In recent years, party officials in the People's Republic of China (PRC) have been uncharacteristically bold in speaking about freedom (ziyou) and democracy (minzhu), both long-standing taboos in the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) private and public lexicon. Analysts who monitor developments in China attribute this... MORE

The quality of political discussions in Turkey is hitting the bottom as local elections, slated for March 29, approach. Although candidates will be running for municipal posts, the aggressive campaigning by political parties has turned the election race into a national referendum on the governing... MORE

Armenia has marked the first anniversary of its worst political violence ever amid signs of easing tension between its leadership and the main opposition forces. The top opposition leader, former President Levon Ter-Petrosian, has made it clear that he will no longer seek to topple... MORE

A Turkish court ruled in favor of an Alevi family requesting exemption for their daughter from attending religious lessons in primary school. The ruling highlights the state of religious freedom, as well as the demands of the Alevi community, in Turkey (Anadolu Ajansi, February 24).... MORE

In November 2008 Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan made one of his most disconcerting statements toward the Kurds in Turkey: "We have said, ‘One nation, one flag, one motherland, and one state.'...Those who oppose this should leave" (See EDM November 4, 2008). In January 2009 the... MORE

"As a scholar, I establish the fact that the Russian Federation is developing signs of the initial stage of a breakup," Professor Alexei Malashenko, Scholar-in-Residence of the Carnegie Moscow Center, told Jamestown on February 12. "Not unlike the case of the USSR, the current economic... MORE

Despite low popularity ratings at home but with assured support from the Kremlin, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev has declared his willingness to run for a second term. He added that he would not mind moving elections up to this year, since several political leaders have... MORE