Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
AZERBAIJAN’S OPPOSITION ANGERED BY LIMITS ON FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY
After three month of peaceful demonstrations, last Sunday (September 25) Azerbaijan's opposition parties and police clashed in downtown Baku. Ministry of Interior forces broke up the unauthorized rally by the main opposition alliance, Azadliq (Freedom), which unites the three largest opposition parties (Musavat, Popular Front,... MORE
CRUNCH TIME FOR SAAKASHVILI’S GOVERNMENT
So far, the Georgian government has weathered the latest cycle of disturbances in the country's restive regions. Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian capital, came under mortar fire on the heels of its celebration of the 15th anniversary of its declaration of secession from Georgia. The coincidence... MORE
RUSSIA WANTS TO BE MORE THAN CHINA’S SOURCE FOR RAW MATERIALS
While Moscow reiterates its pledges to beef up Russia's strategic partnership with China, some Russian officials are warning that Russia would not accept the role of raw materials supplier for China's energy-hungry economy. As Sergei Mironov, chairman of the Russian Federation Council, traveled to China... MORE
PUTIN PRAISES STABILITY AND PROMISES PROSPERITY
Yesterday, September 27, Russian President Vladimir Putin spent nearly three hours answering questions from Russians who had gathered in specially organized studios across the country. The questions had been carefully selected from over a million messages and the answers were shown live on two main... MORE
IS PORA TURNING AGAINST YUSHCHENKO?
Pora, the non-governmental organization that played a decisive role in Ukraine's Orange Revolution, has adopted a highly critical stance towards the ten-point memorandum signed last week by President Viktor Yushchenko and the leader of the Party of Regions, former prime minister Viktor Yanukovych (see EDM,... MORE
ASTANA’S OIL STRATEGY REVEALS PREFERENCE FOR UNITED STATES
Kazakhstan hopes to use its privileged position as the largest oil producing state in Central Asia to foster good relations with key members of the international community. This tactic is probably best illustrated by a recent Kazakh-government sponsored conference for American business leaders in San... MORE
GAZPROM FIRMING UP ITS HOLD ON CENTRAL ASIAN GAS
Interviewed in the current issue of the journal Gazprom, the company's Vice-Chairman Alexander Ryazanov announces the imminent creation of a Russian-Kazakh joint venture to process gas from Kazakhstan in Russia. Gazprom and Kazakhstan's oil and gas state company, KazMunayGaz have agreed to supply gas from... MORE
ERKINBAYEV’S ASSASSINATION PROVOKES CONTROVERSY IN KYRGYZSTAN
On September 21, Bayaman Erkinbayev, a member of the Kyrgyz parliament with alleged ties to criminal groups, was shot dead in central Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital. His murder is the third political assassination in Kyrgyzstan since the March 24 Tulip Revolution. The National Security Service... MORE
RUSSIA OFFERS “QUALITY” MILITARY ASSISTANCE TO KYRGYZSTAN
As part of an effort to cement Moscow's relations with newly elected Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov has offered a significant increase in the quality of bilateral military assistance Russia's affords to the country. Ivanov's comments were made ahead of his... MORE
UNPRECEDENTED UZBEK-RUSSIAN JOINT MILITARY EXERCISE HELD
On September 21-23, for the first time since 1991, Uzbekistan hosted a joint military exercise with Russian troops on its territory. Presidents Vladimir Putin and Islam Karimov ordered the holding of the exercise in their capacity as commanders-in-chief, and Defense Ministers Sergei Ivanov and Kadyr... MORE