Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
LAWS AND LOOPHOLES: AKP EXAMINES ITS LEGAL OPTIONS TO STAVE OFF CLOSURE
The application to the Constitutional Court for the closure of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has had party officials poring over the statute books to see whether they can preempt the court’s decision by pushing through legal amendments that would make it impossible... MORE
TURKISH SECURITY OFFICIALS ADMIT COVER-UP IN DINK MURDER CASE
On March 20, two members of the Turkish Gendarmerie admitted receiving detailed intelligence regarding a plot to assassinate Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink and then, after Dink’s murder, trying to cover up their knowledge by lying to investigators. The confessions came as two Gendarmerie officers, known... MORE
CHANCELLOR MERKEL’S “ALLEINGANG” IN MOSCOW AHEAD OF THE NATO SUMMIT
“Alleingang,” a go-it-alone policy of rapprochement with Moscow and differentiation from Washington, is an oft-discussed temptation and pitfall of German foreign policy. At present the Christian-Democrat chancellor, Angela Merkel, is engaged in an Alleingang to satisfy Russia by stopping Georgian and Ukrainian Membership Action Plans... MORE
IS NATO FACING A RUSSIAN VETO THROUGH FRANCO-GERMAN HANDS?
Several articles appearing in quick succession in the French press suggest a possible understanding with Russia to block Georgian and Ukrainian Membership Action Plans (MAPs) at the upcoming NATO summit. This idea emerges at its clearest in Le Monde of March 12 (straight news-and-analysis article... MORE
TYMOSHENKO WANTS KYIV MAYOR OUT
Yesterday, March 18, the Ukrainian parliament called an early election for the post of mayor of Kyiv. This is a victory for Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s bloc (BYuT), which spearheaded a campaign to oust Kyiv Mayor Leonid Chernovetsky, accusing him of corruption. However, there is... MORE
TYMOSHENKO MOST POPULAR POLITICAL FORCE IN UKRAINE
Parliament’s March 18 vote to call pre-term elections for Kyiv’s city mayor was a second major victory for Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko this month, following the new gas contract with Russia signed on March 6. The vote is symbolically important because Ukraine’s legislation requires that... MORE
GAS COMPANIES WELCOME HUNGARIAN MOL’S “NETS” PROJECT FOR CENTRAL AND SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
On March 14 Romania hosted the first joint meeting of the gas transmission companies from Central Europe and Balkan countries to consider the NETS project. Hungary’s energy company MOL initiated the NETS project -- New Europe Transmission Systems -- last December (see EDM, December 10,... MORE
RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY REPORTEDLY PICKED CIVIL SOCIETY REPS TO MEET WITH RICE
During their visit to Moscow this week, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates held meetings with President Vladimir Putin and president-elect Dmitry Medvedev. They also met with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov to discuss such... MORE
NATO EXPANSION PUSHES MISSILE DEFENSE OFF RUSSIAN AGENDA
This week U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited Moscow, but their arrival was not accompanied by any breakthroughs on U.S.-Russian differences on missile defense, arms control, and Kosovar independence. Still, both sides reported “good progress.” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov... MORE
BLOWBACK FROM IRAQ INCURSION SPARKS POLITICAL DEBATE IN ANKARA?
Turkey’s February 21-29 military incursion into northern Iraq is roiling Turkish domestic politics. Both right-wing and left-wing parties accuse the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) high command of yielding to pressure from Washington, as U.S. Secretary of... MORE