Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
KYRGYZ INTERIM GOVERNMENT ATTACKED BY PREVIOUS REGIME, SUPPORTED BY INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
The electoral alliance between Kyrgyzstan's Acting President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and First Deputy Prime Minister Felix Kulov is gaining credibility domestically and receiving positive reactions from the international community. According to recent polls in Bishkek, about 55% of the population will vote for Bakiyev in the... MORE
PUBLIC SENTIMENT TURNS TOWARD KHODORKOVSKY, WHILE PUTIN GRAPPLES WITH BLACKOUT
On May 16, a Russian court began reading the verdict in the trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, owner of the destroyed oil giant Yukos, and his partner, Platon Lebedev. By the end of the first week of reading the 1,000-page verdict aloud, a different issue had... MORE
WILL BAKU-TBILISI-CEYHAN PIPELINE CARRY REVOLUTIONARY IDEAS ALONG WITH CRUDE?
During the opening ceremony on May 25, oil started flowing into the U.S.-backed Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, which will bring Caspian hydrocarbons to Western markets and break Russia's monopoly on energy exports from the Caucasus and Central Asia. But some Russian political analysts contend that the... MORE
ANALYSTS TURN A CRITICAL EYE TOWARD YUSHCHENKO’S EARLY RECORD
Ukraine watchers are abuzz about a May 25 article in Lvivska Hazeta, in which the paper's Moscow correspondent called upon Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko to dismiss Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. According to an eyewitness account published in Zerkalo Tyzhnia/Nedeli on May 21, Yushchenko did call... MORE
TALYSH ISSUE, DORMANT IN AZERBAIJAN, REOPENED IN ARMENIA
On May 20-22, in Armenia's resort town of Tsaghkadzor, an event billed as the "First International Conference on Talysh Studies" was hosted by Yerevan State University's Iranian Studies Department and the Yerevan-based Center for Iranian Studies. Almost certainly, some political circles in Armenia were behind... MORE
ASSASSINATION IN DAGESTAN DAMAGES KREMLIN ATTEMPTS TO ATTRACT FOREIGN INVESTMENT FOR THE CAUCASUS
Early last year Russian President Vladimir Putin solemnly declared, "Armed confrontations and conflicts are becoming history. Even in the most difficult territory, the Chechen republic, the peace process is becoming irreversible" (grani.ru, March 3, 2004). Putin then called for investment in the North Caucasus. However,... MORE
CANDIDATES REGISTER FOR AFGHAN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
Monday, May 23, was the last day to register as a candidate for Afghanistan's new parliament. The Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB) extended the deadline by six days in Nangarhar province and three days in the other 33 provinces to accommodate more candidates. The eastern... MORE
AMENDMENTS TO KEY LAWS UNLIKELY TO FOSTER ARMENIA’S DEMOCRATIZATION
The Armenian authorities claim to have taken a further step toward meeting their membership commitments to the Council of Europe with the May 20 passage of amendments to the country's controversial laws on elections and rallies. President Robert Kocharian's leading political allies say the move... MORE
THE RUSSIAN MILITARY FLEXES ITS WEAKENED MUSCLES
Russia State Duma deputies have launched a concerted effort to rally opposition to the American military's rising interest in, and possible future deployments around, the Caspian region. Specifically, some deputies fear that the Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline might be used as a pretext for stepping up... MORE
U. S. SENATE, EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT CONDEMN OCCUPATION OF BALTIC STATES
The Kremlin's neo-Soviet line on the outcome and consequences of the Second World War, in evidence during the recent Victory Day celebrations (see EDM, May 5, 6, 10, 12) may have accelerated the passage of resolutions that were pending in the U.S. Senate and the... MORE