The Belarusian Parliament has scheduled the next presidential elections on December 19. By the deadline to register on September 24, the names of seventeen candidates had been accepted by the Central Election Commission, after two were rejected from the original nineteen. Each candidate required the... MORE

On September 28, Moldovan Parliamentary Chairman and acting head of state, Mihai Ghimpu, dissolved the parliament by decree effective on September 29, and scheduled parliamentary elections for November 28. Both dates had been made public two weeks ahead of the decree. A new parliament will... MORE

The unceremonious ousting of veteran Moscow Mayor, Yuri Luzhkov, by President Dmitry Medvedev seemingly ended an acute political standoff between the city and the Kremlin (EDM, September 15, 21, 28). It was initially reported that Luzhkov may challenge his dismissal in court, but later he... MORE

In early April, two women from Dagestan were named by the federal authorities as key suspects in the March 29 suicide attacks which targeted the Lubyanka and Park Kultury metro stations near to the interior ministry and the headquarters of the Federal Security Service (FSB)... MORE

Having received unequivocal backing from voters in the constitutional referendum, the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) has moved to address Turkey’s structural problems, most notably the Kurdish question, through a combination of domestic measures, as well as regional and international diplomacy. The resolution of... MORE

At a time when resources might be better spent on reconciling ethnic groups in Kyrgyzstan, some local politicians prefer to use inter-ethnic tension to boost their popularity. “The titular ethnicity should be titular, it cannot be lower than other ethnicities living in this country. Let... MORE

On September 19, 23 soldiers were killed and 15 wounded as a convoy of military vehicles passing through the increasingly volatile Rasht valley in eastern Tajikistan was ambushed by “heavily armed gunmen.” Another eight soldiers died later of the wounds they sustained in the assault... MORE

Washington’s failure to send an ambassador to Azerbaijan for well over a year now, as well as the hold on the ambassador’s confirmation, must look like a case of systemic malfunction from Azerbaijan’s perspective. However, Turkey remains a keenly interested observer, while Russia waits to... MORE

Wrenching as it is to American and international audiences, the ad hominem assault on the US Ambassador-designate to Azerbaijan during the Senate confirmation process aims far beyond the nominee. Matthew Bryza and his spouse are the incidental targets in this attempt to undermine US-Azerbaijan and... MORE

On September 9-25, Kazakhstan hosted the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Peace Mission 2010 military exercise, at the Matybulak training range in Zhambyl region, designed to showcase the organization’s capabilities against extremism, separatism and terrorism. Among its member states (China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan)... MORE