by Marat Terterov,
EGF Director

When a game breaking event takes place in the Middle East once each decade

There is a certain understanding amongst Middle East politics experts that a game breaking event of cataclysmic proportions hits the region once every ten years or so. September of this year will mark the 10^th anniversary of the unimaginable acts of terrorism which were perpetrated in New York in September 2001 by Arab suicide bombers.  These acts of violence catapulted America’s ‘War on Terror’ to the centre of Washington’s foreign policy agenda, opening the way for renewed civil war in Afghanistan and the US-led invasion of Iraq of 2003. READ MORE

• September 15, 2011

Insights into Turkish Domestic and International Politics during August 2011
Key developments:

• Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan visits Mogadishu on a famine aid mission, the first visit by a non-African head of state in nearly 20 years. The trip is a huge boost to Turkey’s international image.
  
• Violence in the south-east of the country continues, leading to Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) cross-border raids into Iraq.
  
• Following criticism from the US Secretary of State, the justice ministry contradicts the number of journalists said to be held by Turkish authorities.
  
• Ankara continues to condemn the Syrian regime despite not calling for the resignation of President Bashar al- Assad. The country wins a seat at the Paris meeting of the new Libyan government following the apparent collapse of the Gaddafi regime.
  
• Azerbaijan and Turkey continue to negotiate a gas transit agreement, while Turkey’s reliance on foreign energy imports has reportedly increased 5 % since the AKP came to power.
  

• September 15, 2011

ISSUE #30
09/12/2011
The court in the case of the former prime minister and leader of the Fatherland Party, Yuliya Tymoshenko, has announced a break in hearings till 27 September 2011. By doing so, judge Rodion Kireyev satisfied Tymoshenko's request to give her time to get prepared for debates in court. READ MORE

• September 15, 2011

China's President Hu Jintao has a reserved demeanor. So it is hard to imagine him as a poker player. But in energy politics with neighboring Russia, he certainly is.

• September 14, 2011

As Canada shuts some of its coal plants and moves to limit emissions on others, one thing is clear – the world is marching in the other direction.

• September 14, 2011

North Korea and Russia are set to hold their first joint defense drill as early as this year in an attempt to balance the United States, South Korea and Japan's influence on the Korean peninsula.

• September 14, 2011

The United Nations atomic energy agency today pledged to play a central role in restoring public faith in nuclear power after this year’s disaster at Japan’s Fukushima plant, which is projected to slow the growth in the use of such electricity generating reactors.

• September 13, 2011

"Due to the trusts we won during cooperation with our Iranian colleagues, we declare on behalf of Russia that Russia will join power plants' development ventures in Iran and we support them. Talks with Iranian side on the issue have been started since long time ago and were never stopped," he said in the inauguration ceremony of the power plant.

• September 13, 2011