Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
KAZAKHSTAN AND TURKEY SEARCH FOR COMMON GROUND
In the early 1990s, many policymakers in Kazakhstan and in Turkey were euphoric about the prospects of intense cooperation between ethnically related nations that had for decades been divided by an ideological iron curtain. Turkey, hoping to expand its influence in Russia-dominated but Turkic-speaking Central... MORE
SLOW CADRE REFORM HINDERS ALIEV’S DEVELOPMENT AGENDA
On April 26, while visiting Shemakha, a town 100 kilometers away from Baku, Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliev was confronted by numerous complaints about rising prices in the country as well as the lack of employment opportunities. Yet, the most striking comment came from a senior... MORE
BELARUS SUPREME COURT ORDERS CLOSURE OF NISEPI
In mid-April, the Supreme Court of Belarus ordered the closure of the Independent Institute of Social-Economic and Political Research. The institute's Russian-language acronym is NISEPI, though it is better known outside Belarus as NISEPS or IISEPS (Narodnaya volya, April 16). Its director, the respected sociologist... MORE
WILL TYMOSHENKO AND YUSHCHENKO ENTER ELECTIONS TOGETHER?
According to recent polls, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has greatly benefited from the Orange Revolution and the ensuing popular optimism. She and her Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc are very popular now, three months after she became prime minister and a year ahead of the next... MORE
RUSSIAN DEFENSE INDUSTRIES EXPAND FOREIGN SALES
Russian defense industries are seeking to boost foreign sales primarily in Latin America and the Middle East, providing opportunities for Russian companies to compete with potentially expensive Western options. In Latin America the main fields of military cooperation are aviation, small arms, as well as... MORE
BALTIC BORDER AGREEMENTS ON AGENDA FOR EU-RUSSIA SUMMIT
Russian President Vladimir Putin's special envoy for relations with the European Union, Sergei Yastrzhembsky, warned on April 28 that Russia would not consent after all to sign the Border Agreement with Latvia on May 10 in Moscow. As an excuse, Yastrzhembsky cited the Latvian government's... MORE
MOSCOW STONEWALLING ON BORDER AGREEMENTS WITH LATVIA, ESTONIA
While Latvia and Estonia push for closure, the Russian side is raising the ante ahead of the EU-Russia summit, calculating to use this issue as leverage to extract Latvian concessions on other issues, such as changing Latvia's legislation on citizenship and language. As the summit... MORE
SABER RATTLING GROWS LOUDER AROUND ABKHAZIA
The leadership of Georgia's separatist region Abkhazia is beefing up its military potential, while the Georgian armed forces are continuing their military exercise. Televised reports about the Georgian exercises began with title cards reading "Sukhumi" (capital of Abkhazia) and "Tskhinvali" (capital of breakaway South Ossetia).... MORE
WAS THE RICE-LAVROV QUARREL REALLY ABOUT BELARUS?
Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual state of the nation address, given April 25, was remarkable for one glaring omission. It was quite surprising that Putin did not say one word about Russia's "brotherly" relations with Belarus, providing only an abbreviated sketch of the whole area... MORE
RUSSIAN AUTHORITIES PRESS AHEAD WITH PLANS TO COMBINE ADYGEYA AND KRASNODAR KRAI
Plans to unify two Caucasian regions of Russia, Adygeya and Krasnodar Krai, have seriously aggravated the situation in Adygeya, the most stable national republic of the violent North Caucasus. On April 23, about 10,000 people participated in a protest rally in Maikop, the Adygeyan capital.... MORE