On April 26, Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev opened the third ministerial meeting of the so-called Istanbul process, an international initiative for reconstructing and stabilizing Afghanistan in view of the International Security Assistance Force’s (ISAF) forthcoming departure from this country. Speaking before the delegates of the... MORE

The myth of Moldova as “the success story” in the European Union’s neighborhood, has clearly expired. Moldova’s institutions and rule of law have foundered in the chaos of its party system and rule by coalition—in this case, the internally conflicted Alliance for European Integration (AEI).Both... MORE

In an interview with the Kavkazskaya Politika website, the well-known Circassian activist Ibragim Yaganov said Russia must take steps to alleviate the hardships it inflicted on the Circassians. Yaganov contrasted Russia’s policy of stubborn silence on the Circassian issue to the European colonial powers, which... MORE

As spy scandals go, the one in Moscow last week (May 14) could set a new record for oddity and senselessness. Accused Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agent Ryan Fogle (29) was caught red-handed with a thick pad of money, a map of Moscow and, remarkably,... MORE

Each year on May 18, around 25,000–30,000 Crimean Tatars gather in Crimea’s capital Simferopol to commemorate the 1944 deportation of their parents and grandparents from their historical homeland. They come to Simferopol from all cities and towns and conduct a peaceful meeting organized by the... MORE

Tomorrow (May 18) marks the 69th anniversary of Joseph Stalin’s deportation of the Crimean Tatar nation from their homeland on trumped-up charges of collaboration with the Germans during World War II. And once again, Crimean Tatars and their friends around the world will mark that... MORE

Turkmenistani President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov made a state visit to Kazakhstan on May 10–11. Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev said that his counterpart’s visit “demonstrates the mutual desire to develop these fraternal relations and raise trade and economic relations to a new level” (Trend, May 10). Berdimuhamedov... MORE

Moldova’s tripartite government, the Alliance for European Integration (AEI), has foundered over its internal contradictions, and will no longer be resuscitated in its previously existing form. Two of AEI’s parties have scuttled Prime Minister Vlad Filat’s government in a sequence of steps: on March 5... MORE

In Belarus, the second Sunday of May is celebrated as the Day of the National Emblem and Flag. “For a true citizen, there is nothing more sacred than the coat of arms and the flag of his or her country. Looking at them, each one... MORE

The Jamestown Foundation has repeatedly reported on Hizb ut-Tahrir’s (HuT) activities in Russia over the past several years. And as the investigation of the Boston bombings progresses, reports are surfacing in the West that Tamerlan Tsarnaev interacted with Magomed Kartashov, the leader of the Dagestan-based... MORE