Tajikistan’s defense and security structures, traditionally heavily influenced by Russian methods and Moscow’s assistance, depend on fresh intakes of Tajik conscripts to maintain their manpower levels. Potential conscripts are exposed to Russian military culture even before coming in contact with military recruiting centers or responding... MORE

An angry confrontation outside the headquarters of the ultranationalist Nationalist Action Party (MHP) appears to have signaled the end of one of the longest platonic love affairs in Turkish politics. On February 5 the representatives of a number of associations representing retired military personnel attempted... MORE

The members of President Vladimir Putin’s administration who are also the heads of state corporations are running again for re-election to the boards of those companies, which will have the effect of maintaining state control – and, perhaps more importantly, control by members of Putin’s... MORE

The Georgian president, parliament leadership, and government are engaged in a dialogue with opposition leaders about legislative changes in the run-up to the parliamentary elections. One immediate goal of the authorities is to defuse the potential for confrontation and destabilization that this group of opposition... MORE

The tragic events in eastern Anatolia in 1915 continue to roil not only Turkish-Armenian relations, but the international community and Turkish-American relations as well. For more than 25 years, Yerevan and the Armenian diaspora have lobbied to have the events in the wartime Ottoman Empire... MORE

On January 25, the prime ministers of Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan signed nine trade agreements. These addressed export customs duties, unified customs and tariff regulations, unified rules to determine the countries of origin of goods, unified measures of non-tariff regulation, anti-dumping and protective measures, determination... MORE

In a recent television interview Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko raised the possibility of a coalition between her eponymous bloc and the Party of Regions (PRU) of former prime minister Viktor Yanukovych. Tymoshenko later tried to downplay her comment, saying she had been misunderstood. But... MORE

On February 5 the pro-Kurdish Democratic Party (DTP) launched a campaign of mass public protests in an attempt to stop Turkish military operations against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) both inside Turkey and in northern Iraq. DTP supporters have started gathering in Diyarbakir, the largest... MORE