Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
BAM RAILWAY TO BECOME EXPORT ROUTE?
The Baikal-Amur Railway line (BAM) was originally designed to become a strategic alternative to the Trans-Siberian Railway. The BAM was also supposed to give the development of Eastern Siberia a much-needed boost. But instead of powering new industries in the region, BAM appears on its... MORE
INSTABILITIES IN SOUTHERN KYRGYZSTAN BURDEN GOVERNMENT WITH MORE PROBLEMS
Roughly four weeks before the July 10 presidential elections, violent clashes in Osh and uncertainties around Uzbek refugees in Jalalabad have rocked Kyrgyzstan. On June 13 six people in Osh were hospitalized with gunshot wounds following a brutal fight between protestors and parliamentarian Bayaman Erkinbayev... MORE
TURKISH MILITARY ASSISTANCE TO KAZAKHSTAN HIGHLIGHTS WESTERN DILEMMA
Kazakhstan's armed forces, greatly in need of financial and materiel support from Western countries, has received a significant boost from Turkey. Turkey has donated more than $1.3 million worth of military and technical equipment to the Kazakhstani armed forces, aimed at contributing to the overall... MORE
ISLAM KARIMOV AND THE HEIRS OF TIANANMEN
Fresh from the massacre at Andijan, Islam Karimov traveled to China in late May, where he received not just praise, but expressions of China's delight at his handling of the uprising. Thus Beijing "resolutely supported" Karimov's repression of the "three evil forces": terrorism, separatism, and... MORE
OPPOSITION DOUBTS FAIRNESS OF GEORGIA’S NEW ELECTORAL COMMISSION
The composition of Georgia's new Central Electoral Commission (CEC) has already raised doubts about the fairness of the coming elections. In April parliament amended the Georgian election code to change the composition of the CEC and lower-level election administrations. The main point of the change... MORE
SERGEI IVANOV CHALLENGES THE NEW POLITICAL GENERATION
After four years on the job, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov has no impressive record of achievements. His most important "victory" happened some eleven months ago when Anatoly Kvashnin, the ambitious and stubborn chief of the General Staff, was fired and replaced with a quiet... MORE
UKRAINIAN CABINET DECIDES TO RE-SELL STEEL MILL
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's cabinet has decided to re-privatize Ukraine's largest steelworks, Kryvorizhstal, ending months of uncertainty. The government of President Leonid Kuchma sold 93% of Kryvorizhstal's shares to the Investment Metallurgy Union (IMS), controlled by Kuchma's son-in-law, Viktor Pinchuk, and Donetsk tycoon Renat... MORE
ANOTHER MYSTERIOUS TRAFFIC ACCIDENT KILLS ANOTHER KAZAKH JOURNALIST
On June 7 the prominent opposition journalist Batyrkhan Darimbet died in Taraz, southern Kazakhstan. He had been hospitalized since June 2 after a car accident near Taraz city, where he reportedly had gone to set up local branches of Alga, DVK! (Forward, Democratic Choice of... MORE
AFGHAN GOVERNMENT BLAMES TERRORISTS FOR RECENT ATTACKS
Afghanistan is facing a bloody summer, after the June 1 bombing of a mosque in Kandahar and an attack in southern Afghanistan on June 8 that killed two American soldiers. Such incidents have raised many questions about the Taliban's current activities (see EDM, June 2).... MORE
RUSSIA SEEKS TO REASSERT ITS STATUS AS A KEY POWER IN THE CAUCASUS
Having finally agreed last week to withdraw the two Soviet-era bases from Georgia by 2008, Moscow was quick to send a signal to those who believe Russia's retreat from the Caucasus is irreversible (see EDM, June 3). Talking to Profil magazine (June 6), Russian Defense... MORE