:::::: I really hate to dodge a valid question, John, but personally I know too little about these cases to give you a qualified answer. In the case of Transnistria (which I do know about) it would be wrong to subscribe wholesale to the argument of Transnistria's opposition, which claims that it is Russian puppet state. The reality is much more nuanced than that. In the mid-1990s, Transnistria got very little help from an increasingly antagonistic Russia, and oriented itself towards Ukraine for its survival. Today, Russia invests in Transnistria and supports it financially. It is not the only one to do this, but the largest of several countries (largest in terms of investment and aid). At the same time, Russia repeatedly defends the territorial integrity of Moldova. This is not the case of Turkey vis-a-vis TRNC/Cyprus, or Armenia vis-a-vis Nagorno-Karabakh/Azerbaijan. -