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania has resurfaced and may yet damage President Mikheil Saakashvili's government. Saakashvili did not mention Zhvania's death when he reviewed the troubles Georgia has faced in 2005 when he addressed the crowd... MORE
RUSSIA CONSIDERS ITS BORDER SECURITY
Russian security officials, aware of the diverse security threats facing the country, are taking steps to raise the overall effectiveness of the border guard service. Plans to gradually increase the numbers of professional or contract personnel will be augmented by more state investment in order... MORE
RUSSIA AND IRAN JOIN HANDS IN THE CASPIAN
While Central Asia and the Caucasus have been the recent focus of world attention due to the popular revolution in Kyrgyzstan and the massacre in Andijan, Uzbekistan, potentially significant strategic developments there have been unduly neglected. In late April Russia evidently proposed the creation of... MORE
FORMER SECURITY CHIEF REVEALS DETAILS ABOUT VIOLENCE DURING UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
In February, Oleksandr Turchynov, a close ally of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, replaced Ihor Smeshko as chief of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU). Smeshko recently provided new details about violence during Ukraine's 2004 presidential elections in a long interview published in the May 27 issue... MORE
BAKU-TBILISI-CEYHAN OIL PIPELINE INAUGURATED
The first stage of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil export pipeline was officially inaugurated on May 25 at the Sangachal shore terminal, south of Baku. The presidents of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Kazakhstan, as well as BP President Lord John Browne, U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman,... MORE
CONTEST MOVES FROM WESTERN TO EASTERN CASPIAN SHORE
At the Baku inauguration events, President Nursultan Nazarbayev confirmed Kazakhstan's intention to develop a trans-Caspian oil transport system, linked to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline. If achieved on the scale that is now envisaged, this export route could deeply dent Russia's near-monopoly on the transit of... MORE
BAKU AND ASTANA PLAY IT SAFE IN CASPIAN OIL BATTLE
Until Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev made a landmark trip to Baku on May 25, marking Kazakhstan's decisive move towards joining the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline project, bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan had shown few signs of progress. Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliev visited Kazakhstan in March 2004,... MORE