The political stakes are intensifying in Kyrgyzstan as the presidential elections scheduled for July 23 has revealed that several political leaders might challenge the incumbent president Kurmanbek Bakiyev. The country's main opposition bloc, the United National Movement (UNM), however, is currently frantically searching for suitable... MORE

The mixed results of the Turkish local elections on March 29 raised questions over the future direction of the governing Justice and Development Party's (AKP) policies (EDM, March 31). The government is unlikely to call a snap election, but the relative decline in the AKP's... MORE

Armenia's leadership and main opposition forces are gearing up for a fresh showdown in the first local elections in Yerevan since the early 1990s to be held on May 31. The surprise decision by the top opposition leader, Levon Ter-Petrosian, to run for Yerevan mayor... MORE

Turkey's local elections on March 29 produced mixed results, with the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) emerging victorious, yet underperforming compared with earlier elections. The AKP received a 38.86 percent share of the vote, while the Republican People's Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Action... MORE

The joint declaration by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin, and Transnistria leader Igor Smirnov, signed in Moscow on March 18 (EDM, March 20, 25, 26), is serving Smirnov well as a negotiation-breaker. Citing points in that declaration, Smirnov is now calling openly... MORE

Four years after first seizing power, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev is seeking a snap re-election. Bakiyev was able to receive rapid support from parliament and the Constitutional Court in scheduling elections for July 23, instead of waiting until the constitutionally defined election date in October... MORE

On March 23, 2009 the Moscow City Court ruled that Semion Mogilevich, also known as Sergiy Shneider, will remain in prison until May 23 while investigators continue to examine his case. (Kommersant Daily, March 24). This is the third extension of his detention the court... MORE

As negotiations continue between the EU and Belarus with the prospect of the latter joining the Eastern Partnership, the Belarusian opposition has formulated its own conditions for any future agreement. In turn, President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has branded his opponents a "fifth column" and seeks to... MORE

Recent opinion polls and a local election on March 16 have shown that two stars are rising in Ukrainian politics. The time remaining until the January 2010 presidential election should show whether the two, far-right Oleg Tyahnybok and liberal economist Arseny Yatsenyuk, will prove viable... MORE

Novruz, marking the arrival of spring and beginning of a new year, is being celebrated in Turkey between March 20 and 24, along with other Middle Eastern and Central Asian countries. This year's celebrations in Turkey showed that this cultural event still remains highly contested... MORE