Latest Articles about Europe
Turkish-U.S. Relations on Rocky Ground over Role in Afghanistan
Relations between the United States and Turkey encountered a new obstacle in recent days. The latest disagreement comes, somewhat surprisingly, amid a period of overall warming and increased military and diplomatic cooperation between the two long-time NATO allies. The obstacle comes in the form of... MORE
The Shaykh Said Revolt and Ankara’s Return to the Past in its Struggle with the Kurds
After the recent admission by some of Turkey’s leading former military commanders that the military option was not the best or only way of resolving Turkey’s Kurdish problem, it is now becoming clear that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is taking a new... MORE
NABUCCO PROJECT APPROACHING A REAL START
Germany’s Rheinisch- Westfaelische Elektrizitaetswerk (RWE) has joined the EU- and US-supported Nabucco pipeline project for Caspian gas to Europe. RWE is Germany’s largest energy company overall and second-largest gas distributor. On February 5 in Vienna, the Nabucco consortium’s five founding companies -- Austria’s OMV as... MORE
TYMOSHENKO REACHES OUT TO FOREIGN INVESTORS
On February 5 Ukraine was admitted to the World Trade Organization. That achievement will facilitate Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s efforts to attract foreign investment. Kicking off that campaign on January 24 she held a two-hour meeting in Kyiv with 250 foreign investors. Then on... MORE
Turkish Crackdown on Homegrown al-Qaeda Cells in Gaziantep
A major crackdown against alleged al-Qaeda militants in southern Turkey that left four militants and one policeman dead on January 24 has proven two things: homegrown Islamic militants still pose a serious threat in this secular but Muslim nation, and the police—aware of the danger—are... MORE
IS A COALITION BETWEEN TYMOSHENKO AND YANUKOVYCH POSSIBLE?
In a recent television interview Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko raised the possibility of a coalition between her eponymous bloc and the Party of Regions (PRU) of former prime minister Viktor Yanukovych. Tymoshenko later tried to downplay her comment, saying she had been misunderstood. But... MORE
RUSSIA DECIDES TO ABANDON UKRAINIAN STRATEGIC RADARS
In the wake of its request to NATO for a Membership Action Plan (see EDM, January 18), Ukraine is offering its two anti-missile early warning and space monitoring radars for possible use by a European missile-defense system under Western auspices (Interfax-Ukraine, February 1, 2). Located... MORE
TRANS-BLACK SEA PIPELINE: ANOTHER CHANCE FOR GEORGIA AND EUROPE
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has proposed that the European Union and Ukraine join a project for a gas pipeline from Turkmenistan via the Caspian Sea, South Caucasus, and Black Sea to Ukraine and EU territory. Tymoshenko termed this concept “White Stream” when presenting it... MORE
Mass Arrests Expose Operations of Turkey’s “Deep State”
The detention in Istanbul last week of alleged members of a shadowy Turkish ultranationalist group has revived charges that elements within the Turkish security apparatus have long tried to destabilize the country through a campaign of bombings and assassinations. These allegedly include false flag operations... MORE
UKRAINIAN MINISTER, MAYOR TRADE ACCUSATIONS OF CORRUPTION
When Kyiv Mayor Leonid Chernovetsky publicly accused Ukrainian Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko of corruption. Lutsenko denied that allegation and punched Chernovetsky in the face. Chernovetsky sued him, and Kyiv prosecutors launched a criminal case against Lutsenko. In return, police, whose boss is Lutsenko, re-opened an... MORE