The Russian government began insisting in late July that gas from the Sakhalin-1 project must not be sold to China by its partners, including ExxonMobil, but instead diverted to meet the growing demand in Russia's Far East provinces. Many observers were shocked by what they... MORE

The Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) released its June figures on the industrial production index, which gave mixed signals concerning the influence of the economic crisis on the Turkish economy (www.turkstat.gov.tr, Press Release, August 10). The figures show that although industrial output is still down from... MORE

On August 3, the Head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill during his visit to Sevastopol stressed the importance of the work of orthodox clergymen in the Russian army. Kirill stated that the modern soldier must be "strong in spirit" and emphasized the importance... MORE

On July 31 the Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, formally launched the construction of the 1,800 kilometer Sakhalin-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok natural gas pipe-line (ITAR-TASS, July 31). This new strategic pipeline is designed to supply natural gas to the population of the Russian Far East, so far deprived... MORE

In a highly unusual move, the head of North Ossetia Taimuraz Mamsurov in an open letter on August 1 called on the governor of the neighboring Krasnodar region Alexander Tkachev to stop persecuting Ossetians in Sochi. Mamsurov cited the complaint that he had received from... MORE

It appeared to be just another of ailing President Boris Yeltsin's oddities when on August 9, 1999 he appointed Vladimir Putin as prime minister and announced his support for this unknown bureaucrat as the next president of Russia. In a matter of a few weeks... MORE

While Moscow's decision to open another base in Kyrgyzstan received intense coverage in the international media, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's recent visit to Tajikistan was largely overlooked. Along with the Presidents of Pakistan and Afghanistan, Asif Ali Zardari and Hamid Karzai, Medvedev visited Dushanbe last... MORE

On July 31, the Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka participated in an informal summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) held in Cholpon Ata on the shore of Lake Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan. However, he refused to sign any documents on the Russian proposal to create... MORE

The federal government in Moscow may be growing increasingly frustrated with the Chechen leadership. Despite frequently repeated and vocal claims that life in Chechnya has returned to normal, in reality the launch of large-scale operations targeting the insurgency across the republic suggests a new wave... MORE

The prosecutors investigating the Ergenekon criminal network that allegedly aimed at overthrowing the Turkish government by organizing a military coup, has finalized the third indictment, consisting of 1,454 pages and indicting 52 high profile individuals. The judges hearing the Ergenekon trial accepted the indictment and... MORE