Eurasia

Immediately after yesterday’s announcement of the rulings by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in two Chechnya-related cases, press conferences were held in the Russian and Chechen capitals by representatives of the Memorial Human Rights Centre, who gave their assessment of the event.

Alparslan Arslan, the radical Islamist who attacked Turkey’s top administrative court in May 2006, killing one judge and injuring four others, admitted during a court hearing Thursday (July 26th) that he had planned more assaults — including one on President Ahmet Necdet Sezer.

An Islamist radical on trial for a deadly raid last year on Turkey’s top administrative court said Thursday he also planned to assassinate the president and attack leading business groups, the Anatolia news agency reported.

Russia on Thursday said it had delayed the start-up of Iran’s first nuclear power station to early 2008 because Tehran had fallen behind with payments for the plant, Itar-Tass news agency reported.

The second largest opposition party in Turkey’s new parliament will take part in the upcoming presidential election, its leader said Thursday, boosting the governing party’s chances of seeing one of its own members as head of state.

Human rights activist Tatyana Lokshina, who has recently visited the occupied Chechnya, told to the “Caucasus Knot” journalists that more 300 young men joined Chechen Mujahideen.

As Kavkaz Center’s source reports with reference to a spokesman of the Staff of the Eastern Front of the CRI Armed Forces, a unit of the Mujahideen numbering 40 fighters attacked a force from the pro-Moscow bandit formation “Vostok” near the village of Tazen-Kala on 23 July.

The military aviation services are observing two days of mourning, following the deaths of two pilots, killed on Monday (July 23rd) when their firefighting plane crashed while trying to put out a blaze caused by record heat on the island of Evia.

Prosecutors on Tuesday (July 24th) ordered the release of a prominent Kurdish activist after she won a seat in parliament Sunday. Sebahat Tuncel had been indicted on charges of belonging to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party terrorist group.

Parliament announced to the international community on Tuesday (July 24th) that Serbia would take measures against any country that recognises an independent Kosovo.