Breaking News:
Russia Insists Ambitious Plans for Developing Far East Are Immune to Crisis
November 24, 2008 04:04 PM
Russia's top officials insisted that the country's plans to develop the Far Eastern regions remained unaffected by the global economic downturn. The crisis will not force Russia to abandon its strategic development plans, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told the congress of the United Russia party on November 20. "We are not going to put off our strategic plans,” he said (Interfax, ITAR-Tass, RIA-Novosti, November 20).Russia has given priority to major transportation projects in...
Turkey Pushes for Closer Political Ties Within the Turkic-Speaking World
November 24, 2008The speakers and delegates of the parliaments of the Turkish-speaking countries—Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Turkey—met in Istanbul on November 20 and 21 for a Conference of Turkic-Speaking Countries’ Parliamentary ...
Polish, Georgian Presidents’ Motorcade Shot at from South Ossetia
November 24, 2008At dusk on November 23, machine-gun fire from the direction of a Russian checkpoint forced Presidents Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia and Lech Kaczynski of Poland to cut short a visit with Georgian refugees from South Ossetia....
A New Ukrainian Russian Gas Confrontation
November 24, 2008Just when the outlook for normalization in the Ukrainian-Russian gas relationship appeared on the horizon, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Gazprom head Alexei Miller have upset the gas cart.On November 20 Kommersant...
Turkey and Iran Sign Accord on Natural Gas Cooperation
November 21, 2008Ankara and Tehran signed an accord strengthening agreements on developing Iran’s gas fields and transporting Iranian gas to Europe. With the agreement, Turkey secures the operation rights for three offshore gas fields in Iran's...
TURKEY
Breaking News:
Turkey Pushes for Closer Political Ties Within the Turkic-Speaking World
November 24, 2008 04:14 PMThe speakers and delegates of the parliaments of the Turkish-speaking countries—Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Turkey—met in Istanbul on November 20 and 21 for a Conference of Turkic-Speaking Countries’ Parliamentary Speakers. Turkish Speaker of Parliament Koksal Toptan, Azerbaijani Speaker of Parliament Oktay Seidov, Kyrgyz Speaker of Parliament Aytibay Tagayev, and Vice-president of the Kazakh Senate Mukhammet Kopeyev signed a declaration for the establishment of a Parliamentary...
UKRAINE
Breaking News:
A New Ukrainian Russian Gas Confrontation
November 24, 2008 04:10 PMJust when the outlook for normalization in the Ukrainian-Russian gas relationship appeared on the horizon, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Gazprom head Alexei Miller have upset the gas cart.On November 20 Kommersant Daily reported that Medvedev and Miller threatened to charge Ukraine $400 per 1,000 cubic meters for gas beginning in January 2009 if Naftohaz Ukrainy, the Ukrainian state-owned energy company, did not repay an alleged $2.4 billion debt to Gazprom.Two days later, Gazprom ...
KAZAKHSTAN
Breaking News:
Kyrgyz Opposition Splits, Seeks Alternative Ways To Fight Regime
November 20, 2008 05:35 PMAmid an energy crisis in Kyrgyzstan mainly caused by corruption among top-ranking political leaders, the Kyrgyz opposition has begun taking swift action against President Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s regime. Bakiyev, in turn, is trying to counter the opposition’s protests by making promises yet again about developing the hydroelectric system.On November 18 leaders of various political parties—Azimbek Beknazarov, Topchubek Turgunaliyev, Nurlan Motuyev, Anvar Artykov, and former Ombudsman Tursunbai B...
BELARUS
Breaking News:
Changing Priorities in Belarus
November 19, 2008 05:43 PMSeveral recent events suggest that changes are underway in Belarus as it emerges from isolation and begins new dialogues with the countries of the European Union. According to sociological surveys, the electorate remains behind the president; and after a brief shock engendered by sharp price rises at the end of 2007, Belarusian society rapidly returned to apathy, which is described in the official media as “stability” (Belorusy i Rynok, November 17-24). That allowed the government of Presi...
GEORGIA
Breaking News:
Polish, Georgian Presidents’ Motorcade Shot at from South Ossetia
November 24, 2008 04:12 PMAt dusk on November 23, machine-gun fire from the direction of a Russian checkpoint forced Presidents Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia and Lech Kaczynski of Poland to cut short a visit with Georgian refugees from South Ossetia. By most accounts, three bursts were fired into the air over the presidents’ motorcade near the Metekhi refugee shelters. Saakashvili and Kaczynski were visiting the Georgian side of the demarcation line to see how the armistice agreement was being implemented in the a...
RUSSIA
Breaking News:
Polish, Georgian Presidents’ Motorcade Shot at from South Ossetia
November 24, 2008 04:12 PMAt dusk on November 23, machine-gun fire from the direction of a Russian checkpoint forced Presidents Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia and Lech Kaczynski of Poland to cut short a visit with Georgian refugees from South Ossetia. By most accounts, three bursts were fired into the air over the presidents’ motorcade near the Metekhi refugee shelters. Saakashvili and Kaczynski were visiting the Georgian side of the demarcation line to see how the armistice agreement was being implemented in the a...
Vladimir Socor is a senior fellow of The Jamestown Foundation and regular writer for Eurasia Daily Monitor.
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Unmasking Terror Volume III: A Global Review of Terrorist Activities
September 19, 2007 10:33 AM
Unmasking Terror Volume III: A Global Review of Terrorist Activities brings together over 50 experts on terrorism, intelligence and security.