Positive Tendencies
Under a wise guidance of President Nursultan Nazarbayev Kazakhstan enjoys leading positions in Central Asia to date. Ertan Tezgor, Personal Envoy of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office for Cooperation with Asian Partners said speaking on the country's role in the region and the Kazakh President's contribution to enhancement of its positions on the international arena. READ MORE
Nabucco And Baku–Ashkhabad’s Contraposition
Today the gas pipeline Nabucco is probably the most important Western energy project in Eurasia. If implemented, it would significantly reduce energy dependence of the EU on Russia. Therefore Nabucco acquires a wide geopolitical dimension exceeding its possible economic benefit. READ MORE
What Was Erdogan Silent About?
The fact that a meeting of NATO countries on the issues of strategy in Afghanistan in early February was held in Turkey's Istanbul looks symbolic enough. Turkey as a member of the Euro-Atlantic Alliance is the most eastern of its member countries not only geographically, but it is closest to the Muslim East by mentality. On the other hand, Turkey aims to join the EU, though it faces the resistance from some countries, first of all France. Istanbul – the former Constantinople – is officially included on the list of the European Capitals of Culture this year. As we know, the city is located in the western part of Turkey and, what's more important, is not only a treasury of Islamic religion and culture, but also one of the historic centers of Christian Civilization. READ MORE
Lithuania Will Strengthen Economic Cooperation With Turkey
"Lithuania is interested in the successful development of transport and energy infrastructure projects connecting the Baltic and Black Sea regions," President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė said at the meeting with Turkish Minister for EU Affairs, Egemen Bağiş. READ MORE
Bulgarian Government Skeptical on South Stream Project
Gazprom CEO Aleksei Miller held talks in Sofia on February 16 “to activate work on the South Stream project in Bulgaria”. Bulgaria is the country most pivotal to South Stream. The pipeline is planned to run from Russia across the Black Sea to Bulgaria, and from that country to bifurcate toward central and southern Europe. READ MORE
Kazakh OSCE Chairmanship Seeks Long-Term Peace in South Caucasus
OSCE should play a bigger role in the South Caucasus in working toward peaceful settlement of protracted conflicts and democratic processes in the region. This was the consensus during the meetings in Baku, Yerevan, and Tbilisi, as the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Kazakhstan’s Secretary of State and Foreign Minister Kanat Saudabayev, visited the three capitals on his first visit to a region with the organization’s field presence on February 15-17. READ MORE
Armenia Showcases Iran Ties, As Talks With Azerbaijan And Turkey Falter
Armenia is showcasing its close relationship with Iran at a delicate time in its negotiations with two other, less friendly neighbors: Azerbaijan and Turkey. With the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations and the resolution of the Karabakh conflict looking increasingly problematic, authorities in Yerevan seem to be hedging their bets by pursuing more multi-million dollar commercial projects with Tehran. READ MORE
Ankara's Iran gambit
Iran, it seems, is going to turn into one of the main litmus tests of exactly how influential Turkey has become in the region.Ankara is in an uncomfortable position in this respect. If it does not manage to bring Tehran around to a reasonable position on the uranium-enrichment issue, it runs the risk of being isolated among its allies. READ MORE
Europe Should Thank Turkey
Ankara tries to play a new role as an energy nod. READ MORE
Berlin–Rome–Ankara
Following the results of the meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan his Russian colleague Vladimir Putin suggested to deepen the cooperation within energy sphere by assets exchanging. First of all the case is about the access to the resources of Black and Caspian Sea and the gas transporting system of Turkey. Also Ankara promises to arrange all approvals for the South Stream piping till November. Gazprom says that now Turkey stands in one list with its other strategic partners – Germany and Italy. READ MORE
