Domestic Politics

The eighth and last leader of the former Soviet Union Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev has died. He was 91 years old. Gorbachev is considered a giant political figure who initiated the processes that ended the Cold War that had dominated international relations in the second half of the 20th century. His attempt to reform the Soviet Union met strong resistance, including a failed attempted coup by the KGB and the Army, and finally led to both his political demise, and the dissolution of the USSR into fifteen independent states. Born on 2nd March 1931 to a peasant family in the Stavropol region in the south of the Russian SSR, Mikhail Gorbachev was the architect of the policies of glasnost' (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) that tried to reform the Soviet system from within. Many Russians, including the current leadership in the Kremlin blame Gorbachev for the Soviet Union's collapse and see him as a direct cause of Russia's problems in the 21st century, but Gorbachev was only trying to reverse the rot that had set-in at all levels of the Soviet state. He persisted with his reform programme despite the risks. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990, and after leaving power spent his time as Head of the Gorbachev Foundation.

The leaders of six opposition parties in Turkey have agreed to run in the next presidential elections, scheduled for next June, with a joint candidate. At their sixth meeting, held over the weekend they did not say who that candidate will be. “Our people should be assured that our joint candidate will be the president of all and not only the 13th President of the Republic of Turkey and those who vote for the political parties coming together around this table,” read a joint statement released following the meeting of the leaders of the Nation Alliance on  Sunday (21 August). “We are aware of the disappointments that our people have been suffering from for years. We will come out with eligible cadres and efficient policies to relive the people’s disappointments,” it noted. The opposition parties are expected to hold their next meeting on 2 October.

Estonia has removed a Soviet-era World War II memorial from Narva, a large Russian-speaking majority city, accusing Russia of using such monuments to stir up tensions. In a controversial move that is likely to bring relations with Russia to a new low Estonia has decided to remove a tank which formed part of the War memorial in the town which is close to the Russian border. People in the Baltic States fought on both sides during WWII, and issues regarding remembrance activities and monuments remain highly sensitive and controversial.  Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said in a statement that the move was a response to “increasing tensions and confusion around memorials in Narva”. “We must act quickly to ensure public order and internal security,” she said on Tuesday. Local opposition to removing the monument had sparked fears of a repetition of the rioting that broke out in Tallinn in 2007 due to the removal of a Soviet monument. A World War II-era T-34 tank that formed part of the memorial in Narva will be taken to the Estonian War Museum and a mass grave of wartime victims will instead be given a “neutral grave marker”.

Chad’s military government and opposition groups signed a pledge on Monday (8 August) in Qatar ahead of planned national reconciliation talks, though the deal did not include the country’s main opposition group. Qatar has been mediating between the different sides since last March. Under the terms of the deal in Doha, those who signed have agreed to a cease-fire ahead of the talks scheduled for 20 August in the Chadian capital of N’Djamena. Chad’s military government also agreed to “not take any military or police operations against the signing groups” in neighbouring countries. However, the Front for Change and Concord in Chad, the main rebel group in the country, did not sign the pledge. We hope “other groups will join the march of reconciliation and peace, with a view to achieving the aspirations and dreams of the Chadian people,” Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani told those gathered for the signing ceremony. “The initial peace agreement we are celebrating today will be an important turning point toward stability and prosperity for the Chadian people.”

In a live speech broadcasted on Wednesday, the UAE ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed laid out his vision for the future of the country. Speaking two months after being elected as the third president of the UAE, MBZ highlighted issues that are key and relevant to the Emirati society and youth. 

Two weeks after violent protests rocked Uzbekistan’s Karakalpakstan region, speculation continues about who was behind the turmoil that appeared to take officials in the capital, Tashkent, completely by surprise. This despite the fact that the reasons that triggered the unrest appear to be clear, namely proposed constitutional changes that promised to weaken the autonomy of the region, which occupies a territory, of 166,590 sq kms, and has a population of 1.9 million. Official reports say that 18 civilians were killed during the protests, 94 hospitalised, and hundreds more injured. The Uzbek Government has blamed unspecified foreign forces for being behind the unrest. Uzbekistan is a tightly managed country, where such unrest is by and large unheard of, and where the only country that has the potential to provoke such wide-spread disturbances is Russia, given its longstanding and deep rooted influence in Central Asia. Some Uzbek diplomats in Europe have been briefing that the disturbances were part of a planned “colour revolution”, although they did not quite explain what they meant by that. Uzbekistan is known to have been under considerable pressure from  Moscow in recent years to join Russia-led regional structures, such as the Eurasian Economic Union and the CSTO military alliance, but president Shavkat Mirziyoyev has so far resisted the pressure.

Tens of thousands of Georgians attended a pro European rally in Tbilisi on Monday (20 June) amid continuing controversy about the country's European asspirations. On Friday, the European Commission recommended to EU leaders to give Georgia a membership perspective, but stopped short of granting the country the same candidate status as it recommended for Ukraine and Moldova. The three countries, sometimes referred to as the "Trio" countries recently submitted an application for full membership of the European Union. The EU on its part has dealt with the applications with unusual speed, motivated primarily by a wish to send a positive signal to Ukraine as it continues to resist a Russian military invasion. The Commission has recommended to give candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova but stopped short of doing so as regards Georgia. "It is up to Georgia to accelerate (the reforms) and move towards this open door," commented Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. "Georgia must now come together politically to design a clear path towards structural reform and the EU,"  Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on twitter. "So we recommend to grant Georgia the European perspective, but to come back and assess how it meets a number of conditions before granting it candidate status."