Boletín Diciembre 2007

Boletín mensual: DICIEMBRE 2007
http://www.observatorio-eurasia.blogspot.com/
EXPERTS: ELECTION RESULTS WILL NOT BE CHALLENGED IN

CHECHNYABROADCASTER
In Chechnya, the contenders of the "Yedinaya Rossiya" will not protest against the voting
outcomes of the elections of deputies of the Russian State Duma held on December 2.
Fuente: http://eng.kavkaz.memo.ru/
Continúa en p.6
PUTIN BACKS MEDVEDEV AS NEXT PRESIDENT
President Vladimir Putin said Monday that he backed Dmitry Medvedev, his soft-spoken first
deputy prime minister, as the next president, signaling an end to an era of escalating
international tensions over an increasingly hawkish Kremlin.
Fuente: www.themoscowtimes.com
Continúa en p.13
AZERBAIJAN: RFE/RL JOURNALIST JAILED FOR SLANDERING POLICE
An RFE/RL correspondent in Azerbaijan, Ilgar Nasibov, was sentenced today to 90 days in

prison on what rights groups call trumped-up and politicized charges.
The charges of slandering local police officers stem from a letter Nasibov wrote to Azerbaijan’s
President Ilham Aliyev protesting police brutality in the southwestern Azerbaijani exclave of
Naxchivan.
Fuente: www.eurasianet.org
Continúa en p.29
PUTIN SE PERFILA COMO NUEVO PRESIDENTE DE GAZPROM, SEGÚN LA PRENSA

RUSA
El actual presidente de la Federación de Rusia, Vladimir Putin, se perfila como el candidato

favorito y más evidente para ocupar la presidencia de la compañía rusa Gazprom.
Fuente: www.yahoo.com
Continúa en p.34
INDICE
Política...........................p.3
Medios de comunicación........................p.26
Economía........................p.32

observatorioeurasia@gmail.com
1
El Observatorio Eurasia es un proyecto que se encuadra dentro de la línea de “Historia
EldeObservatorio
la propaganda Eurasia es un
y análisis de proyecto que se encuadra
la comunicación dentro
política” del Grupo deInterdisciplinario
la línea de “Historia
de
Estudios
de en Comunicación,
la propaganda Política
y análisis de y Cambio Social
la comunicación (COMPOLITICAS),
política” y tiene como
del Grupo Interdisciplinario de
principal
Estudios enobjetivo el estudio,
Comunicación, investigación
Política y Cambio y difusión de los principales fenómenos
Social (COMPOLITICAS), y tiene como
políticos, culturales
principal objetivoyelcomunicacionales que tienen
estudio, investigación lugarde
y difusión enlos
el principales
antiguo espacio soviético.
fenómenos
políticos, culturales y comunicacionales que tienen lugar en el antiguo espacio soviético.
Coordinador
Miguel Vázquez Liñán
Coordinador
Miguel Vázquez Liñán
Responsable del número
Fernando
ResponsableMárquez Herrero
del número
Fernando Márquez Herrero

2
POLÍTICA - Titulares
RUSSIA: MOSCOW PLAYS ITS CARDS WELL AT OSCE MADRID MEETING

RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, 03/12/2007
EXPERTS: ELECTION RESULTS WILL NOT BE CHALLENGED IN CHECHNYA

Caucasian Knot, 04/12/2007
GEORGIAN PRIME MINISTER BLAMES SOCIAL POLICY FOR TURMOIL

RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, 05/12/2007
CAMPAIGN FINANCE A "SHADOWY" ISSUE IN GEORGIA’S PRESIDENTIAL RACE

Eurasianet.org,06/12/2007
TURKMENISTAN: VOTERS HOPING ELECTIONS WILL BRING LONG-AWAITED CHANGE

Eurasianet.org,08/12/2007

The Moscow Times, 11/12/2007
VLADIMIR PUTIN: “WE DON'T ALLOW OTHERS TO INTERFERE IN OUR POLITICS”

Pravda.ru, 20/12/2007
KYRGYZSTAN: AUTHORITIES COUNTER VOTE PROTESTS WITH DETENTIONS

Eurasianet.org, 21/12/2007
UZBEKISTAN: PRESIDENT FACES ELECTION CHALLENGE IN NAME ONLY

Eurasianet.org, 22/12/2007
RUSSIA: MOSCOW PLAYS ITS CARDS WELL AT OSCE MADRID MEETING
Jean-Christophe Peuch, 03/12/2007, http://www.rferl.org
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) annual ministerial council
on November 29-30 was the scene of open confrontation between the United States and
Russia.
Though Russia was criticized for its dispute with the OSCE's main election-monitoring body and forced to
compromise on Kazakhstan's OSCE chairmanship bid, Moscow nonetheless emerged unscathed from the
meeting in Madrid.
The disagreements meant that the talks concluded without a final declaration, and the OSCE's outgoing
chairman-in-office, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, closed the meeting with a simple
political statement.
Ministerial declarations are politically binding blueprints that set the organization's priorities for the
incoming chairman-in-office. But because of the political squabbles, there hasn't been such a declaration
since the 2002 ministerial council in Porto.

3
But envoys of the OSCE's 56 participating states did decide on 10 issues, including one on increasing the
organization's support for Afghanistan's border security and management.
Compromise On Kazakhstan
Ministers also agreed to grant Kazakhstan the OSCE chairmanship in 2010, with Greece taking the chair
in 2009 and Lithuania in 2011.
Kazakhstan had applied to lead the organization in 2009, but that bid left the OSCE participating states
profoundly divided. A decision on that issue should have been reached at last year's Brussels ministerial
council, but was postponed to give Astana more time to demonstrate its commitment to human rights and
democratic values.
Although Kazakhstan has made no noticeable progress in those regards -- even going backward in the
view of many observers -- Washington and other critics eventually lifted their objections and agreed on a
Spanish-sponsored compromise to give Kazakhstan the chairmanship in 2010.
The decision was finalized only two hours before the ministerial council's closing session and after much
negotiating between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political
Affairs Nicholas Burns.
Reaching consensus on Kazakhstan's bid was of critical importance for the OSCE.
Russia had warned that if Astana's bid to chair the organization was not granted -- and without conditions -
- Moscow would block any decision on the OSCE's 2009, 2010, and 2011 chairmanships. That would have
left the organization without a troika when Finland takes the helm on January 1, 2008.
The troika is one of the OSCE's main institutions. It consists of the chairman-in-office, its predecessor, and
its successor. The troika makes political decisions for the OSCE.
The fact that Kazakhstan will lead the OSCE only in 2010 -- and not a year earlier, as the Kremlin initially
insisted -- has been interpreted by some commentators as a setback for Russia.
Moscow's daily "Kommersant" on December 1 described the Madrid ministerial council as "one of the
greatest fiascos Russia has endured in years."
The daily noted that in addition to defeating Kazakhstan's 2009 chairmanship bid, the United States and
other Western nations overturned Russia's proposals to overhaul the OSCE's Office for Human Rights and
Democratic Institutions (ODIHR) and criticized Moscow for its decision to freeze its commitments under the
1990 Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty.
Moscow's Plans For ODIHR
Arguably, Russia may have lost a battle. But it has definitely not lost the war.
4
First, Moscow has long been seeking to boost the OSCE's role in political-military issues to counterbalance
NATO's influence. Bearing that in mind, the future of the CFE was debated at length in Madrid, and that in
itself is an achievement for Russia.
Second, Kazakhstan's gaining of the OSCE chair in 2010 still fits into Moscow's longer-term plans
regarding the organization.
Russian representatives had brought with them a draft proposal that recommended that the functioning of
the ODIHR -- which is the OSCE's main election-monitoring body -- be strictly regulated and supervised by
participating states. Under existing procedures, ODIHR does not report to the Permanent Council -- the
OSCE's main decision-making body, in which all participating states have an equal voice -- but to the
chairman-in-office.
The United States, which ranks among ODIHR's strongest supporters, has criticized the Russian plan as
an attempt to undermine the independence and effectiveness of what Undersecretary of State Burns
described as "the world's premier organization for election monitoring."
Addressing reporters ahead of the Madrid meeting, Burns warned that Washington "will not give one
millimeter of opening to any proposal that will weaken ODIHR.... It's just not possible at this ministerial
[council] or any time in the future."
Burns's views were supported by other western participants, including French Foreign Minister Bernard
Kouchner, who on November 29 called upon participants to "preserve ODIHR's autonomy."
Addressing the media at the close of the Madrid ministerial, Kazakh Foreign Minister Marat Tazhin said his
country would see that OSCE institutions are strengthened when it takes the helm of the organization. He
also said that Astana will not back any initiative that aims to weaken ODIHR's mandate to monitor
elections.
The pledge could be viewed as a token response to Burns's earlier warning that "any country that wishes
to be a chairman-in-office of the OSCE must commit itself to preserve the institutions of the OSCE." Yet, it
does not contradict Russia's vision of how the organization should operate.
Russia denies that its plan -- which has been endorsed by Kazakhstan and another five CIS states
(Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan) -- aims to weaken ODIHR.
Lavrov said in Madrid that ODIHR's mandate "is already weak enough. It has been completely watered
down. We want to strengthen it and we're going to tackle that."
An OSCE Charter
Russia's ODIHR reform plan is part of a more ambitious scheme whose objective, according to its authors,
is to restore the balance between the OSCE's human-rights "basket" and the organization's other two
dimensions: political-military affairs and economic and environmental issues.

5
Moscow insists that the OSCE must adopt a charter that regulates the activities of all its institutions, shifts
its priorities on security issues, and establishes overall budget transparency. Russia has accused the
United States and other Western countries of using OSCE field missions as political instruments to meddle
in the internal affairs of post-Soviet states by providing them with unlimited and uncontrolled
extrabudgetary funds.
Washington opposes Moscow's reform plan. "A charter won't help the OSCE do its job better than it does
today," Gary D. Robbins, who heads the U.S. State Department's Office for European Security and
Political Affairs, said in Vienna on November 8.
Addressing his OSCE counterparts on November 29, Lavrov suggested that experts start working on a
draft charter to be put to the vote at next year's ministerial council in Helsinki. But his proposal was
rejected.
Moscow, in turn, blocked two draft decisions on effective participation and representation in democratic
societies and on strengthening the OSCE's engagement with human-rights defenders and independent,
national human-rights institutions.
It also vetoed a draft decision of the "Convention on the international legal personality, legal capacity,
privileges, and immunity of the OSCE." Speaking on behalf of the European Union at the end of the
ministerial council, Portugal's representative regretted that this text, which he said "would give the OSCE
the recognition of a fully-fledged international organization," was not approved.
Lavrov made it clear in his address to the ministerial council that Russia will not back the Legal Personality
Convention until its own proposal for a new OSCE charter is adopted.
Russia also toppled another draft, which should have been included in the final ministerial declaration
and had been proposed by Moldova and Georgia. It demanded that Russia withdraw all its troops, military
equipment, and ammunition stockpiles from Moldova's separatist region of Transdniester and provide
documented evidence that it has vacated the Gudauta military base in Georgia's breakaway province of
Abkhazia.
Russia, which claims it has fulfilled its military commitments to Moldova and Georgia, has been blocking
such a declaration for the past five years.
FUENTE: http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticleprint/2007/12/3cfaffd0-6a65-48b9-a787-3360b74877e6.html
EXPERTS: ELECTION RESULTS WILL NOT BE CHALLENGED IN CHECHNYA
CAUCASIAN KNOT, 04/12/2007, http://eng.kavkaz.memo.ru/
In Chechnya, the contenders of the "Yedinaya Rossiya" will not protest against the voting outcomes of the
elections of deputies of the Russian State Duma held on December 2.

6
One of local political scientists told about it in his conversation with the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. In
his opinion, despite all doubtfulness of the voting outcomes (according to data disseminated by the
Chechen Central Electoral Commission, the voter turnout was almost 100 percent, and 99 percent of the
electorate have supported the "Yedinaya Rossiya"), the leaders of the branches of other Russian political
parties in Chechnya will not dare to confront the "Yedinaya Rossiya".
"The Chechen list of this party was headed by Ramzan Kadyrov, while their federal list was headed by
Vladimir Putin. Naturally, the branch leaders of political parties in Chechnya, whether the CPRF, the Union
of Right-Wing Forces (SPS), LDPR, "Yabloko" and so on will not protest against the voting results of the
recent elections. First of all, because it would mean to question the authority of the leader of Chechnya,"
the expert said.
FUENTE: http://eng.kavkaz.memo.ru/newstext/engnews/id/1202993.html
GEORGIAN PRIME MINISTER BLAMES SOCIAL POLICY FOR TURMOIL
Ahto Lobjakas, 05/12/2007, http://www.rferl.org
Georgia's new caretaker prime minister, Lado Gurgenidze, has emphasized social tensions as a
major factor in the mass antipresidential demonstrations that erupted across the country three
months ago and led to a state of emergency.
Downplaying earlier allegations of a Russian role in the Tbilisi rallies that culminated in a violent
government crackdown on November 7, Gurgenidze said relations between the two countries can improve
if Russia respects Georgia's territorial integrity and its pro-Western course.
Sidestepping the question of whether Georgia's government still believes Russia's secret services had a
hand in the unrest, Gurgenidze said the "key for successful governance [in Georgia] has been, is, and will
remain" poverty reduction and the tackling of unemployment. He said that until those social ills are
addressed, the country's painful but necessary reforms will always prove a "fertile ground" for discontent --
genuine or manipulated.
"We are hearing the social message loud and clear," Gurgenidze said.
The prime minister said Tbilisi is ready to seek good-neighborly and mutually beneficial ties with Russia as
long as Moscow does not fuel secessionism in Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South
Ossetia, and accepts Tbilisi's ambitions to join NATO and the EU. "Everything else is negotiable," he said.
Gurgenidze's visit to EU and NATO headquarters was scheduled well before he was named prime minister
in the wake of last month's violence.

7
But after being nominated to the post on November 16 -- the same day the national state of emergency
was lifted and coming after early presidential elections were announced in an attempt to mollify the
opposition -- Gurgenidze knew what the focus of his two-day Brussels visit would be.
"[The visit] gives our European friends and partners the opportunity to hear more about what has
happened and more importantly about what will happen in terms of the free and fair elections to which we
are clearly committed, in terms of the addressing of the social issues which at the end of the day were
probably the root cause of the events of the last couple months, and to hear about our continuing and
unshakeable commitment to democracy as well as the very radical reform path," Gurgenidze told RFE/RL
in a Brussels interview today.
Gurgenidze repeatedly stressed that the root causes of the recent nationwide rallies were mounting social
tensions. He said that one-quarter of the country's population -- or more than 1 million people -- live below
the poverty level.
He also conceded to failures in the way Georgian authorities responded to dwindling rallies in the capital
on November 7. Hundreds of opposition supporters were injured when police resorted to brute force to
break up the protests, which were later characterized as part of a coup attempt.
"At the same time, one must clearly distinguish between the tactical decisions which I believe were
responsible decisions made on November 7 and between the methods of the execution [of orders] -- which
clearly have not been flawless, let's put it that way," Gurgenidze said.
Gurgenidze added that Georgia is confident it will be invited to join NATO "sooner or later" and said the
country's deployment of 2,000 soldiers to Iraq is unrelated to its efforts to join the alliance.
FUENTE: http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticleprint/2007/12/02059f50-6eb0-4e99-891c-9ac6948d56b9.html
CAMPAIGN FINANCE A "SHADOWY" ISSUE IN GEORGIA’S PRESIDENTIAL RACE
Nino Patsuria, 06/12/2007, www.eurasianet.org
The television spots have begun to air, the campaign headquarters have set up shop and the signatures
from supporters have been filed. But one question remains: How do Georgia’s presidential hopefuls plan
on financing their campaigns?
Tracking campaign expenditures in Georgia can prove an exercise in shadow play. By law, campaigns
only have to disclose their sources of financing a month after the final registration of their candidate with
the Central Election Commission – in this case, by January 6, the day after the presidential election.
For now, the ruling United National Movement Party and opposition parties interviewed by EurasiaNet
were reluctant to discuss their candidates’ funding sources, name donors or project the most burdensome
expenses. (The Central Election Commission is expected to release a final list of candidates by December
11).

8
The most readily available information concerns state funding. Parties that received a certain percentage
of the vote in Georgia’s two last elections (4 percent for the 2004 parliamentary elections; 3 percent for the
2006 local elections) are eligible to receive assistance for administrative costs.
Only seven parties have made that cut, according to Central Election Committee data, with financing
dependent on the number of votes received: the National Movement Party (144,965 lari or $89,900); the
Labor Party (24,848 lari or $15,410); the New Rights Party (24,382 lari or $15,120); the Industrialists’ Party
(24,195 lari or $15,004); Republican Party (23,729 lari or $14,715); Conservative Party (23,729 lari or
$14,715); and the Freedom Party (20,726 lari or $12,853).
Private citizens can donate up to 30,000 lari (about $18,604) to campaigns, while organizations or
companies can contribute up to 100,000 lari (about $62,000).
But the finance manager for one opposition presidential candidate argues that only a few businesses are
willing to finance presidential election campaigns to make up the difference in meeting costs.
"We have appealed to 500 businesses to finance us," said Irakli Iashvili, head of New Rights Party
Chairman Davit Gamkrelidze’s election fund. "One hundred and fifty claimed that they didn’t get our
applications. But only two to three out of the remaining 350 responded to our request."
Labor Party spokesperson Girogi Gugava says that party chief Shalva Natelashvili’s campaign will be
based only on the money the party receives from the state budget.
With a nine-party coalition backing his candidacy, parliamentarian Levan Gachechiladze could seem to
have an advantage over other opposition candidates. The coalition’s Republican, Conservative and
Freedom Parties all receive a total of $42,283 in lari. Rival Davit Gamkrelidze’s campaign is backed by
both the New Rights and Industrialists’ Party for a total of $30,124 in lari-denominated state financing.
Nonetheless, like Gamkrelidze campaign finance manger Iashvili, Koka Guntsadze, manager of the
Gachechiladze campaign’s election fund, is not optimistic about the chances for finding donors among the
Georgian business community.
"How could you ask me questions like this?" stormed Guntsadze. The coalition’s election fund manager
argues that "[a]ll businesses are scared and frightened" since those which "dared to finance any opposition
party at any time" allegedly saw "their businesses ruined" in retaliation. As does Iashvili, Guntsadze
maintains that business support goes to the United National Movement Party’s Saakashvili campaign
alone.
"All of us are vulnerable to discrimination during this election campaign and nothing can be done within the
framework of the law to ensure the fair treatment of all candidates, to ensure [equal] access to private
financing sources," he charged.
United National Movement representatives were not available for comment.

9
Other candidates expressed similar concerns. Economist Giorgi Maisashvili said that he is counting on his
friends to finance his campaign, though declined to name donors before the deadline for filing campaign
financial data.
Businesses surveyed adamantly refused to state whether they had made donations to any presidential
candidates. "If you tell me a single business which responds that they’re taking part in campaign financing,
I’ll give you a comment," stated Nitsa Cholokashvili, a spokesperson for Georgian Glass & Mineral Water,
a beverage company recently investigated by financial police in connection with a probe into businesses
linked to an equity firm that manages investments for presidential candidate Badri Patarkatsishvili.
Staff members for tycoon Patarkatsishvili’s campaign could also not be reached for comment on financing
tactics.
For independent political scientist Ramaz Sakvarelidze, though, businesses being "as mute as fish" about
campaign donations is par for the course for Georgian elections. "Election campaign financing is a
shadowy process and its mechanism hasn’t been subjected to public discussions as of yet," Sakvarelidze
commented. "The only visible thing is that the former president Saakashvili promised to increase pensions
and finance social programs."
In a December 5 press conference, however, representatives of anti-corruption watchdog Transparency

International Georgia and the Georgian Young Lawyers Association argued that these programs constitute
an abuse of administrative resources. Saakashvili resigned from the presidency on November 25 to run for
re-election, but has continued to make statements widely interpreted as policy directives.
In the latest announcement, a December 6 televised statement from the campaign trail, Saakashvili
pledged that a so-called "cheap credit" state bank will offer "cheap loans for a 10, 20 or 25-year term with
interest rates only from 4 to 10 percent."
A new program to provide temporary employment for 100,000 people in December has already gotten
underway. Before leaving his post, Saakashvili also increased teachers’ salaries and pensions. Fifty-lari
(about $31) gas and electricity vouchers -- reportedly inscribed with "the president’s gift" or "the president’s
subsidy" -- have been issued to disadvantaged urban residents; and rural families are set to receive 50
kilograms of flour and five cubic meters of firewood. Meanwhile, war veterans and the blind have been
exempted from paying for public transportation.
In a November 19 televised meeting with then Prime Minister-designate Lado Gurgenidze, Saakashvili
emphasized that the expenditures are "the right course, but must be done in consultation with the people."
The official explanation is that such outlays will come from the special presidential fund, an extra-
budgetary source of revenue intended for emergency expenditures, Transparency International has
reported.
But whether or not the presidential fund and a similar, special government fund can handle the expenses
is unclear, noted Transparency International Georgia Executive Director Tamuna Karosanidze. The
watchdog group estimates that both the presidential and government reserve funds contain 29 million lari

10
(roughly $18 million). It forecasts that the increase in pensions and salaries alone, though, could cost the
government 37.7 million (about $23.4 million) in December.
"The president initiated social projects two months before the end of the year, and he has a full right to
implement these kinds of projects, but the problem is that he initiated projects which the government found
impossible to implement just two-three months ago, " commented Karosanidze. "And neither the budget of
2007 nor the budget of 2008 envisaged financing these projects."
Editor’s Note: Nino Patsuria is a freelance reporter based in Tbilisi.
FUENTE: http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav120607a.shtml
TURKMENISTAN: VOTERS HOPING ELECTIONS WILL BRING LONG-AWAITED CHANGE
Gulnoza Saidazimova (EurasiaNet Partner Post from RFE/RL), 08/12/2007,

http://www.eurasianet.org
President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov has promised changes for Turkmenistan, but those changes
have so far been barely felt by the people. Elections to Turkmenistan’s Halk Maslahaty, or People’s
Council, the country’s highest legislative body, will be held on December 9 and many people are hoping
the elections are the start of something new.
The Halk Maslahaty is a unique body created by the first Turkmen president, Saparmurat Niyazov.
In 2004, Niyazov -- who also went by the name of Turkmenbashi (father of all Turkmen) -- said the
Turkmen political system was different from that of any other state in the world. "Our parliament
dramatically differs from [the parliaments] of other countries of the world. According to the constitution, the
Halk Maslahaty has been the main legislature so far. Parliament only writes laws for the Halk Maslahaty [to
approve]. This is the job [of members of parliament]," he said.
A Rubberstamp Body, So Far
The statement followed the law in late 2003 that reduced the powers of the 50-seat Mejlis -- or parliament -
- and gave the Halk Maslahaty the authority to dissolve the parliament.
But the Halk Maslahaty -- which has some 2,500 members -- and the Mejlis have acted as nothing more
than rubberstamp bodies that unanimously approved each and every step taken by Niyazov.
The Halk Maslahaty’s most memorable decision came in 1999 when it confirmed a parliament proposal to
make Niyazov "president for life."
Being a grand national assembly, it usually meets only once a year. But it always has been assembled
when there was a matter of great importance to be decided.

11
Such was the case when it met in December 2002 to demand an amendment to the constitution permitting
death sentences to be given to those who allegedly tried to kill Niyazov one month earlier.
Among other noticeable decisions was the approval in late 2002 of Niyazov’s idea to officially change the
names of the months and days of the week.
The month of April was named after Niyazov’s mother, Gorbansoltan Eje, who died in the Ashgabat
earthquake of 1948, leaving Niyazov, the future Turkmenbashi, an orphan.
January became "Turkmenbashi" and September was named "Rukhnama" after Niyazov’s "spiritual book"
that was equated with the Koran and became a compulsory read in Turkmen schools.
Smaller, local versions of the Halk Maslahaty were also created by Niyazov. He said "a Halk Maslahaty
should be created in the welayats (provinces) and etraps (districts). If a threat arises to the country, God
forbid, bad times come to us, in order to save ourselves from ruin quickly and take the needed steps, the
[local] Halk Maslahaty must quickly assemble and then form the national Halk Maslahaty."
On December 9, Turkmen voters are expected to cast ballots for some members of the Halk Maslahaty --
some are elected while others are appointed by the president -- in the country’s five provinces and the
capital of Ashgabat.
Local media have reported that all of the candidates represent the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan -- the
country’s only political party, as well as some civic organizations, such as the Youth League and the Union
of Women.
Turkmen television, radio, and newspapers carry information about the elections, but it appears not many
people are paying attention to the state-run media sources.
"Frankly speaking, at this moment I know nothing about candidates for the Halk Maslahaty because we
were not invited to the meetings with them," Tejen Aga, a 70-year old pensioner living in Ashgabat, told an
RFE/RL Turkmen Service correspondent. "And there is not enough information on media about their
programs."
He also complained about receiving only one ballot for a family of 10 people. "I was told I could vote with
all passports of my family members older than 18."
Some Turkmen who spoke to an RFE/RL correspondent said they saw no point in voting as the Halk
Maslahaty members have failed to do anything for the people.
"Some members of the Halk Maslahaty live in our village, but we don’t see any results from their work,"
said Rozy Allakov, a farmer in the eastern Lebap Province. "There is no telephone connection in our
village. Only the village governor has one. Another example of the kind of issue that should be addressed
is that many villages in the region have no natural gas. Turkmen gas is used in Europe but not in our
village. As I understand it, the members of the Halk Maslahaty should take care of the peoples’ needs."

12
Azgeldi Hommadov, a 34-year-old construction engineer from Ashgabat, agrees. "For example, we don’t
know about the results of directives related to the agricultural sector of the country that were adopted at
the 20th Halk Maslahaty session," he said. "Neither do I know about measures taken by the Halk
Maslahaty members against corruption, which is a serious issue in all regions. At the meetings with their
voters, the candidates are afraid to of raise such criticism," he said.
Hommadov adds that Turkmen media does not cover those issues either. "They cover only success
stories. Only one side of life is shown."
Skepticism And Hope
Along with the skepticism many potential voters have about the upcoming election and the role of the Halk
Maslahaty, there seems to be a gleam of hope among some Turkmen for positive changes in their lives
because of Berdymukhammedov.
Rahim Esenov, 80, is a prominent writer and an opponent of the Niyazov regime. He was detained and put
under house arrest under Niyazov in 2004 and his book, "The Crowned Wanderer" -- which brought him
the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award last year -- was banned in Turkmenistan.
Esenov tells RFE/RL that he feels a "cautious optimism" that existed in the times of the "thaw," when
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushev came to power after the death of dictator Josef Stalin.
Esenov said that, among "small and symbolic" changes, he saw as a positive sign the fact that an election
campaign is being held. "A huge billboard appeared near my home. It contains candidates’ photos and
biographies in both Turkmen and Russian. I have to admit that I was happy to see it. There wasn’t such a
[practice] before. Only newspapers used to publish information [about candidates] that was only in the
Turkmen language. Now, there are also pictures. It was such a big surprise that I even stopped walking
[when I saw it first]. Other people also stopped walking and read it. I guess it is not enough but they are the
sprouts of the new and the good," he said.
Esenov said he will "definitely" go to a polling station on December 9 to fulfill his "citizen’s duty" to vote.
Irina, an ethnic Russian who lives in Ashgabat, also told RFE/RL that she plans to vote. "I have dual --
Russian and Turkmen -- citizenship, and I voted in recent Russian parliamentary elections," she said. "I am
not able to walk, but I contacted authorities and asked them to bring a ballot box to my home. And they did
so. I think they will come again on Sunday."
Hommadov, an engineer from Ashgabat, is also somewhat optimistic, although he says the changes in
society have been very slow in coming.
"Despite dominating fear, there are people who are not afraid to express their thoughts freely," he said.
"But they are few. We feel changes but they are very slow. It will take time to have a free society."
The main question among voters is not who will win, but whether the new Halk Maslahaty members will
support changes in society or stall them.
13
Editor’s Note: An RFE/RL Turkmen Service correspondent contributed to this report from Turkmenistan.
FUENTE: http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/pp120807.shtml
Nabi Abdullaev and Francesca Mereu, 11/12/2007, www.themoscowtimes.com
Itar-Tass / AP-- President Vladimir Putin and First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev
heading for a Kremlin meeting in 2006.
President Vladimir Putin said Monday that he backed Dmitry Medvedev, his soft-spoken first deputy prime
minister, as the next president, signaling an end to an era of escalating international tensions over an
increasingly hawkish Kremlin.
The announcement, made at a Kremlin meeting attended by Medvedev and leaders from four Putin-
friendly parties, should also end years of speculation over who will succeed Putin. Given Putin's enormous
popularity, his preferred successor is likely to win the presidential election on March 2.
Medvedev's candidacy was welcomed by foreign investors, who see him as the most liberal person in
Putin's inner circle. But opposition politicians scorned Medvedev as a weak figure who would allow Putin to
continue to hold the reins.
By endorsing Medvedev -- a 42-year-old lawyer with a strong academic background and the chairman of
Gazprom -- Putin is seeking to pass the torch to a younger generation that does not have ties to the
siloviki, the Soviet-era military and intelligence officials whose hawkish stance has inflamed tensions with
the West over the past eight years, political analysts said.
Putin has opted to avoid an escalation of confrontation with foreign countries, which would have happened
if he had supported a siloviki contender such as Sergei Ivanov, a first deputy prime minister, said Lilia
Shevtsova, an analyst with the Carnegie Moscow Center.
Stanislav Belkovsky, a former Kremlin spin doctor, agreed and predicted that Putin would try to use
Medvedev's reputation as a liberal to sell his candidacy to the West.
Officially, Medvedev's nomination was announced by United Russia leader Boris Gryzlov at the Kremlin
meeting. Gryzlov told Putin that the party had decided to nominate Medvedev as its presidential candidate
at a convention on Monday, and Putin said he endorsed the decision.
"Speaking of Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev as a candidate, I must say that I have known him for more
than 17 years. We have worked closely through all of these years, and I completely and fully support this
choice," Putin said in televised remarks in his ornate office.

14
Resume:
Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev
Born: Sept. 14, 1965
Place of Birth: St. Petersburg
Education: Leningrad State University, degree in law, 1987; doctorate in law, 1990.
Advantages: Close to Putin and his St. Petersburg circle; reputation of being a liberal intellectual;
embraced by foreign investors; has refrained from hawkish foreign policy remarks.
Disadvantages: No proven record of being effective civil servant because the outcome of the national
projects being supervised by him have yet to materialize; lacks ability to motivate subordinates; not
popular among the siloviki.
Notable Quotes: "Democracy and national sovereignty need to be together.
But one should not overwhelm the other." Interview with Expert magazine, July 2006.
"I was not born a boss, right? I always liked what I did, in the Kremlin administration and now in the White
House." Interview with Itogi magazine, April 2007.
"I would like very much for Gazprom to become the most expensive company in the world." Interview with
Vedomosti, July 5, 2007.
There was little question, however, that the decision had come from Putin himself. United Russia has a
record of consistently following the president's lead.
The meeting was also attended by the leaders of three other parties, A Just Russia, the Agrarian Party and
Civil Force, and they said they supported Medvedev. He is not a member of any political party.
Gryzlov said the priority of the next president should be to improve social conditions and that Medvedev
was the right man to lead the effort.
"We believe that he is the most socially oriented candidate and has demonstrated his abilities well in
leading the national projects and the demographic program," Gryzlov said, referring to Medvedev's efforts
to improve education, health care, housing and agriculture and to tackle a national demographic crisis.
Medvedev was shown at the meeting as stern-faced, his eyes fixed on a relaxed and smiling Putin. He told
Putin that he had held "positive" consultations with United Russia that would continue over the next two
days.

15
Putin gave no indication about what he might do after he leaves office. But he promised that Medvedev
would "follow the course that has brought results for all of these past eight years."
Viktor Ilyukhin, a senior Communist official, said the worst problem was that the country needed a new
course and that Medvedev was "the worst option."
"Medvedev is insecure, weak. Putin can have full control of him," he said.
The Communists plan to back their leader, Gennady Zyuganov, in the election.
Eduard Limonov, founder of the banned National Bolshevik Party, agreed that Medvedev was not his own
man, saying: "Ivanov is called Putin's best friend, while Medvedev is called Putin's son. Putin will always
be behind his back telling him what to do."
Boris Nemtsov, a leader of the Union of Right Forces, and Alexei Melnikov, a senior Yabloko official, said
voters, not Putin, should choose the next president. "We are against the so-called Operation Successor,"
said Nemtsov, who has announced plans to run for president. "Putin thinks that Russians are stupid
people and that he can do whatever he wants with them."
Speculation that Putin might try to return to the presidency one day is given credence by Monday's
announcement, said Vladimir Ryzhkov, a liberal politician who lost his State Duma seat in the recent
election.
"The strategy is as follows: Medvedev is a compromise choice because he will allow Putin to keep a free
hand. If Putin wants to gradually leave power, Medvedev guarantees him comfort and security and will
continue to listen him," Ryzhkov said on Ekho Moskvy radio. "If Putin wants to return in two, three years ...
Medvedev will be the person who will without a doubt give up the path for him."
Garry Kasparov, a leader of The Other Russia, said Putin chose the weakest candidate to support a
balance of power. "Putin's backing of Medvedev is the result of a fight between various groups inside the
Kremlin. Medvedev's nomination means the defeat of Igor Sechin's group," Kasparov said. Sechin, Putin's
powerful deputy chief of staff, is believed to be the head of the siloviki.
An aide to Ivanov said Ivanov was in the Kremlin at the time of Monday's announcement. He said he was
not aware of Ivanov's reaction but was not disappointed himself. "They made a decision, and that's good.
We just did our job. We didn't promote anybody," said the aide, who has helped boost Ivanov's public
profile as handler of his media coverage.
A senior Central Elections Commission official predicted that Medvedev would not win in the first round of
voting, despite Putin's popularity.
"Putin, who is called the father of the nation and has become something of a demigod, cannot be replaced
easily," the official said. "There will be a second round of the election."

16
Medvedev has led opinion polls as the most popular politician after Putin for months, thanks largely to the
coverage of his activities on state television.
His star dipped, however, after Putin appointed an old ally, Viktor Zubkov, as prime minister in September
and then aggressively campaigned for United Russia ahead of the Duma elections.
Staff Writer Anna Smolchenko contributed to this report.
FUENTE: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2007/12/11/002.html
VLADIMIR PUTIN: “WE DON'T ALLOW OTHERS TO INTERFERE IN OUR POLITICS”
The Time (recogido por Pravda.ru), 20/12/2007, www.pravda.ru
The press service of the Kremlin published a very lengthy interview which Vladimir Putin gave to Time
magazine. The magazine named Russia’s president “Person of the Year” for 2007 for bringing political and
economic stability to Russia after an extremely hard period of the 1990s. One may say that Putin has
never been so open in his conversation with Western reporters. A virtually summarized the results of his
two-term presidency, expressed his opinion on a large number of issues and shared his personal secrets.
The Time interviewer made a mistake when he asked Putin about his current relations with Boris Yeltisn
and Mikhail Gorbachev. Putin replied calmly: “Mr. Yeltisn is dead, as you know.” “I am sorry,” the reporter
said.
The journalist of the magazine started the interview with another mistake about Putin's age. “You were
born in 1946, I was born in 1948. We belong to one and the same generation. We grew up in the countries
that lived under the circumstances of the constant presence of the enemy. Despite the cold war, Russia
and the United States have found themselves aligned in many of history's big conflicts: World War I, World
War II and now, thanks in large part to your response to 9/11, there seems to be some alignment in the
war against Islamic fundamentalist terrorism. With that history in mind, how do you envision the
relationship between Russia and the U.S. going forward?
A: Indeed, Russia and the U.S. were allies during the two tragic conflicts of the Second and the First World
Wars, which allows us to think there's something objectively bringing us together in difficult timess, and I
think—I believe—it has to do with geopolitical interests and also has a moral component. Of course, the
cold war marked a tragedy in relations between our two countries, and I wouldn't want to see the vestiges
of those relations prevailing in the future. And I'll be frank with you. In the past decade or so, maybe in the
last 50 years, the idea that the United States is a unique nation seems to have taken root in the U.S. public
psyche. It's perhaps not an absolutely groundless notion. It's a historical phenomenon that in 250 years, a
nation could move from a colony into the most prosperous nation of the world and the leader of the world.
It is indeed an achievement, a tribute to the talent of the American nation, the American people and an
optimal political and economic system. However, as a rule, leaders do not have rights; they mostly have
commitments and obligations. When they come to think that they have rights, they tend to lose their
position and authority. When we used to have two world groupings, the so-called Western bloc headed by
the United States and the so-called Eastern bloc headed by the Soviet Union, both sides instilled strict

17
discipline among members of their communities. That worked at the time. Today, when the vast majority of
actors in the international scene do not feel such an external threat, this manner of conduct of dictating to
anyone—please don't take offense at this—indicates a lack of understanding and utter rejection. Today
other forms and instruments of international intercourse are called for, as well as other means of
countering the prevailing threats. Today to be successful, one must be able to reach agreements, to
compromise. The ability to compromise is not a diplomatic politeness toward a partner but rather taking
into account and respecting your partner's legitimate interests.
Q: What do you think should be done in Iraq?
A: Well, our position on Iraq is well-known. From the very beginning, I considered that it was a mistake,
and I was public about it. The developments in recent years have proved that we were right. People
consider the occupation not as a fight against Saddam's regime. They take it as a personal matter, and
terrorism is capitalizing on this, and terrorists who were not present in Iraq are now present there. What we
differ over is that the U.S. believes it is impossible to impose time frames for the withdrawal. In my view, it
would prompt the Iraqi authorities to be more proactive. If they know they will always have American
armed forces behind their backs, they may feel comfortable under such an umbrella, but if and when they
know that the deadline is there, they would be forced to think about what they need to do from then on.
Q: The American media have portrayed your nomination of Dmitry Medvedev as President, and the
likelihood that you will become Prime Minister, as an effort by you to succeed yourself, becoming a so-
called national leader. A lot of Americans feel President A is trying to get around that by assuring a
leadership position for himself in the future by making the prime ministership strong and the presidency
weak.
A: One could have thought that, if I indeed were to either change the Russian constitution to suit my
cherished and beloved self, dropping the limit on terms, or if I were to change the constitutional legal
correlation between the offices of the government and the President. I believe that neither is admissible
nor acceptable for Russia. Russia is a nation, like the United States, with a balanced but strong
presidential power, and I am adamantly against stifling and restricting the authority of the President. I'm
prepared to accept Dmitry Medvedev's offer to serve as the Premier, in which case I would be guided by
the constitution and law within the authority as prescribed by law. Now speaking about that idea of a
national leader, I believe that is not an administrative or even a political category. It cannot be defined in
terms of the number of telephone units on your desk. It's a moral category based on the trust of the
people.
Q: In America even a sitting President would envy your popularity ratings. That's one reason that I think
our readers and Americans in general wonder why the recent Russian election could not have been more
open and they wonder why, for example Garry Kasparov was put in jail, however briefly.
A: Well, what do you think: Why did Mr. Kasparov, when arrested, speak out in English rather than
Russian? Just think about it. The whole thrust of this thing was directed toward other countries rather than
the Russian people, and when a politician works the crowd of other nations rather than the Russian nation,
it tells you something. If you aspire to be a leader of your own country, you must speak your own

18
language, for God's sake. I wouldn't like to offend anyone but let's remember that the first election of the
current U.S. President wasn't free of difficulties. It was decided through the court. We are not trying to
force you to change your internal procedures. This is your sovereign right. Why would anyone think that
they are entitled to interfere into our internal affairs? That is the main issue and problem in our relations.
Well, why would you decide that your civilization is the best? All the participants in the parliamentary and
presidential race have access to the mass media. Just look at the TV channels here: so-called opposition
figures were always on some channels. There was very serious financial support given to them. They were
given all possibilities to publicly express their views, their positions, in the street, in the squares and
elsewhere—but only where it's allowed by the law and the local authorities, of course.
Q: It sounds like the reason Mr. Kasparov was challenged was because he speaks English. I want you to
explain what the problem is there, and why that's a matter of law.
A: Well, you don't need to explain to me. You are asking to interview me, so I know why he did that. I don't
need his explanation. If you want to ask me something ask me. It's not about him here.
Q: We asked why a prominent opposition figure was detained and your original answer was because he
speaks English. I wanted to ask you, is that in fact what you meant? But secondly, it makes one wonder,
are you worried about the seeds of a destabilizing opposition? You have very high popularity numbers, but
are you concerned that an "orange revolution" could take place?
A: Well, look at the outcome: 0.9%. The right opposition didn't even get 1%. Why should we be worried or
concerned? In the political sense, there is no worry at all. It's not about this. It's about something else. The
issue is, the tools foreign states are using to interfere in the domestic political affairs of Russia. This is the
story.
Q: Let's talk about the U.S. election. Who do you think would make a good American President?
A: Well, probably you didn't get my point. The basis of our approach is we believe that it's detrimental to
interfere in foreign affairs. We don't allow others to interfere in our politics, but we are not prepared to
meddle in other people's affairs. Well, you know, strange as it might seem, one of my colleagues in
Europe, said once, "I thought that Moscow supported this candidate." I was very surprised. It's not our
policy. We think it's not decent.
Q: Do you think the U.S. wants to see a strong Russia, or a weak Russia?
A: I believe the U.S. already understands and will understand more and more that only a strong Russia will
respond to the genuine interests of the United States.
Q: On the topic of organized crime, one of the perceptions that Americans have about Russia is that
corruption is endemic here. How do you handle and control that?
A: Badly. We badly control it and handle it badly. I must say that in the transitional economy, and
especially under the conditions of restructuring the political system, it is difficult to address such problems.
Unfortunately, we have not worked out a system of oversight by civil society of the activities of government
19
authorities. But I'm fully convinced that down the road these problems will be tackled more efficiently than
they are today.
Q: Do you believe in a Supreme God?
A: Do you? ... There are things I believe, which should not in my position, at least, be shared with the
public at large for everybody's consumption because that would look like self-advertising or a political
striptease.
Q: What do you do for fun?
A: I don't have much time for leisure. I occasionally go to the theater. I like classical music: Brahms,
Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Schubert, Liszt. Beautiful tunes. What else? Every day for two hours I
work out in the gym, usually in the morning or other times depending on my work schedule. That's about it,
I guess. And I work.
Q: Has your KGB training helped you as President? There's an old saying, once a spy, always a spy.
A: Well, those are lies. We're all human beings. Naturally some of that background can be of help. What
was positive I think is that at my university and subsequently in the KGB where I was placed upon
graduation from law school, they taught me to think independently. They taught me to gather information,
objective information, first and foremost. To analyze this information and on the basis of objective
information to adopt decisions independently.
Q: In which category would you put assassinated journalist Anna Politkovskaya?
A: Well, you know, each situation is unique. In the case of Politkovskaya, it was implied that she was a
danger to the state. You know that's nonsense. If you're a Russian expert you know that Ms. Politkovskaya
did not play any meaningful role in Russian political life. She was no threat, no danger whatsoever. Her
murder was a provocation against the authorities, I believe. Nobody ever so much as mentioned her until
she was killed. Her activities were known within just a restricted circle of people. You could count them all
on one hand—but now the entire country and the whole world are talking about her. I see it as deliberate
provocation: they chose a sacrifice and destroyed a woman. Still, we'll do whatever it takes to complete
this investigation to the successful end.
Q: I'm curious what you think are the American misconceptions about Russia, about the Russian people,
about you, about the Russian government. If you were speaking directly to the American people, what
misconceptions would you try to clear up?
A: Well, you know, I don't believe these are misconceptions. I think this is a purposeful attempt by some to
create an image of Russia based on which one could influence our internal and foreign policies. Russia
has demonstrated that we don't want simply to be a partner, we want to be a friend of America. Sometimes
one gets the impression that America does not need friends. Sometimes we get the impression that you
need some kind of auxiliary subjects to take command of. We cannot build our relations on such grounds
and this creates frictions now and then, and this is precisely the reason why they always seek to find some
20
problems inside our country. This is the reason why everybody is made to believe like it's O.K. to pinch the
Russians somewhat. They are a little bit savage still or they just climbed down from the trees, you know,
and probably need to have their hair brushed and their beards trimmed. And have the dirt washed out of
their beards and hair. That's the civilizing mission to be accomplished out there. But I believe this is a tool
to affect others, which is a wrong way to go. The right way would be to find common ground and take
account of each other's interests in the first place.
Q: When you were growing up, and even as a mid-career intelligence officer, did it ever occur to you that
you could end up running this country and taking it through such a period of tumult and change?
A: It never occurred to me, no. It never struck me. Never.
Q: Does it still surprise you?
A: Yes, it still surprises me. I came to Moscow from St. Petersburg in 1996. I was chairman of the
government three years later, of the government of Russia. And half a year after that I became the
President. When I came to Moscow I didn't have any connections or friends to rely on in the right places. I
came because the person I worked with in St. Petersburg, Mayor Anatoly Sobchak, lost an election, and
they had difficulty finding me a job there. Nobody would hire me there, in fact. I'm surprised myself. Well,
this happened because people close to the first President of Russia, Mr. Yeltsin, realized, should I say,
that I would be totally sincere and would spare no effort to fulfill my duties and be honest with the
President, and I would do whatever it takes to see to it that the interest of the country be secured. I would
think this was what really mattered. This was the motivation of Yeltsin himself and the people around him.
Q: President Bush famously said that he looked into your eyes and got a sense of your soul. So my
question for you is, Have you gotten a sense of President Bush's soul, and if so, what did you see there?
A: I do not wish myself to give a character description of this President because when he said that he
looked into my eyes, he said what he felt. But I have a very good personal relationship with Mr. Bush, and I
cherish it very much. I consider him a very reliable partner, a man of honor. When I have the pleasure of
conversing with some American intellectuals, whom I won't name, they argue with me on this. I do not
agree with those, both in my country and in the United States, who deny that Mr. Bush is a man of honor
and of principle. Yes, Iraq was a mistake, but he is a person who has had a very rich personal life and
experience governing a state. He is a fair and honest man. I have no doubts about this.
Q: Earlier you used the phrase, Thou shalt not steal. Have you read the Bible?
A: Yes, I have. And the Bible is on my plane. I fly frequently, you know. And on the plane I use, there is a
Bible. I also have an icon there with some sewing on it. I fly long distances. We're a vast country. So I have
time there to read the Bible.
Q: One last question, earlier you talked about one's authority being linked to how many telephones they
have on their desk. It's a very old-fashioned image. So my question is how technologically connected are
you? Do you send and receive e-mail? Do you have a BlackBerry? Do you blog?

21
A: Well, it's a big shame, I don't use these technologies. I don't even use a telephone. My operators, my
staff do it for me. But they do it wonderfully, and I'm very envious. Well, it's not important how many
telephones you have. How can you measure authority? It's the trust of the people. No other measure
matters; others are just illusions. I am very thankful to the people, that they sense that indeed over these
eight years I have been working honestly. I'm grateful for this trust.
FUENTE: http://english.pravda.ru/russia/kremlin/103037-0/
KYRGYZSTAN: AUTHORITIES COUNTER VOTE PROTESTS WITH DETENTIONS
A EurasiaNet Partner Post from RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY (RFE/RL)

21/12/2007, www.eurasianet.org
The detention of opposition protesters is continuing in Kyrgyzstan along with protests against the
December 16 parliamentary elections and a ruling that excludes the leading opposition party from
parliament.
Meanwhile, deputies elected in that vote met for the first time and adjourned after just 90 minutes to avoid
providing a lightning rod for opposition-led protests outside the parliament building and around the country.
Opposition groups continue to reject both the vote results and a decision to exclude the Ata-Meken
(Fatherland) Socialist Party from parliament despite its second-place finish nationally.
Ata-Meken is calling on its supporters to stage demonstrations around the country starting December 24,
the day the new parliament is expected to reconvene to choose a speaker.
The Central Election Commission announced on December 19 that the Ak-Jol Erdlik (Best Path Popular)
Party, which President Kurmanbek Bakiev created in mid-October, won 71 seats of the 90 seats in
parliament, with the remaining 19 seats split between the opposition Social Democratic Party (11 seats)
and the pro-Bakiev Communist Party (eight seats).
Authorities in the capital have responded to public displays of outrage by detaining demonstrators, rights
activists, NGO officials, and journalists. Police took about 30 people into custody today as those
individuals attempted to stage a protest in downtown Bishkek. Reports said 10 of those detained were Ata-
Meken supporters and the others were from the "I Don’t Believe" group that has been protesting election
results since December 17.
Police had already detained other "I Don’t Believe" activists earlier in the week. Sixteen people, including "I
Don’t Believe" protesters and other activists, were sentenced in a Bishkek court on December 20. Dinara
Oshurahunova, who heads the Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society, told RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service
that a Birinchi May district court handed down mostly five-day jail sentences to those five defendants. "The
[police] are putting them into separate cells," Oshurahunova said. "Some of the girls are crying."
Oshurahunova said Civil Society Against Corruption Chairwoman Toleikan Ismailova was sentenced to
seven days in jail, and alleged that because police "struck" Association of Nongovernmental and Nonprofit

22
Organizations Chairwoman Toktaiym Umetalieva when they detained her, she was simply fined 700
Kyrgyz soms (about $20) and then freed.
Protests have for the most part been minor affairs, possibly because of the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday.
But opposition hunger strikes continue in Bishkek, Osh, and Jalal-Abad, while another protest is ongoing in
the northern Issyk-Kul region.
The U.S. State Department released a statement late on December 20 criticizing some aspects of the
elections, including "uncertainty over election rules, widespread vote count irregularities and exaggerations
in voter turnout, [and] late exclusions from voter lists." The U.S. statement follows criticism from other
groups -- most notably monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE),
who called the election a step backward for Kyrgyzstan.
Ata-Meken leaders have filed a court case in Bishkek in an effort to annul the decision by the Central
Election Commission that kept Ata-Meken out of parliament over its apparent failure to meet a 0.5-percent
local threshold in the elections, despite finishing with 8 percent of the national vote.
Topchubek Turgunaliev, a long-time opposition leader in Kyrgyzstan who sided with President Bakiev in
March 2005 after authoritarian President Askar Akaev was chased from power, was critical of Bakiev and
the election results in comments to RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service.
"The parliament that is sitting now has suppressed democracy," Turgunaliev said. "It is obvious to all that
the authorities have returned to the old methods. This new parliament is a ’pocket parliament.’ We said the
same about the previous parliament, but it is even more true about the current parliament."
Editor’s Note: (Tynchtykbek Tchoroev and Ulan Eshmatov of RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service contributed to this
report)
UZBEKISTAN: PRESIDENT FACES ELECTION CHALLENGE IN NAME ONLY
A EurasiaNet Partner Post from RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY (RFE/RL)

Uzbekistan holds a presidential election on December 23 in which incumbent Islam Karimov’s victory
appears a foregone conclusion despite two previous terms that many think should disqualify him.
Karimov, who turns 70 in January and has led the country for 18 years, is running against what can only
be described as nominal challengers. The three other candidates who registered with the election
commission are regarded as Karimov loyalists and have praised him publicly.
Few outside observers have any illusions about the degree of choice facing Uzbek voters, particularly
since opposition parties are not allowed to participate.

23
The legal basis for Karimov’s candidacy remains unclear, since the Uzbek constitution bars a president
from serving more than two terms but authorities already ignored that limit when they approved his bid in
mid-November. Karimov, a former communist party boss, has already extended his term in office twice
through referendums, in 1995 and 2002.
The OSCE’s election-monitoring body, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR),
said in a recent report that "neither the [Uzbek] election administration nor the representatives of the four
candidates perceive any legal ambiguity" regarding Karimov’s eligibility.
ODIHR spokeswoman Urdur Gunnarsdottir noted some of other findings of the organization’s limited
election observation mission (LEOM) that visited Uzbekistan and issued the interim report earlier this
month. "The election campaign and the coverage in local media have been very low key and non-
confrontational," Gunnarsdottir said. "There have been no debates between the candidates, and very low-
key meetings with voters. And some of the people we met have expressed the view that the candidates
are not very well known and there are people who have questioned the existence of choice."
Uzbek authorities seem to have done their best to keep the election campaign low-key, although all four
candidates, including Karimov, have traveled to various regions of Uzbekistan for meetings with potential
voters. Karimov’s gatherings have been held under tight security. "All the movement of passersby and cars
were stopped inside the city of Jizzakh [when Karimov visited]," one resident told RFE/RL. "The Interior
Ministry and National Security Committee officers surrounded all locations while traffic police prevented
any movement inside the city. And only specially designated people were allowed to a meeting [with
Karimov]."
Security measures were reportedly stepped up in the capital, Tashkent, and in other regions in the run-up
to the list. Citizens in Tashkent say there are more police in the streets than ever. Opposition and human
rights activists have told RFE/RL that the number of secret service officers who usually follow them
increased and checks were strengthened in recent weeks.
In one of the bluntest moves to silence an outspoken critic of Karimov’s administration, authorities arrested
poet Yusuf Juma shortly after he held a protest in his native Bukhara and demanded Karimov’s resignation
on December 8. Juma’s wife and two grandchildren reportedly managed to escape when police assaulted
their house. Their whereabouts are unknown.
In a December 13 report, CIVICUS World Alliance for Citizen Participation, a network of civil-society
organizations, said Uzbekistan is a "frightening place for activists" where critical voices have been
"gagged." "In the lead-up to [the] elections, there has been an unprecedented amount of repression," said
Clare Doube, who manages CIVICUS’s Civil Society Watch program. "Citizens are regularly monitored
and threatened. The media is strictly censored. And independent civil society has been systematically
eliminated from the country."
She added that CIVICUS has been "concerned" by research that "has shown that the situation in
Uzbekistan is dire when it comes to space for civil society." Doube said that "particularly in the context of

24
the upcoming election, there needs to be a space for civil society to function freely, and our research has
found that that is certainly not the case in the current situation in Uzbekistan."
Foreign journalists who requested accreditation were reportedly permitted to stay in Uzbekistan for just
one week, from December 20-27. An independent regional news website, ferghana.ru, reported on
December 18 that private hotels in Samarkand received instructions from authorities not to receive guests
until January 5 and send all clients to state-owned hotels. Fergaha.ru speculated that the order was based
on "authorities’ fear of not controlling journalists and independent observers" coming to Uzbekistan days to
cover and monitor the election.
The OSCE delegates who traveled to Uzbekistan earlier this month were also given delayed visas that
prevented them from undertaking a needs assessment mission. The Uzbek authorities also limited both
the number of OSCE observers, to 30, and the duration of their stay.
Western election monitors have never recognized an Uzbek parliamentary or presidential election as free
and fair or up to international standards.
Erica Barks-Ruggles, the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and
Labor, suggested to RFE/RL in mid-December that the Uzbek election campaign had already failed to
meet international standards.
"I do not think that the outcome of the election is very much in doubt and I don’t think that anybody would
say that this election process has met international standards," Barks-Ruggles said. "So regardless of what
the day of the vote looks like, the process has not met international standards. We look forward to a day
when Uzbekistan will have free, fair, open, transparent, inclusive elections. But this election is not going to
be that."
Russian-led CIS observers regularly recognize elections in Uzbekistan as fair and open, however. They
are likely to endorse the official results of the polls.
Craig Murray, a former British ambassador to Tashkent and an outspoken critic of the Karimov
government, told RFE/RL that Karimov’s reelection is likely to deepen Uzbekistan’s isolation, which began
after the Andijon bloodshed in May 2005 when government troops clashed with peaceful protesters and
killed hundreds. "Karimov is a particularly brutal dictator, not someone that most governments would want
to be associated with, so I think continuing isolation from the West in a political sense will continue and be
reinforced by his remaining president more or less permanently," Murray said. "But -- I would not want to
overemphasize that too much -- Western governments will continue to do economic business with
Uzbekistan. And, of course, Karimov will calculate that he does not need the West as long as he has
strong support of Russia and of China. And with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin also looking for ways
effectively to stay in power, no doubt that will continue."
Editor’s Note: RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service contributed to this report

25
MEDIOS DE COMUNICACIÓN - Titulares
TBILISI TO NEWS CORP.: SHOW US THE OWNERSHIP DOCUMENTS FOR PRO-

OPPOSITION TV STATION
www.eurasianet.org, 03/12/2007
OPPOSITIONAL WEBSITE "INGUSHETIA.RU" SUSPENDED

Caucasian Knot, 05/12/2007

www.eurasianet.org, 06/12/2007
TBILISI TO NEWS CORP.: SHOW US THE OWNERSHIP DOCUMENTS FOR PRO-

OPPOSITION TV STATION
Molly Corso, 03/12/2007, www.eurasianet.org
As preparations begin for the official start of Georgia’s presidential campaign, the Georgian government
has opted to clear the way for the re-opening of pro-opposition television station Imedi.
In a televised statement on December 3, Acting President Nino Burjanadze asked prosecutors to petition
the Tbilisi City Court to restore Imedi’s broadcast license and to allow the company full access to its
assets, which were frozen after the November 7 demonstrations.
Burjanadze stated that Imedi technical staff would be able to enter the station on December 5 to prepare to
resume broadcasts. Georgia’s foreign patrons, in particular the United States and European Union, have
been calling for Imedi’s reopening since shortly after President Mikheil Saakashvili’s administration
imposed a state of emergency in Georgia. The broadcast ban remained in place even after the lifting of
state-of-emergency restrictions on November 16.
The preliminary steps to let Imedi back on the air do not necessarily guarantee an early resumption of
broadcasts. Talks with News Corp., which announced in October that it had taken over ownership of the
station, are continuing, Burjanadze said. The government has given the company until December 7 to
respond to conditions it set earlier for the station’s reopening, according to Burjanadze.
Despite wrangling with News Corp., the decision to move toward reopening Imedi was prompted by the
importance of the upcoming January 5 presidential election, Burjanadze said. It will be a vote, she said,
that will "define the country’s future existence."
At a press conference in Tbilisi shortly after Burjanadze’s announcement, European Commission Special
Representative for the South Caucasus Peter Semneby said that the December 3 decision "will remove
the question marks that we have had on the media issues in the run-up to the presidential campaign."
"As far as we understand, this means that Imedi television will be able to be back on the air by the end of
the week, Friday; that is, by the start of the presidential campaign," Semneby said. He noted, however,

26
that that understanding applied only to the removal of legal obstacles – not to the station’s technical
readiness to resume broadcasts.
In recent weeks, Washington and Brussels, along with various international organizations, had been
exerting consistent pressure on the Georgian government on the Imedi issue. On December 1, Polish
mediator Adam Michnik pledged that if Imedi did not open within one week, "I will be obliged to say in all
possible media outlets that the government of Georgia does not want pluralism in the media, especially
during the election period." The Georgian government and the European Commission had invited Michnik,
one of the organizers of the Solidarity movement and editor of Warsaw’s Gazeta Wyborcza, to seek a
resolution to the Imedi standoff.
While government supporters and ministers have repeatedly stressed their desire to see Imedi back on the
air, Burjanadze’s statement is the first official mention of a concrete deadline for any move to reopen the
station.
On November 28, National Security Council Chairman Alexander Lomaia and Prime Minister Lado
Gurgenidze outlined three conditions that Imedi must meet before being allowed to broadcast. The two
officials demanded that the station clarify its ownership, undergo a quarterly financial probe and adhere to
"compulsory" ethics.
Police closed Imedi television on November 7, after forcibly dispersing demonstrations in Tbilisi. Officials
claim the station was part of a larger plot to overthrow the government, engineered by presidential hopeful
Badri Patarkatsishvili, a major Imedi stakeholder. Imedi’s current operator, News Corp., denies any
wrongdoing.
Lewis Robertson, the executive director of News Media Caucasus and director general of Imedi TV-radio
broadcasting company, told EurasiaNet on December 1 that the television station has not agreed to any of
the government’s conditions for reopening, other than to the establishment of a media council to oversee
the partiality of Georgian media outlets. Michnik also proposed creating a group to monitor media content
in the country.
Speaking before Burjanadze’s statement, Robertson said that it would be "good" if the station reopened in
a week, but noted that the chances are slim. "[I]f we can get back on the air in a week that is very good,
but let’s not kid ourselves," he said at the press conference Saturday. "[A] television station was taken off
the air by riot police. People were abused, assaulted, and the television station had not done anything
wrong." During the immediate aftermath of the Imedi raid, News Corp. representatives accused special
police of causing such extensive damage that the broadcaster would not be able to resume broadcasting
for months.
Government officials maintain that while News Corp claims it manages the station, the exact ownership
structure of Imedi remains unclear. According to Givi Targamadze, chairman of the Georgian
parliamentary Committee on Defense and Security, it is "natural" that the government wants to know "with
whom it is dealing." In an interview published in the November 29 edition of the Rezonansi (Resonance)

27
daily, Targamadze affirmed that there are no documents that state what percent of the television company
is actually owned by News Corp.
If News Corp. does not own the company, he said, "there are suspicions that, in this case, the name of
News Corp. was simply used as a cover . . . to protect the concrete political interests of the TV channel."
Robertson shrugged off accusations that Patarkatsishvili is involved in the station at all. Patarkatsishvili
gave News Corp. power of attorney over the station when he decided to run for president in October. "We
received the authority to manage the television station, to be totally responsible for it and Badri
[Patarkatsishvili] has no say so in how the television station is operated from a financial standpoint, from a
programming standpoint, from a news standpoint -- pick a standpoint," Robertson told EurasiaNet. "He has
no input at all."
He also denied government accusations that the transfer of power was illegal. On November 28, National
Security Council Chairman Lomaia stated that the one-page document is "absolutely unclear" and in
"violation of the law on broadcasting."
Robertson responded that the practice of handing over power of attorney is common and completely legal.
The deal, he noted, wasn’t "anything unusual" for News Corp.
On November 29, a Tbilisi court gave the Revenue Service a 15-day permit to examine the station’s
finances. The ruling coincided with financial probes into several other businesses associated with
Patarkatsishvili.
The government in the past week has also increasingly focused on what it describes as a need for tighter
supervision of media ethics and professional standards. National Security Council Chairman Lomaia told
the Pirveli news agency that the Central Election Commission will sign a contract with a company to
monitor daily the frequency with which campaign ads are featured on television; similar scrutiny could be
directed at print media, as well, he said.
In remarks to Rezonansi on November 29, CEC spokesperson Natalia Chkheidze said that one company
is expected to be named "within the next few days" to monitor both television and print media. Chkheidze
maintained that international standards for media monitoring would be followed.
Discussion of standards also featured prominently at a December 1 meeting with Georgian media and civil
society representatives attended by National Security Council Chairman Lomaia, Central Election
Commission Chairperson Levan Tarkhinshvili and influential National Movement parliamentarian Giga
Bokeria.
For media analyst Ia Antadze such discussions, while positive, are only a beginning. "Now they should turn
it on without preconditions," she said, in reference to Imedi. "Then we can all talk about principles that we
will follow."

28
Editor’s Note: Molly Corso is a freelance reporter based in Tbilisi. Caucasus News Editor Elizabeth Owen
contributed reporting to this story.
FUENTE: http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav120307.shtml
OPPOSITIONAL WEBSITE "INGUSHETIA.RU" SUSPENDED
Caucasian Knot, 05/12/2007, http://eng.kavkaz.memo.ru/
The operation of the Internet site "Ingushetia.Ru" has been temporarily suspended. The owner of site
Magomed Evloev has fulfilled his father's will and closed the website.
The message published in the website runs that the work of the portal "will resume under direction of
editor-in-chief Ibragim Kostoev after agreement of the issues of transfer of the resource management to
another team and another owner."
For this period, the Forum and other sections of the website, where people could place their messages,
are also suspended.
FUENTE: http://eng.kavkaz.memo.ru/newstext/engnews/id/1203014.html
A EurasiaNet Partner Post from RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY (RFE/RL),

An RFE/RL correspondent in Azerbaijan, Ilgar Nasibov, was sentenced today to 90 days in

prison on what rights groups call trumped-up and politicized charges.
The charges of slandering local police officers stem from a letter Nasibov wrote to Azerbaijan’s President
Ilham Aliyev protesting police brutality in the southwestern Azerbaijani exclave of Naxchivan.
Nasibov is the tenth journalist currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan, which has drawn sharp criticism from
human rights organizations and Western governments over repression of the media.
Nina Ognianova, the Europe and Central Asia program coordinator for the Committee to Protect
Journalists, said the arrest marks the continuation of a disturbing trend in which "independent and
opposition journalists" have faced harassment. "Azerbaijan has become quickly, in the last 12 months, the
leading jailer of journalists in Europe and Central Asia," Ognianova said. "This is a disturbing trend
because most of the journalists are imprisoned on politicized charges initiated by public officials."

29
Journalists ’Not Behaving’
On November 4, when Nasibov and his wife Malahat Nasibova, also a RFE/RL correspondent, were
reporting from a market in Naxchivan which police were attempting to close down. When shoppers and
merchants staged a protest, police responded with force.
When Nasibov and Nasibova tried to interview those participating in the protest, police threatened them
and tried to confiscate their cameras and recording equipment. Nasibov recorded Naxchivan deputy police
chief Irshad Ibrahimov threatening him, saying: "You are not behaving. You know what will happen to you."
Nasibov, who is also a local human rights activist, sent a letter to Aliyev’s website protesting what he
called police harassment.
The local police chief, Sabuhi Noruzov, then filed criminal slander charges against Nasibov. But when the
journalist appeared in court on December 4, he was told the charges had been dropped.
Nasibov was summoned to appear in court again today, but was told it was simply to formalize the
dismissal of the charges. But when he showed up in court without a lawyer, he was summarily sentenced
to 90 days in prison.
RFE/RL President Jeff Gedmin called for Nasibov’s immediate release, calling his imprisonment a
"complete mockery of due process which violates Azerbaijan’s own lawful, judicial procedure."
Rashid Hajili, a lawyer with the Media Freedom Institute in Naxchivan, told RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service
that trying and sentencing Nasibov without giving him access to an attorney was a violation of his rights. "A
lawyer should have been present," Hajili said. "Especially when you are talking about arresting someone.
In this case, if the defendant wants a lawyer, he must have access to one."
Malahat Nasibova told RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service that police forcefully entered the couple’s apartment
after Nasibov’s imprisonment and confiscated his computer, disks, and files. She said police refused to
present a warrant.
Crackdown On The Press
In the past year, Azerbaijan has witnessed a wave of criminal cases against opposition journalists.
On October 30, Eynulla Fatullayev, the editor of the publications "Gyundelik Azerbaycan" and "Realny
Azerbaijan," was handed an 8 1/2-year jail sentence for terrorism, inciting ethnic hatred, and tax evasion.
Both newspapers routinely reported and condemned official corruption.
And on November 11, Qanimat Zahidov, an editor for the opposition daily "Azadliq" and a vocal critic of
President Ilham Aliyev’s regime, was sent to pretrial detention.

30
Zahidov will spend two months in remand in the Azerbaijani capital as he awaits trial on charges of
"hooliganism" and inflicting "minor bodily harm." If found guilty of both charges, he could face up to six
years in prison. The charges stem from an incident in which Zahidov was attacked by a man and woman
outside his newspaper’s Baku office. When he went to the police to report the attack, he was arrested.
The Naxchivan region is separated from the rest of Azerbaijan by Armenia. It is run like a personal fiefdom
by regional head Vasif Talibov, who is a close relative of President Aliyev. Critics say he has become
increasingly closed and repressive.
Opposition activists and independent journalists face constant harassment in Naxchivan. Local authorities
have also ordered state employees -- including teachers and doctors -- to perform manual labor on
weekends as a condition for keeping their jobs.

31
ECONOMÍA - Titulares
VTB BEATS FORECASTS AS NET RISES 29%

www.themoscowtimes.com, 11/12/2007

RUSA
www.yahoo.com, 21/12/2007
VTB BEATS FORECASTS AS NET RISES 29%
Dmitry Beliakov; Bloomberg and Reuters, 11/12/2007, www.themoscowtimes.com
The country's second-largest bank, VTB, on Monday posted a 28.8 percent rise in net profit for the first
nine months of 2007, beating analyst forecasts, and said profit for the full year would grow by 10 percent to
15 percent.
State-controlled VTB also planned to borrow $5 billion on foreign markets in 2008, finance director Nikolai
Tsekhomsky told reporters.
"This plan could be adjusted upward if market conditions are favorable," Tsekhomsky said at a briefing.
VTB said in a statement that consolidated January-September net profit rose to $1.05 billion from $816
million in the same period last year. Profits were more than 25 percent higher than the average forecast by
six analysts polled.
The bank's total assets had grown by 41.7 percent to $74.3 billion by the end of September, in line with the
forecast, and Tsekhomsky said they would grow 55 to 60 percent in full-year 2007.
He also said net profit for full-year 2007 would be 10 to 15 percent higher than in the previous year.
In the first nine months of 2007, net interest income climbed 46.2 percent year on year to reach $1.73
billion, while net income from fees and commissions rose 56.8 percent to $414 million.
In May, VTB raised $8 billion in an initial public offering in London and Moscow, pricing the Russian shares
at 13.6 kopeks and the Global Depository Receipts at $10.56.
"Having spent a huge amount of time and effort on the IPO process, our [third-quarter] numbers show that
we have not taken our eye off the ball in terms of the core business," Tsekhomsky said in the statement.
FUENTE: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2007/12/11/042.html

32
RUSA
EUROPA PRESS (EP), 21/12/2007, www.yahoo.com
MOSCÚ (EUROPA PRESS) - El actual presidente de la Federación de Rusia, Vladimir Putin, se

perfila como el candidato favorito y más evidente para ocupar la presidencia de la compañía
rusa Gazprom, primer productor de gas a nivel mundial, cuyo actual presidente y viceprimer
ministro ruso, Dmitry Medvedev, ha sido designado por Putin como candidato de Rusia Unida a
las presidenciales de marzo, según informa el diario financiero 'Vedomosti'.
Dmitry Medvedev se convertirá en marzo, casi con toda probabilidad, en el nuevo presidente de Rusia y,
aunque no existe legislación al respecto, es algo habitual en la política rusa que el presidente del país se
abstenga de participar en la gestión de las empresas públicas por lo que Medvedev abandonará la
presidencia de Gazprom, un cargo que ocupaba desde el año 2000, algo que el candidato ya ha
confirmado, aunque sin señalar a un sucesor.
De acuerdo con fuentes conocedoras de las conversaciones citadas por 'Vedomosti', la candidatura de
Vladimir Putin al puesto de presidente de Gazprom sería la favorita y la que cuenta con mayor
popularidad, así como la más evidente tras su decisión de aceptar un hipotético nombramiento como
primer ministro si Medvedev resulta elegido presidente de Rusia, un cargo que no presenta
incompatibilidades con la participación en empresas públicas rusas.
Sin embargo, el diario también señala que el propio Putin había negado con anterioridad las
especulaciones que le sitúan en la presidencia de alguna de las grandes 'utilities' rusas como Gazprom o
Rosneft.
En este sentido, el periódico indica que además de la opción Putin, cobra fuerza la posibilidad de un
nombramiento de caracter técnico, y apunta los nombres de Victor Jruschenko, Victor Zuvkov, Igor Sechin
y Vladimir Surkov.
Asimismo, 'Vedomosti' señala que los accionistas de Gazprom podrán proponer candidaturas al cargo de
presidente de la compañía hasta el próximo 31 de enero.
FUENTE: http://es.noticias.yahoo.com/ep/20071221/tbs-economa-empresas-putin-se-perfila-co-
5056f3e_1.html

33

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Boletín mensual: DICIEMBRE 2007

EXPERTS: ELECTION RESULTS WILL NOT BE CHALLENGED IN

PUTIN BACKS MEDVEDEV AS NEXT PRESIDENT

AZERBAIJAN: RFE/RL JOURNALIST JAILED FOR SLANDERING POLICE

An RFE/RL correspondent in Azerbaijan, Ilgar Nasibov, was sentenced today to 90 days in

PUTIN SE PERFILA COMO NUEVO PRESIDENTE DE GAZPROM, SEGÚN LA PRENSA

El actual presidente de la Federación de Rusia, Vladimir Putin, se perfila como el candidato

Boletín mensual: DICIEMBRE 2007

Boletín mensual: DICIEMBRE 2007

RUSSIA: MOSCOW PLAYS ITS CARDS WELL AT OSCE MADRID MEETING

EXPERTS: ELECTION RESULTS WILL NOT BE CHALLENGED IN CHECHNYA

GEORGIAN PRIME MINISTER BLAMES SOCIAL POLICY FOR TURMOIL

CAMPAIGN FINANCE A "SHADOWY" ISSUE IN GEORGIA’S PRESIDENTIAL RACE

TURKMENISTAN: VOTERS HOPING ELECTIONS WILL BRING LONG-AWAITED CHANGE

PUTIN BACKS MEDVEDEV AS NEXT PRESIDENT

VLADIMIR PUTIN: “WE DON'T ALLOW OTHERS TO INTERFERE IN OUR POLITICS”

KYRGYZSTAN: AUTHORITIES COUNTER VOTE PROTESTS WITH DETENTIONS

UZBEKISTAN: PRESIDENT FACES ELECTION CHALLENGE IN NAME ONLY

RUSSIA: MOSCOW PLAYS ITS CARDS WELL AT OSCE MADRID MEETING

Jean-Christophe Peuch, 03/12/2007, http://www.rferl.org

Boletín mensual: DICIEMBRE 2007

Moscow's Plans For ODIHR

Boletín mensual: DICIEMBRE 2007

EXPERTS: ELECTION RESULTS WILL NOT BE CHALLENGED IN CHECHNYA

CAUCASIAN KNOT, 04/12/2007, http://eng.kavkaz.memo.ru/

Boletín mensual: DICIEMBRE 2007

GEORGIAN PRIME MINISTER BLAMES SOCIAL POLICY FOR TURMOIL

Ahto Lobjakas, 05/12/2007, http://www.rferl.org

Boletín mensual: DICIEMBRE 2007

CAMPAIGN FINANCE A "SHADOWY" ISSUE IN GEORGIA’S PRESIDENTIAL RACE

Nino Patsuria, 06/12/2007, www.eurasianet.org

Boletín mensual: DICIEMBRE 2007

United National Movement representatives were not available for comment.

Boletín mensual: DICIEMBRE 2007

In a December 5 press conference, however, representatives of anti-corruption watchdog Transparency

Boletín mensual: DICIEMBRE 2007

Editor’s Note: Nino Patsuria is a freelance reporter based in Tbilisi.

TURKMENISTAN: VOTERS HOPING ELECTIONS WILL BRING LONG-AWAITED CHANGE

Gulnoza Saidazimova (EurasiaNet Partner Post from RFE/RL), 08/12/2007,

A Rubberstamp Body, So Far

Boletín mensual: DICIEMBRE 2007

Boletín mensual: DICIEMBRE 2007

Skepticism And Hope

PUTIN BACKS MEDVEDEV AS NEXT PRESIDENT

Nabi Abdullaev and Francesca Mereu, 11/12/2007, www.themoscowtimes.com

Boletín mensual: DICIEMBRE 2007

Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev

Born: Sept. 14, 1965

Place of Birth: St. Petersburg

Notable Quotes: "Democracy and national sovereignty need to be together.

Boletín mensual: DICIEMBRE 2007

Boletín mensual: DICIEMBRE 2007

Staff Writer Anna Smolchenko contributed to this report.

VLADIMIR PUTIN: “WE DON'T ALLOW OTHERS TO INTERFERE IN OUR POLITICS”

The Time (recogido por Pravda.ru), 20/12/2007, www.pravda.ru

Boletín mensual: DICIEMBRE 2007

Q: What do you think should be done in Iraq?

Boletín mensual: DICIEMBRE 2007

Q: Do you believe in a Supreme God?

Q: What do you do for fun?

Q: In which category would you put assassinated journalist Anna Politkovskaya?

A: It never occurred to me, no. It never struck me. Never.

Q: Does it still surprise you?

Boletín mensual: DICIEMBRE 2007