Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
KYRGYZSTAN CONTENT TO HOST RUSSIAN AND AMERICAN AIR BASES
On September 20-21, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov held talks with Kyrgyz leaders in Bishkek and inspected Russia's Kant air base. Ivanov characterized the mission of the Russian air group there as "combating terrorism and drug trafficking" -- a justification that may be politically unassailable... MORE
SHARP DROP IN DOLLAR RATE PANICS AZERBAIJAN AND RAISES POLITICAL QUESTIONS
September 17 became "Black Saturday" in the history of the dollar in Azerbaijan. In just a few hours, the exchange rate of U.S. dollar to the Azerbaijani manat fell by almost 20% (from 4,600 manat per dollar to 3,800 manats), creating chaos and panic in... MORE
CHINA QUIETLY INCREASES MILITARY LINKS WITH TAJIKISTAN
China is quietly and steadily increasing its military links with Central Asian states, including the weak Tajikistani military, in keeping with its policy goals of limiting U.S. influence in the region and promoting its own security agenda. Cao Gangchuan, Chinese defense minister, made his first... MORE
YUSHCHENKO PRIME MINISTER NOMINEE REJECTED BY PARLIAMENT
On September 20 the Ukrainian parliament failed to approve Yuriy Yekhanurov as prime minister, seven days after President Viktor Yushchenko submitted his candidacy. Yushchenko disbanded the government headed by Yulia Tymoshenko on September 8 after a corruption crisis engineered by outgoing state secretary Oleksandr Zinchenko... MORE
RUSSIA ASSESSES THE NORTH KOREA SIX-PARTY AGREEMENT
The Russian government and media welcomed the six-party agreement about North Korea's nuclear programs announced on September 19. Izvestiya even called it a breakthrough. Deputy Foreign Minister, Alexander Alexeyev, Russia's delegate to the talks, hailed it as an historic document that would have been unimaginable... MORE
MOSCOW AFFIRMS ITS NUCLEAR PARTNERSHIP WITH IRAN
As Russia welcomed Iran's top nuclear official on September 12, Moscow is sending signals that the Kremlin remains keen to strengthen its nuclear partnership with Tehran. Iranian Vice-President Gholam-Reza Aqazadeh, who is also head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, was granted a warm welcome in... MORE
RUSSIAN ELECTRICITY GIANT CLOSE TO COMPLETING ARMENIAN POWER GRID PURCHASE
Russia's state-run power monopoly, Unified Energy Systems (UES), is close to formalizing its effective purchase of Armenia's electricity grid, giving Moscow near total control over the Armenian energy sector. The government in Yerevan indicated on September 15 that it would green light a deal that... MORE
KARIMOV ACCUSES KYRGYZSTAN OF ASSISTING TERRORISTS
Tashkent's latest official explanation blames Kyrgyzstan for the bloody Andijan riots on May 13. At a parliamentary meeting on September 5, the Uzbek Prosecutor-General accused the Kyrgyz government of allowing up to 70 religious extremists to train on its southern territories ahead of the Andijan... MORE
KYRGYZSTAN BANS “EXTREMISM” WITH PRODDING FROM BEIJING
On August 17, three days after his inauguration, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev signed the new law "On Counteraction against Extremist Activity." official Kyrgyz government newspaper Erkin Too published the text of the law on August 19. Activists from Hizb-ut-Tahrir (the Islamic Party of Liberation) immediately... MORE
RUSSIAN AIR FORCE PLANES MISBEHAVE OVER LITHUANIA, ESTONIA
At 15:20 local time in good flying weather on September 15, a Russian air force Su-27 fighter jet crashed into a field in western Lithuania. The plane was part of a convoy of seven fighter jets (Mig-29 and Su-27) and an A-50 radar plane en... MORE