EurasiaNet provides information and analysis about political, economic, environmental and social developments in the countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus, as well as in Russia, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia. The web site also offers additional features, including newsmaker interviews and book reviews.



Kyrgyzstan: Brewing Financial Scandal Stoking Media Controversy (Mar 11)
An arrest warrant issued for a financial manager in Kyrgyzstan with ties to the Kyrgyz government is stirring a media controversy in Bishkek.


Armenia: US Genocide Recognition Resolution Fosters Hopes for Peace with Turkey (Mar 11)
BY GAYANE ABRAHAMYAN A US congressional committee’s approval of a non-binding, draft resolution to recognize Ottoman Turkey’s 1915 slaughter of ethnic Armenians as genocide has sparked optimism among some Armenian analysts and pro-government politicians that the measure will push Turkey to reconcile with Armenia.


Kazakhstan: Fallen Tycoons Still Rankle Ruling Elite (Mar 11)
BY JOANNA LILLIS Fresh salvoes are being fired in a running battle between members of Kazakhstan’s ruling elite and tycoons who have fallen out of favor.


Kazakhstan: Astana Intensifying Efforts to Hold OSCE Summit (Mar 11)
A EURASIANET INTERVIEW WITH ANTHONY PAHIGIAN Kazakhstan is redoubling efforts to get two important holdouts - the United States and Uzbekistan - to endorse an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe summit in 2010. EurasiaNet recently sat down with Anthony Pahigian, deputy director of the US State Department’s Office of European Security and Political Affairs, to get Washington’s diplomatic take on the summit idea.


Fergana Valley: Relations Cooling, Uzbek-Kyrgyz Border Growing Increasingly Violent (Mar 9)
BY JONIBEK KADAMJAYOV The deteriorating relationship between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan is giving rise to violence along the countries’ shared frontier. Adding to the tension, Tashkent has unilaterally closed one of the largest border crossings between the two countries.


Georgia: Amid Democratization, Village Elder Tradition Survives in Mountainous Svaneti Region (Mar 9)
A EURASIANET PHOTO ESSAY BY TEMO BARDZIMASHVILI In the remote mountain villages of Georgia’s northwest region of Svaneti, 84-year-old Bauchi Qaldani of Adishi is universally regarded as a wise man. And Qaldani, a village elder now in his fifth decade as a mediator and matchmaker, is still ready to dispense his wisdom whenever called upon. "I was born for others," he says.


Armenia: US Congressional Committee Adopts Resolution Recognizing Armenian Genocide (Mar 4)
BY JOSHUA KUCERA A US congressional committee narrowly passed a resolution on March 4 officially to term Ottoman Turkey’s 1915 massacre of ethnic Armenians as genocide. The move is likely to complicate relations between the United States and Turkey, and could bring the Turkish-Armenian reconciliation process to a halt.


Afghanistan: President Karzai Modifying Election Law in His Favor -- A EurasiaNet Q & A with Grant Kippen, former Chairman of the Electoral Complaints Commission (Mar 4)
BY AUNOHITA MOJUMDAR President Hamid Karzai has taken action to substantially curtail the independence of Afghanistan’s Electoral Complaints Commission before parliamentary elections scheduled for this September.


Kyrgyzstan: US Intends to Construct Military Training Center in Batken (Mar 4)
BY DEIRDRE TYNAN The United States intends to build an anti-terror training center in the southern Kyrgyz province of Batken. The exact location of the facility, which is projected to cost $500,000, has not yet been determined.


Afghanistan: Does Brazil Hold the Key to Afghan Stabilization? (Mar 2)
A EURASIANET COMMENTARY BY MOHAMMAD ASIF RAHIMI AND M. ASHRAF HAIDARI The development of Afghanistan’s agricultural sector has been overlooked by the international community, despite the fact that roughly 80 percent of the Afghan population lives in rural areas and scratches out a meager existence from the land. In trying to rectify the existing situation, the international community would do well to look to Brazil for answers.