Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
U.S.-AZERBAIJAN RELATIONS GO THROUGH TENSION, YET MAINTAIN STRATEGIC ALLIANCE
As the presidential elections in Azerbaijan are approaching, the issue of Western influence in those elections and the perceived threat of the West’s support for the color revolutions is once again emerging in the country. In this context the role of the United States is... MORE
RISING UNEMPLOYMENT RINGING SOCIAL ALARM BELLS IN TURKEY
The latest employment figures released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (Turkstat) have reinforced concerns about the possible social impact of the slowdown in the Turkish economy. At end-February, the official unemployment rate stood at 11.6 percent, up from 11.4 percent at end-February 2007. The official... MORE
NATO CREATES CYBER DEFENSE CENTER IN ESTONIA
On May 15 in Brussels, top military commanders from seven NATO countries and the Allied Command Transformation signed an agreement to create a Cooperative Cyber Defense Center. The center is to be located in Tallinn as an acknowledgement of Estonia’s role in launching this initiative... MORE
RUSSIAN JOURNALISTS USED AS CHANNEL FOR TBILISI-MOSCOW CONTACTS
Last week Georgia and its breakaway province of Abkhazia were close to a war that would surely have involved Russia. An armed conflict could escalate into an all-out war, engulfing the entire Caucasus. Russia has accused the Georgians of concentrating forces in the upper Kodori... MORE
AKP STRENGTHENS ITS HOLD ON THE TURKISH MEDIA
The May 12 sale of KanalTurk, the most fiercely antigovernment national television channel in Turkey, to an associate of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has consolidated a growing shift in the balance of power in the Turkish media from opponents to supporters of the... MORE
YUSHCHENKO WILL BE MARGINALIZED BY CONSTITUTIONAL AND POLITICAL INSTABILITY IN UKRAINE
The three holiday breaks (Easter, May Day and World War II Victory Day) gave only a short respite before the two main figures in Ukrainian politics, President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, resumed their fight to the bitter end. Yushchenko and Tymoshenko are... MORE
MOSCOW QUESTIONS TERRITORIAL STATUS QUO IN THE CRIMEA
Moscow Mayor Yurii Luzhkov and senior members of Russia’s Duma persist in making territorial claims to Sevastopol, following Luzhkov’s foray into the Ukrainian territory of the Crimea (see EDM, May 13). These continuing statements appear designed to question Ukraine’s sovereignty in Sevastopol, and more broadly... MORE
APPOINTMENTS SHOW PUTIN REMAINS DOMINANT–BUT FOR HOW LONG?
While it is perhaps too early to assess definitively the meaning of the appointments to the Kremlin administration and the cabinet of ministers, one can put forward two provisional conclusions. The first is that the hard-line siloviki faction, said to be headed informally by Igor... MORE
WHO IS REALLY TO BLAME FOR RECORD-HIGH INFLATION IN UKRAINE?
Inflation in Ukraine was 3.1 percent in April and 13.1 percent from January through April. This was the highest inflation rate of any former Soviet state, twice as high as in Russia. The Yulia Tymoshenko government drafted the state budget for 2008 based on the... MORE
TALKS ON NORTHERN CYPRUS RESUME
The issue of northern Cyprus has roiled Ankara’s foreign policy ever since July 20, 1974, when Turkey invaded the northern region of the island in “Operation Atilla,” a combined land, air and sea operation. More than 30 years after the incursion, which effectively divided the... MORE