
Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles

Beijing Proposes Turkmenistan-China Gas Pipeline Through Northern Afghanistan
The Chinese government and Afghan President Hamid Karzai envisage a pipeline to deliver Turkmenistani gas, via Afghanistan’s north and through Tajikistan, to China. This could become a rival or a substitute to the US-backed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline, a decade-old gas transit project. Whether Karzai (let... MORE

Situation in Southern Kyrgyzstan Continues to Smolder Two Years Since Ethnic Riots
In June, 2010, an armed conflict between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz occurred in the south of Kyrgyzstan. According to official statements, around 500 people were killed; according to unofficial data – more than 2,000. Most victims were Uzbeks. According to official reports, 3,746 houses were... MORE

FSB in Adygea Reportedly Cracks Down on Circassians Who Emigrated from Turkey
On June 5, the head of Kabardino-Balkaria’s department for civil and religious organizations, Anzor Kurashinov, revealed that 300 more Syrian Circassians were expected to arrive in the republic before the end of 2012. Kurashinov estimated that 150 repatriates had arrived in Kabardino-Balkaria from Syria to... MORE

Experiments with Repression in Russia Are Tempered by the Oil Business
Two stories dominated the news-cycle in Moscow last week: the targeted police investigations against several opposition leaders on the eve and in the aftermath of the big rally on June 12, and a high-level silovik’s direct threat against a journalist from Novaya Gazeta. Commentators and... MORE

Tajikistan Secures New Chinese Loans and Investment
On June 7, Tajikistani President Emomali Rahmon returned home from a week-long tour of China. The tour included a five-day state visit followed by Rahmon’s participation in the 12th summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Beijing. Following the trip, the Tajik President’s office... MORE

The Kremlin Politically Fortifies Its Military Presence in Transnistria
On June 4, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin met in Moscow with Nina Shtansky, the “foreign minister” of Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria. To justify why the meeting bypassed and excluded Moldovan representatives, the Russian press-release identified Shtansky as “the political representative of Transnistria... MORE

Rising Russian Nationalist Sentiment Makes North Caucasus Secession More Likely
Anti-Chechen and anti-Caucasian hysteria in the Russian media is rapidly expanding. Russian authorities have always regulated this kind of campaigns behind the scenes, depending on Moscow’s objectives in the North Caucasus at a given moment. For example, the start of the second war in Chechnya... MORE

Clinton in Armenia and Azerbaijan: An Unedifying Valedictory
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton paid valedictory visits to Armenia and Azerbaijan on June 4 and 6, respectively, as part of a regional tour (including a comparatively successful visit to Georgia – see EDM, June 11, 12). Clinton had undertaken her get-acquainted tour of... MORE

A Cold Wind Blows from Moscow to Chechnya
Ramzan Kadyrov explained his sudden dismissal of the Chechen government on May 17 by pointing to the new challenges he said the republic was facing (www.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=796442). However, no one in Chechnya has any doubts that dismissing the government was used only as a pretext for... MORE

Turkey Revises Its Policy Toward Syria
Since the start of the crisis, Turkey has been one of the most vocal critics of Syria. In February, the international community introduced the Annan Plan to bring the Syrian government and opposition together to the negotiating table. However, the failing Annan Plan has underlined... MORE