The last week of August has a special meaning for the Turkish Republic and its military. Since the inception of the Republic, August 30 has been the day for commemorating the Turkish army’s victory against the occupation forces in Anatolia in 1922. This tradition has... MORE

With the U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsing and the U.S. government bailing out insurance giant AIG, Russia’s stock markets continued their steep fall on September 17 after recording record losses the previous day. The ruble-denominated MICEX fell by 17.5 percent and the dollar-denominated RTS... MORE

Although the Georgian-Russian military conflict and its still uncertain aftermath may have produced no considerable change in Iran’s foreign policy, the projection of Russian power has created a new security dilemma for the Islamic Republic. Iranians certainly hope that the crisis will open new diplomatic... MORE

Despite continuing disagreements with the West, Russia's top officials have pledged to turn the Eurasian nation into a "transit superpower" to link Europe and Asia by developing transcontinental railways and encouraging infrastructure development projects. New transportation infrastructure projects would allow Russia to emerge as a... MORE

While most American analysts are concentrating on Hurricane Ike and its potentially destructive path through the Gulf of Mexico with its offshore platforms and coastal refineries, other are fascinated by OPEC’s recent 149th meeting in Vienna on September 9 and 10, which was attended by... MORE

The Defense Ministry in Moscow announced this week that warships and long-range bombers would be deployed to the Caribbean for joint military exercises with Venezuela in November. Russia's most powerful warship, the nuclear cruiser Pyotr Velikii, will lead the flotilla, accompanied by a frigate Admiral... MORE

On September 4 joint Russian-Kazakh military exercises began at the Chebarkul training range near Chelyabinsk, Russia. The exercises, long planned in the framework of the deepening military cooperation between the two countries, involved around 2,000 servicemen, more than 100 units of armored vehicles, and 30... MORE

As of August 2008, it appears that operations of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan – PKK) have shifted toward a strip of Turkish territory crossing through Tunceli, Bingol, Mus, and Bitlis provinces, a region where the PKK previously conducted limited activities. The following... MORE