Insights into Turkish Domestic and International Politics during December 2011

Key Points:

• The TSK mistakenly bombs unarmed Kurdish smugglers near the Iraqi border, adding yet another incident that sets back Turkish-Kurdish relations and possibly fueling further violence.
• Military, economic and political ties are severed between France and NATO ally Turkey following the National Assembly’s vote to move an Armenian genocide bill forward.
• Turkey’s Central Bank sells off over $1 billion in dollars to combat rising inflation, though by month’s end the rate had surpassed 10%.
• Azerbaijan and Turkey agree to a new gas transport and supply deal for the Shah Deniz field, upsetting some in Brussels who feel the new pipeline could undermine the time consuming progress for NABUCCO. READ MORE

• EGF Editorial  |  Published on EGF: 21.01.2012  |  External Relations
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Following the earthquake on October 23, 2011, a second powerful tremor struck eastern Turkey on November 9, killing 40 people including a Japanese rescue worker and two Turkish journalists who were covering the aftermath of the October quake.
The strong quake came on top of a severe cold snap that left much of the province of Van covered in snow, as refugees in the stricken city of Ecris continued to live out of tents. READ MORE

• EGF Editorial  |  Published on EGF: 30.12.2011  |  External Relations
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ISSUE #38
11/07/2011
The visit by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has yielded no significant result. On November 4, 2011, Max Alier, the IMF Resident Representative in Ukraine, announced that the fund has decided to take a pause in negotiations with Ukraine “to enable some additional technical work to be carried out.” “Policy discussions are expected to resume in the near future,” he noted. READ MORE

• Gorshenin Weekly  |  Published on EGF: 23.11.2011  |  External Relations
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ISSUE #39
11/14/2011
On 14 November 2011, a temporary special commission for drawing up a new electoral law continued its work. The commission was set up on 3 November 2011. It is noteworthy that it has not achieved any results in its first week of work. The main reason can be attributed to the disagreements regarding the key provisions of the electoral draft law which arise among the MPs representing both the majority and the opposition. READ MORE

• Gorshenin Weekly  |  Published on EGF: 23.11.2011  |  External Relations
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ISSUE #40
11/21/2011
On 17 November 2011, the Supreme Council of Ukraine adopted a new draft law on electing MPs. As many as 366 lawmakers voted in favour of the bill, with 226 votes being the required minimum for its adoption. Both representatives of the majority and the opposition participated in the vote. READ MORE

• Gorshenin Weekly  |  Published on EGF: 23.11.2011  |  External Relations
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ISSUE #37
10/31/2011
On 27 October 2011, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the current situation in Ukraine. The resolution sets out support for Ukraine's prospects to join the EU. READ MORE

• Gorshenin Weekly  |  Published on EGF: 02.11.2011  |  External Relations
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ISSUE #36
10/24/2011
On 20 October 2011, Ukraine and the EU announced that they had completed negotiations on setting up a free trade area (FTA). “After intensive talks, we managed to agree all the key parameters of an FTA agreement,” the Ukrainian first deputy prime minister and minister of economic development and trade, Andriy Klyuyev, said. READ MORE

• Gorshenin Weekly  |  Published on EGF: 25.10.2011  |  External Relations
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ISSUE #35
10/17/2011
On 11 October 2011, a Kiev district court sentenced the leader of the opposition Fatherland party, former Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko to seven years in jail. Tymoshenko was declared guilty under Part 3, Article 365 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which deals with abuse of power. Additionally, she was stripped of the right to hold public office for three years. READ MORE

• Gorshenin Weekly  |  Published on EGF: 24.10.2011  |  External Relations
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ISSUE #34
10/10/2011
On 6 October 2011, the Ukrainian parliament adopted the first reading of a presidential draft law on decriminalizing economic offences. Under the draft law, perpetrators of economic offences will no longer bear criminal responsibility but instead will face administrative sanctions such as fines. READ MORE

• Gorshenin Weekly  |  Published on EGF: 23.10.2011  |  External Relations
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ISSUE #33
10/03/2011
On 11 October 2011 a Kiev district court will start to read the verdict regarding the leader of the opposition Fatherland party and former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko. A correspondent of the Ukrainian news and analysis website Lb.ua reported that that court debates in Tymoshenko's case were completed on 30 September 2011. It was expected that Tymoshenko would deliver a concluding speech in the court on the same day. However, the former prime minister requested her address to be rescheduled for 2 October 2011. She explained her demand by the fact that prior to her speech, the prosecutor's office and civil plaintiff had unveiled fresh “aspects that totally differ from the indictment.” READ MORE

• Gorshenin Weekly  |  Published on EGF: 22.10.2011  |  External Relations
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