After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan became a battleground for many religious groups, sects and radical organizations. Being a predominantly secular society, Azerbaijanis cautiously watched the appearance of new religious movements. Neighboring countries such as Iran, Turkey as well as the Arab Gulf... MORE

Recent attacks by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) suggest that the organization is adopting new battlefield tactics in order to increase the psychological pressure on Turkey in the hope of forcing the Turkish authorities to enter into peace negotiations. Since it resumed its armed struggle... MORE

At a press conference broadcast for the Russian media on October 12, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka criticized living conditions in the town of Babruisk, one of the centers visited by 70 visiting Russian journalists (SB-Belarus' Segodnya, October 13). The translated version of his remarks was... MORE

President Viktor Yushchenko’s recent efforts to commemorate World War II nationalist fighters have provoked a wave of pro-Russian and leftist extremism in Ukraine. Radical leftists disrupted commemorations of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) across Ukraine on October 14, and the Russian radical nationalist organization Eurasian... MORE

Ukraine officially announced its parliamentary election results on October 15. Unlike the 2006 elections, no political force has contested the results. The Party of Regions closed its makeshift camp in downtown Kyiv on October 18 after declaring that they would take their 175 seats, despite... MORE

The blocs of Our Ukraine-People’s Self-Defense (NUNS) and Yulia Tymoshenko (BYuT) have agreed to form a majority coalition in Ukraine’s newly elected parliament. Tymoshenko should be the new prime minister, and the post of parliament speaker should go to Vyacheslav Kyrylenko, who is the leader... MORE

Following the decision by Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to create the legal framework for an armed incursion into northern Iraq, the Turkish military has begun to weigh its options for a military strike against the camps of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).... MORE

Interviewed in the inaugural issue of Izvestiya’s local supplement, Izvestiya v Moldove, Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin proposes full demilitarization of Moldova on both banks of the Nistru River. He envisions the “liquidation” of all tanks and armored vehicles, multiple rocket launchers, and artillery of any... MORE

A recent series of explosions suggest that the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) may be stepping up its urban bombing campaign in western Turkey. On October 2, two Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) exploded within approximately three-and-a-half hours of each other in the Mediterranean port of Izmir,... MORE