Russia Strong-Arming Tajikistan with Oil Tariffs
Moscow is deploying its fine-tuned instrument of influence over the poorest and most dependent Central Asian states, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. For the second year in a row, the Kremlin has slapped...
View ArticleKyrgyzstan: Russia Puts on the Petrol Squeeze -- Again
Kyrgyzstanlooks more and more like Moscow’s yo-yo. Petrol prices and concomitant inflation are set to skyrocket again in the poverty-stricken Central Asian country after Moscow suddenly decided...
View ArticleKyrgyzstan Looks to Moscow for Rescue from Uzbekistan Gas Row
Sometimes the quarrelsome Central Asian republics need a father figure. Lucky for them, Moscow is more than happy to play surrogate. Officials in Kyrgyzstan are complaining that Uzbekistan has been...
View ArticleTurkey: Nabucco Pipeline Back to Life (Again)?
Is that zombie of energy politics, the Nabucco gas pipeline, coming back to life once again? Of course, for every "Nabucco's comes back to life" story there's the corresponding "final nail in Nabucco's...
View ArticlePutin Throws Crumbs at Tajikistan
Something must be going right in the rickety relationship between Dushanbe and Moscow. In late March, Moscow increased fuel export duties on petroleum products destined for Tajikistan, the poorest...
View ArticleTurkey: The Gas War (of Words) With Cyprus Heats Up
In the wake of Israel's recent find of massive amount of offshore natural gas in its little patch of eastern Mediterranean, Cyprus (the Greek side, that is) is hoping that it too is sitting on top of...
View ArticleTurkey: Regional Events Pose Stress Test for Deepening Ties with Moscow
From being Cold War adversaries, Turkey and Russia have taken significant steps in recent years towards deepening their economic and political ties, to the point that some Turkish pundits started...
View ArticleTurkey: Ankara's Crimea Conundrum
As the images distributed the other day by the Turkish press of Russian naval vessels steaming through the Bosphorus made clear, Ankara has little choice about being involved in the ongoing crisis...
View ArticleA Further Look at How the Ukraine Crisis is Testing Turkey-Russia Ties
As noted in a recent post on this blog, Russia's moves regarding Crimea left Turkey facing something of a conundrum, unable to protest too much because of its crucial trade and energy ties with...
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