On July 1, the Defense Industry Executive Committee (SSIK) took important decisions on new investments for the modernization of the Turkish military through greater domestic participation. Defying expectations, however, the SSIK postponed a decision on the multi-billion dollar general-purpose helicopter tender, for which an intense... MORE

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a significant military transit agreement with Barack Obama during the summit in Moscow on July 6. The agreement was forged in the context of reaching an understanding to commit both countries to nuclear arms reductions of up to one third,... MORE

During his four-year reign the Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev has behaved unpredictably both in domestic and international policy. Domestically, the president alienated most of his former supporters by gradually stripping them of power. Internationally, Bakiyev has maneuvered around the issue of the Manas airbase, where... MORE

In one of their deadliest recent attacks, rebels in Ingushetia on July 4 ambushed a convoy of Chechen policemen in a wooded area on the road between the villages of Chemulga and Arshty in the republic's Sunzha district, killing nine policemen and wounding ten others.Agence... MORE

U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Moscow which started a few hours ago as Air Force One landed in Vnukovo was awaited with such anxiety and generated so much commentary in the Russian media, as if it could miraculously bring the economic crisis to an... MORE

Pakistan’s military is facing tough resistance in its battle against the Taliban in Pakistan’s South Waziristan tribal agency along the border with Afghanistan. The military has been pounding Taliban leader Baitullah Mahsud’s strongholds with jet fighters and artillery (Daily Times [Lahore], June 28). The government... MORE

The Turkish Parliament's adoption of an amendment made during a late night debate on June 25 to the Code on Criminal Procedure (CMK), which has paved the way for the trial of military personnel in civil courts, marks an important step towards curbing military power... MORE

Amnesty International said in a report released on June 30 that ongoing human rights abuses in Chechnya, Ingushetia and other parts of the North Caucasus give the lie to claims made by the Russia authorities that the region is generally reverting to "normal" after years... MORE

On June 22, at 8.30 am, a suicide attacker crashed his explosives-filled Toyota into the vehicle carrying the president of Ingushetia, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, as the presidential motorcade was passing by in the city of Nazran. So far, the investigators failed to establish the driver's identity.... MORE

Militants in Dagestan today attacked the headquarters of the police in the city of Derbent, just south of the republic capital Makhachkala and near the border with Georgia, Russian and Western news agencies reported. According to the Associated Press, three policemen and a civilian died... MORE