Duringher visit to Almaty August 16, Turkish premier Tansu Ciller extendeda new $300 million credit line to Kazakhstan and said that Turkeyhoped to increase its investment in that country to $5 billionover the next several years, Almaty radio reported. Ciller willalso visit Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan... MORE

Some 600,000 tons of garbagedisappear without a trace in the Russian capital every year, nearlyone-fourth of all the trash that Muscovites throw out, BiznesSegodnya reported August 15. Where is it going? Much of itsimply disappears because the government pays the garbage collectionservices without monitoring whether... MORE

The commander of Russian forces in Moldova's Transdniesterregion told Moskovsky komsomolets August 16 that all OSCEobservers coming to visit his region "work for the Westernintelligence services to the last man. There is no hiding it." In other remarks, Yevnevich implied that his forces might remainin... MORE

Azerbaijani presidentHeydar Aliyev told Baku radio August 16 that he had survived yetanother attempted coup and that the plotters were now under arrest.Aliyev suggested that the suspects were working for former Azerbaijanipresident Ayaz Mutalibov, who was overthrown in 1992 and now livesin Moscow. Yerevan Seeks... MORE

Armenia'sdeputy justice minister Dikran Petrosian told Radio Liberty August16 that his ministry had petitioned the Armenian Supreme Courtto extend the suspension of the Armenian Revolutionary Federationfor an additional year. Petrosian said that ARF (Dashnaks) hadfailed to modify its program and behavior and thus, accordingto Armenian... MORE

Sixty-six Lithuanian soldiers will join 11 American soldiersfor joint military exercises near Rukla in Lithuania August 20-24,BNS reported August 16. The news service said that an importantgoal of these exercises called "Amber-Ravine 95" wasto help Lithuanian forces meet NATO standards. Meanwhile, theLithuanian government said that... MORE

FewerUkrainians believe that Kiev can maintain a neutral stance inworld affairs, with the remainder divided between those who wantto join NATO and those who believe Ukraine should participatein the CIS collective security arrangement, Kievskiye vedomostireported August 9. This polarization of domestic opinion makesit more difficult... MORE

In a wide-ranging interview in the August 16 Segodnya,newly appointed Estonian ambassador to the Russian FederationMart Helme said that Moscow should stop trying to use economicpressure on Estonia to force Tallinn to change its policies. Notonly will such pressure not work, but it may prove... MORE

Some $40million from the Nomura Securities group which has agreed to marketLatvian bonds on the world market will soon go into the statebudget account, BNS reported August 16. The news service saidthat the government might use part of this money to repay partof its loan... MORE

Despite calls by the government and other groups,security at Russian nuclear facilities has not improved over thelast several years, Aleksandr Mytsykov, an aide to the RussianFederation prosecutor general told Yaderny Kontrol (no.9). Excerpts of his remarks were carried in Moskovskiye novosti(no. 9). But Ostankino reported... MORE