Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on his way to Syria revealed that the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government has launched a comprehensive plan to address the Kurdish question. Erdogan said, "We have launched an initiative, whether you call it the Kurdish problem or the... MORE

Kommersant reported today that the speaker of Chechnya's parliament, Dukvakha Abdurakhmanov, has held two days of talks in Oslo with Akhmed Zakaev, the London-based prime minister of the separatist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (ChRI). According to the newspaper, yesterday's meeting between the two was closed... MORE

Writing in yesterday's (July 23) issue of the German business daily Handelsblatt, former chancellor Gerhard Schroeder offers an updated view of the Russo-German "strategic partnership." Schroeder hails Chancellor Angela Merkel's meeting last week in Munich with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, in the format of a... MORE

The geographic area encompassing South Asia and its contiguous maritime spaces are of growing strategic importance to China, as reflected in China’s web of partnerships and coalitions with states in the region. The dynamics of these relationships appear on the surface to be based on... MORE

Beijing instituted a new round of personnel changes among the top-ranking officers of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and its general departments. According to official state-media, Central Military Commission (CMC) Chairman and PRC President Hu Jintao conferred three senior military officers the rank of general... MORE

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan paid a one-day visit to Syria, which involved discussions on Turkey's mediator role between Israel and Syria. Erdogan and the Syrian President Bashar Assad discussed bilateral relations, regional developments and Turkey's peacemaking role in the region. Assad requested Turkey's mediating... MORE

President Viktor Yushchenko announced his bid for a second term on July 18 defying pundits who believed his low popularity of 2-3 percent would deter him (www.president.gov.ua, July 18). Yushchenko used the highest peak in Ukraine - Hoverla in the Carpathians - to declare his... MORE

The open letter to the Obama administration (EDM, July 22) carries the signatures of 22 personalities including former heads of state and prime ministers, other statesmen and policymakers from Central-Eastern European countries. Made public on July 16, the letter draws on a concept paper issued... MORE

Last week the newest Russian Navy Bulava-30 (SS-NX-30) sea-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) disintegrated 28 seconds after launch. The latest crash came on top of a long string of unsuccessful test launches that have called into question the future of the Bulava, planned to be... MORE

One month after the dismissal of Kazakhstan's Defense Minister Daniyal Akhmetov by presidential decree on June 17, persistent rumors are still circulating about his alleged suicide. Unconfirmed reports in some media outlets suggest that Akhmetov shot himself when security police arrived to arrest him on... MORE