Latest Articles about Middle East
Turkey’s Multifaceted Anti-PKK Strategy Continues to Unfold
Signs continue to emerge that Turkey has adopted a multifaceted strategy to combat the insurgency of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Following a series of military operations and economic reforms in Turkey’s largely Kurdish southeast region, it appears Turkey is now addressing PKK financing achieved... MORE
MEDVEDEV’S SOFT-SPOKEN HARD-LINE STATEMENTS
Before taking office Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was presumed to be a "liberal," who would somehow modify Vladimir Putin's anti-Western rhetoric and authoritarian ways. Medvedev's statements are indeed somewhat more polite, but Russian policy seems actually more hard-line. In Beijing last month, during his first... MORE
CRITICS PREDICT MEDVEDEV’S ANTI-CORRUPTION DRIVE WILL ALSO FALL SHORT
Last month President Dmitry Medvedev created an Anti-Corruption Committee that he will head and gave it a month to come up with a national anti-corruption program (see EDM, May 21). He devoted a June 9 meeting with Investigative Committee head Aleksandr Bastrykin to discuss this... MORE
Hardliners Assume Leadership of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood
In an internal election for the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood’s top position, Hamam Sa’id, a senior member known as a hawk within the organization, defeated incumbent leader Salem Falahat (Jordan Times, May 2). The new general regulator of the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood is a critic of... MORE
Turkish Generals Admit Military and Intelligence Coordination with Iran
On June 6, General Ilker Basbug, the commander of the Turkish Land Forces, confirmed that Turkey and Iran were sharing intelligence and coordinating military operations against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)—which is primarily composed of Turkish Kurds—and its Iranian affiliate, the Kurdistan Free Life Party... MORE
SOUTH STREAM, NORTH STREAM INCREASINGLY SEEN AS EXCEEDING GAZPROM’S SUPPLY CAPACITY
One of Gazprom’s goals with South Stream is to circumvent the Ukrainian transit system, which traditionally carries some three-quarters of Russian gas exports to Europe. The South Stream pipeline would run from the Russian Black Sea coast across the seabed to Bulgaria, there to bifurcate... MORE
MEDVEDEV TRIES TO GAIN TRUST IN EUROPE AND RESPECT IN THE CIS
President Dmitri Medvedev’s much-anticipated European debut was held in Berlin last week and was immediately followed by his presiding over a summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States in St. Petersburg. He succeeded in presenting himself as a Westernized liberal in Germany and as a... MORE
MEDVEDEV PROMISES TO PROTECT THE MEDIA, HINTS AT KHODORKOVSKY PARDON
Those who predicted that Dmitry Medvedev’s arrival in the Kremlin would be followed by a relative liberalization or “thaw,” with real moves toward respecting press freedom and other rights and instituting the rule of law, have been given some cause for optimism in recent days.... MORE
MEDVEDEV PROPOSES ALL-EUROPEAN SECURITY PACT DURING BERLIN VISIT
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev used his visit to Berlin on June 5 for proposing an all-European security pact with Russia’s participation, inherently in opposition to NATO (Interfax, Itar-Tass, June 5, 6). The Kremlin apparently hopes that the evolving Russo-German “special relationship” could turn Germany into... MORE
GERMANY, RUSSIA BYPASSING OTHERS WITH NORD STREAM PROJECT
The Council of Baltic Sea Countries, which met at the prime-ministerial level on June 3 and 4 in Riga, failed to hold a multilateral discussion about Nord Stream, the Russo-German gas pipeline project on the Baltic seabed. The Council is mandated to deal with environmental... MORE