The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) summit in Astana in early December 2010, was a symbolic showcase for the year-long failed negotiations on Karabakh. Azerbaijan’s President, Ilham Aliyev, and his Armenian counterpart, Serzh Sargsyan, did not even meet on the sidelines of... MORE

On January 14-15, European Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso, and EU Energy Commissioner, Guenther Oettinger, paid an unprecedented joint visit to Turkmenistan. They arrived directly from Azerbaijan, whose President Ilham Aliyev approved that country’s accession to the EU-planned Southern Gas Corridor on January 13 (EDM,... MORE

After several years of silence on the issue, Armenia has officially confirmed the existence of the sophisticated Russian-supplied S-300 air defense system in its military arsenal and demonstrated this by broadcasting video evidence. The authorities in Yerevan have also approved a five-year plan to modernize... MORE

On January 13 in Baku, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso signed a declaration on developing the Southern Gas Corridor to Europe. On January 14-15 in Ashgabat, Barroso and EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger conferred with President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov on... MORE

On January 6, Kazakhstan Electricity Grid Operating Company (KEGOC) announced its plans to exit the Central Asian power system. Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan’s inability to reach regional agreements with Kazakhstan on electricity supply over the winter is the main reason for KEGOC’s decision. Due to technical... MORE

Two parallel court proceedings in Vienna have confirmed that Austrian OMV and Russian Surgut Neftegaz had coordinated their hostile takeover attempts against Hungarian MOL. The Austrian and the Russian company were targeting MOL’s oil-refining business, which is recognized as the most efficient in Central Europe.... MORE

The People's Republic of China (PRC) is pursuing a variety of objectives in Central Asia. These objectives include securing regional states' support in suppressing anti-Beijing Uighur nationalists and potential terrorist threats, giving Chinese firms access to energy resources as well as trade and investment opportunities,... MORE

Since being inaugurated in 2001, Turkey’s annual hosting of its "Anatolian Eagle" aerial military exercises at Konya air base in the central Anatolian region of Konya have been central to its efforts to preserve military preparedness and to enhance relations with the air forces of... MORE

At the Chuzhou City national security leading group meeting last December, local officials appeared to overshadow municipal Ministry of State Security (MSS) officers despite the subject of the meeting—an Anhui State Security Department directive (Chuzhou City Web Portal, December 31, 2010). This event casts doubt... MORE

The Interconnector Turkey-Greece-Italy (ITGI) is a project of the Milano-based Edison with Depa, the Greek state-controlled gas transmission and trading company. ITGI proposes to carry 10 to 12 billion cubic meters (bcm) of “Caspian” gas per year, including 8 bcm to Italy and the remainder... MORE