Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
RUSSIA STRUGGLES TO SUPPLY POWER TO DOMESTIC CONSUMERS
Distracted by the country's longest festive season, Russia has faced a series of power outages in early January, including in areas where temperatures plummet to extreme lows. The accidents came as an ominous reminder that Russia needs to improve and redevelop its basic infrastructure, specifically... MORE
DIYARBAKIR BOMBING INCREASES PRESSURE ON THE DTP
The January 4 bomb attack by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the predominantly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir in southeast Turkey has increased the pressure on the members of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) to distance themselves from the PKK’s violent campaign. But they... MORE
PUTIN PRAISES SUCCESSFUL ICBM LAUNCHES
On December 25, Christmas Day, the Russian military test-fired two intercontinental ballistic missiles – one from land and the other from the sea. The Tula, a Delta-4 nuclear submarine, launched the RSM-54 Sineva from the Barents Sea. The Sineva is a modification of the Soviet-made... MORE
GAZPROM SET TO POUNCE ON SERBIA AS PUTIN MOVES INTO THE BALKANS
Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to visit Bulgaria on January 18 for the signing of a Russian-Greek-Bulgarian agreement to build the South Stream gas pipeline. A joint project of Gazprom and Italy’s ENI, the line would run from Russia across the seabed of the Black... MORE
GEORGIA: OPPOSITION THREATENS TO OVERTURN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION AMID GROWING INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION OF THE RESULTS
On January 8 the runner-up presidential candidate Levan Gachechiladze (with 27% of the votes cast, according to the provisional final returns) headed a group of opposition leaders that burst into Central Electoral Commission (CEC) offices and encircled CEC chairman Levan Tarkhnishvili. They threatened to evict... MORE
TURKISH MEDIA HAIL GUL’S VISIT AS CONSOLIDATING NEW ERA IN U.S.-TURKISH TIES BUT UNCERTAINTY REMAINS ABOUT ITS LONGEVITY
The Turkish media have hailed the five-day visit of President Abdullah Gul to the United States as consolidating a new era in ties between the two countries. But some commentators remain uncertain about how long-lived the new rapprochement is likely to be. Reports of Gul’s... MORE
MOSCOW RAISES STAKES IN IRAN GAME
In the last days of 2007, Moscow made several purposeful steps that barely registered in the West, where the Christmas break was already well underway. The first step was the delivery of fuel elements to the nearly completed nuclear power station in Bushehr, which could... MORE
YUSHCHENKO PICKS CHIEF SECURITY ADVISER FROM OPPOSITION CAMP
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has appointed Raisa Bohatyryova as secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC). This came as a surprise for many, as Bohatyryova has been one of the leaders of the main opposition force, the Party of Regions (PRU), which is... MORE
KAZAKHSTAN “TRUSTS” RUSSIAN BORDER GUARDS
On December 29 border guards in East Kazakhstan arrested four people -- two citizens of Uzbekistan, one citizen of Russia, and one citizen of Tajikistan -- for allegedly attempting to smuggle 17 kilograms of heroin into Russia. Seizures of heroin bound for Russia are a... MORE
AKP HEDGES ON KEY EU REFORM AS PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR ACCESSION CONTINUES TO FALL
Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government has announced plans to amend the controversial Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code, that provides for custodial sentences for anyone who insults “Turkishness.” The EU has repeatedly cited Article 301 as evidence of Turkey’s failure to... MORE