The international reaction to the events of April 6-7 in Kyrgyzstan follows a pattern that is becoming all too familiar in the region. Over the past 19 years, many of the former Soviet republics have experienced violent and/or unexpected transitions in the form of political... MORE

On April 28, the President of Karachaevo-Cherkessia, Boris Ebzeyev, accepted the resignation of the republican government. The main reason for the government’s replacement was the ethnic imbalance of power, as Moscow’s envoy to the region Aleksandr Khloponin has demanded that an ethnic Circassian be appointed... MORE

On April 28 in Moscow, US Ambassador, John Beyrle, justified the proposed sale of four French Mistral warships to Russia. Interviewed by the Moskovsky Komsomolets daily newspaper, Beyrle stated: “The only question [about the Mistral sale] is the overall stability in the region. And I... MORE

Kyrgyzstan’s provisional government today is torn between its efforts to gain international legitimacy and maintain its domestic popularity. It has convicted former president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, of mass murder. Lacking formal legitimacy, the provisional government’s decision to convict Bakiyev was largely an act targeted towards its... MORE

A fourth person died today (April 30) as the result of a suicide bombing near a traffic police checkpoint in Dagestan’s Kazbeksky district on April 29. Two policemen were killed along with the suicide bomber in the blast, which also wounded 17 people and destroyed... MORE

Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, stopped in Kyiv on April 27, following his discussions in Italy and Austria on the South Stream gas pipeline project (Austria Joins Gazprom’s South Stream Project, EDM, April 30).In Kyiv, Putin obliquely confirmed that Russia would not shift gas volumes... MORE

On April 24, Russia and Austria signed governmental and corporate agreements on Austria’s accession to Russia’s South Stream gas pipeline project. Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, led the Russian delegation to the signing event in Vienna, with follow-up visits to Italy and Ukraine on April 26... MORE

The Turkish energy ministry announced the strategic energy plan for 2010-2014, which seeks to accomplish several objectives: boosting supply security and Turkey’s influence in regional and global energy markets, protecting the environment, making greater use of domestic resources and restructuring the legal-institutional infrastructure of the... MORE

Armenia has suspended the universally welcomed process of normalizing its relations with Turkey, after months of frustration with Ankara’s linkage between its successful completion and a resolution of the Karabakh conflict acceptable to Azerbaijan. Still, in an announcement made by President, Serzh Sargsyan, on April... MORE

Last week, during a meeting with human rights activists from the committee of soldier’s mothers as well as members of the Kremlin-approved public chamber, Defense Minister, Anatoliy Serdyukov, announced plans to “humanize” military service in Russia and “remove the inmate atmosphere from the barracks.” Serdyukov... MORE