The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan have finally dashed hopes for a near-term settlement of the Karabakh conflict with their failure to hold yet another, potentially decisive round of negotiations. Armenian President Robert Kocharian publicly declared on October 11 that contrary to the international community’s... MORE

At last week’s energy summit of Baltic, Black Sea, and Caspian countries, hosted by Lithuania in Vilnius (see EDM, October 12), Kazakhstan’s Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sauat Mynbayev provided a remarkably detailed picture of the country’s oil export policies, both ongoing and projected. Oil... MORE

In less than two weeks, on October 21, Kyrgyzstan will hold a referendum on a new constitution and electoral law. Both documents have been drafted by Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev. Already it is obvious that the new constitution and electoral law are far from representing... MORE

Presidents and other top officials from the three Baltic states, Poland, Ukraine, Romania, Georgia, and Azerbaijan, joined by EU and U.S. officials, attended the Energy Security Conference on October 10-11 in Vilnius. It was the third event of this type, after the energy summits in... MORE

White Stream, a project to transport Caspian gas via Georgia and the seabed of the Black Sea to Europe, was presented during the summit-level Energy Security Conference in Vilnius on October 10-11. This pipeline project could encourage investments in Caspian gas field development by diversifying... MORE

On October 10 the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee voted 27–21 to pass a non-binding resolution that labeled the deaths of Armenians during World War One as “genocide.” House Democratic leaders predicted a full House vote on the resolution would come before Thanksgiving.... MORE

The October 9 ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), stating that compulsory religious instruction in Turkey violates the rights of religious minorities, has highlighted the discrimination suffered by the country’s substantial Alevi community (Aksam, Milliyet, Radikal, October 10). On September 12, 1980,... MORE

Mikhail Margelov, a politician close to the Kremlin and prominent in the United Russia party of power, is set to take over the presidency of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), the leading democracy and human-rights watchdog in Europe. An inside arrangement shepherded by... MORE

On September 4 Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated that the national budget of the country in 2008 would reach $12 billion (Day.az, September 4). Just three years ago, the budget totaled only $4 billion. Aliyev’s announcement was no surprise to the domestic audience, since the... MORE