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Georgia: Measuring Tbilisi’s Security Ties to Washington (Feb 6)

No Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has asserted that his recent visit to the United States raised US-Georgian strategic ties to a “new level.” American officials have been much more reticent on bilateral defense issues, raising questions about what exactly was discussed in Washington. read more

Eurovision in Baku: Can Azerbaijan Handle the Gay Dimension of European Pop? (Feb 6)
With performers from all over Europe getting ready to descend on Baku in May to compete for the best pop act of the year at Eurovision, conservative, tightly managed Azerbaijan is confronting a host of its cultural and political demons.

Money is not an issue here. The hydrocarbon-rich country is splurging big bucks to dazzle viewers with a show worthy of Eurovision, an annual exercise in glitz and disco beats. But the contest will bring along demographics that are not particularly popular in Baku -- journalists, Armenians and gays. Since the contest is known to have a strong gay fan base, some thought it is a perfect occasion to hold a gay pride march. The proposal immediately sparked an angry response. Opponents demanded that Baku keep its streets straight with a “Say No to Gay Pride in Baku” Facebook page, where the merits and demerits of homosexuality are being hotly debated.

Interestingly enough, the head of one organization that deals with LGBT issues in Azerbaijan i...

Armenia: Is Gold Mine a Blessing or a Curse? (Feb 6)

No An economic dilemma is brewing in Armenia, where efforts to develop an open-pit gold mine may pose an ecological threat to a picturesque resort town. read more

Kyrgyzstan: Radioactive Coal Scandal Eclipses Older Radioactive Woes (Feb 6)

Kyrgyzstan's opposition politicians are outraged. Late last year hundreds of tons of coal with higher than normal levels of radioactivity found their way from a mine in Kazakhstan to the electricity and heating plant in Bishkek. When the media and public demanded the coal be removed from the city, it was reportedly transferred to the boiler rooms of 14 schools, a kindergarten and an orphanage.

The opposition politicos have seized the story, bellowing that generations of children will be contaminated. They propose theories that are impossible to verify, and offer all sorts of unsubstantiated statistics on how radioactive the coal is. According to the Emergencies Situations Ministry, the coal is emitting background radiation three to five times higher than normal.

Is the coal dangerous? Possibly. But considering Kyrgyzstan’s legacy of mismanaging radioactive waste, the arguments ring a little hollow.

In former Soviet uranium mining towns dotting mountainous Kyrgyzstan, impoveris...

Turkmenistan: Government Critic Targeted with “Godfather” Technique (Feb 4)

Turkmenistan may already have a reputation for the surreal, but as presidential elections approach, one of the last remaining government critics is being harassed by someone with an occultist fantasy and/or a fondness for Francis Ford Coppola.

Shortly after speaking with Radio Liberty’s Turkmen service about the February 12 elections -- which feature seven docile challengers to the certain winner, incumbent President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov -- Natalia Shabunts reportedly found a severed sheep head on the doorstep of her home in Ashgabat. Earlier in the week, someone drew a cross out of white powder on her doormat.

Activists have no doubt the bizarre measures are intended to frighten Shabunts.

“Both incidents appear aimed at intimidating Shabunts, who has not refrained from criticizing the Turkmen authorities on democracy and human rights issues in her own name, despite the risks it entails for a Turkmenistan-based activist,” said a statement emailed February 3 by the Brussel...

Kyrgyzstan: “Where is Equality? Where is Justice?” – Imprisoned Rights Activist (Feb 3)

No Wrapped in a quilted robe, a thick file of papers about his case resting on the table in front of him, Azimjan Askarov is unequivocal when it comes to assigning blame for his imprisonment. “People would often ask me, ‘Aren’t you afraid of the police?’ And I’d say, ‘Why? I work on the basis of the law. What’s there to be afraid of?’ But in the end they did what they wanted,” he said. read more

Nabucco Pipeline: Finita la Comedia? (Feb 3)
Though the Nabucco pipeline project did have a promising libretto, some energy analysts believe it may never see its name in lights. On the lookout for lower-priced production values, some pipeline stakeholders increasingly seem inclined to replace the energy opera with an operetta.

In a January 31 column for Turkey's Hürriyet Daily News, Barcin Yinanç argued that the Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline Project (TANAP), to stretch from Azerbaijan to Bulgaria, is the new and "abridged" Nabucco.

“Abridged...indeed is the right term since while Nabucco was supposed to carry 31 billion cubic meters [of natural gas], the amount that will be carried to Europe [via TANAP] is limited to six billion cubic meters,” wrote Yinanç.

A political accord between Baku and Ankara about the pipeline, which will rely on existing Turkish infrastructure, seems to give it another edge over Nabucco, some say.

By comparison, Nabucco's main promoter, the EU, has been slow in securing non-Azerbaijani sources for the...

Turkey: For Historic Istanbul Terminal, Has the Development Train Left the Station? (Feb 3)
In the previous post, I linked to a recent National Public Radio piece about Istanbul's rapid development and how that growth is causing concerns among preservationists worried about seeing the city's historical structures vanish or "transformed" into something unrecognizable.

One of the spots the story focuses on is the historic Haydarpasa railway station on Istanbul's Asian side, in operation since 1909 but now closed for two years while work is done on a high-speed train line from Istanbul to Ankara. Preservationists and other critics of the project worry that the closing will be more than temporary and is just a ruse for turning the station -- a coveted piece of urban real estate -- into yet another shopping mall. These worries are not unfounded. As a recent article in Today's Zaman put it: "The most important feature of the renovated railway station will be its transformation into a sort of cultural center where people will be able to mingle, visit and shop."

An article in to...

Russia To Host NATO Afghan Transit Hub? (Feb 3)
NATO and Russia are working on an agreement to set up a multi-modal transport hub in Ulyanovsk, in Russia's Volga region, to assist the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan, reports the Russian newspaper Kommersant, citing Russian diplomats. Via Johnson's Russia List: Talks on establishing a NATO logistics base in central Russia started one-and-a-half years ago. A source from the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the United States proposed a Russian city where "cargo from Afghanistan could be airlifted and then forwarded by rail to Latvia or Estonia." After discussing several locations, both parties agreed to set up the hub in Ulyanovsk because its airport is best suited to the task in that region due to the proximity of railway lines. Russian Railways and Volga-Dnieper Airlines, which are already involved in delivering NATO cargo from Afghanistan to Europe, are expected to benefit, as the project will increase cargo traffic considerably. The report adds that Russian Prim...

The Story of the Turkish Fast Food that Conquered Germany (Feb 3)
When Germany started bringing over Turkish guest workers in the 1960's, little did the country's leaders realize that it was also importing what was to become Germany's top-selling fast food: doner. Indeed, in many German cities, doner is as much part of the culinary landscape as bratwurst and other sausages.

In a an interesting article, the Boston Globe traces doner's rise from a quick meal for nostalgic Turkish guest workers to a fast food juggernaut. From the Globe: In Berlin in the early 1970s, Turkish “guest workers,’’ who had come to Germany during the prosperous era a decade before and were trying to make ends meet, had the idea to pack the crispy, succulent meat slices into a warm, thick loaf of Turkish bread. The sandwich evolved to include chopped tomatoes, onions, cabbage, and cucumber slices, topped with a large ladle of sauce, usually a garlicky yogurt sauce or a mildly spicy tomato sauce. The result is a tasty, robust, and quick sandwich that Germans of all ethnicitie...