Latest Articles about Domestic/Social
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Washington Looks Forward to Armenian Parliamentary Election
Senior US officials have sounded remarkably optimistic about the conduct of Armenia’s forthcoming parliamentary elections, which President Serzh Sargsyan will try to use as a launch pad for winning a second term in office in 2013. Highlighting Washington’s overall satisfaction with the current authorities in... MORE
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Elections in Zhanaozen Peaceful, But Concerns Remain
Kazakhstan held parliamentary and local elections a month after clashes between protesting oil workers and police left 17 dead in the western city of Zhanaozen on December 16, 2011. The violent riots followed by police shooting took place on the day Kazakhstan celebrated the twentieth... MORE
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Moscow Appears to Be Losing Its Last Supporters in Kabardino-Balkaria
In an interview published on December 27, 2011, the chairman of the Circassian organization Khase, Ibragim Yaganov, scathingly criticized the Russian government for its policies in Kabardino-Balkaria. Yaganov, who is based in Kabardino-Balkaria, is a well-known public figure among Circassians. In an interview with the... MORE
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Putin Tries to Regain Initiative While Remaining Out of Touch
There were no New Year holidays for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his sycophants because the need to take back the political initiative from the opposition was urgent. The next mass rally in Moscow is scheduled for February 4, so they had only three weeks... MORE
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Belarus: Marking the Anniversary of Tragic Events
On December 23, for four hours President Alyaksandr Lukashenka responded to questions from domestic and foreign journalists. He expressed certainty that the financial crisis, caused by price hikes on oil and gas, rash imports of used cars, and by the mistakes in fiscal policy, will... MORE
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Will 2012 Bring Popular Revolt to Ukraine?
Surveys and polls show there is widespread popular anger, frustration and contempt for the Viktor Yanukovych administration that has managed to anger many different groups in every Ukrainian region. Imprisoned opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko (16.3 percent) is more popular than Yanukovych (13.3 percent) whose popularity... MORE
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Start of 2012 Sees No Let-Up in North Caucasus Violence
In Dagestan, two policemen were wounded today (January 13) when a police road patrol unit was attacked in the town of Izerbash. A Dagestani law-enforcement source reported that the incident took place shortly after midnight when gunmen driving in a car opened fire on the... MORE
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Prominent Tajik Clerics Exchange Accusations of “Wahhabism” and “Foreign Shiism”
Hoji Akbar Turajonzoda, an influential Tajik cleric and political figure, and his brother Nuriddin (aka Eshoni Nuriddin) have come under fire for accusing the head of Tajikistan’s Council of the Ulema, Saidmukarram Abduqodirzoda, of sympathizing with the beliefs of the banned Islamic group “Salafia” (BBC... MORE
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Rebels Battle Security Forces in Chechnya, While Moscow Bolsters the Military in the Republic
In accordance with a tradition that has been in place since 2005, Ramzan Kadyrov rang in 2012 with his estimate of the number of insurgents in Chechnya. Citing numerous operational sources, he stated that there are only 50 or fewer militants left in the republic.... MORE
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Dagestani Commission for Adapting Rebels to Civilian Life Yields Few Results in 2011
The Dagestani government’s commission for adapting rebels to civilian life had mixed results in 2011. The commission was set up in November 2010 to help the government dispel the rising wave of militancy in the largest republic of the North Caucasus. The Dagestani government’s press... MORE