As Russia’s military build-up in Syria moved forward, President Vladimir Putin addressed the 70th meeting of the United Nations General Assembly and held bilateral talks with President Barack Obama. On September 30, Putin received authority from the Russian Federation Council to send his forces into... MORE

The killing of a Circassian pre-teen, 11-year-old Judy Mohammed Hair Maf, in Damascus on September 26 (Facebook.com, September 26), revitalized efforts of Circassians in the North Caucasus to repatriate their ethnic brethren from Syria. Circassian activist Khazrial Khanakhok held a protest in Maikop, Adygea, to... MORE

On September 21, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree to construct a railway line allowing trains in southern Russian to bypass Ukrainian territory. The new 75-mile double-track electrified railway will replace the existing one, 16 miles of which traverses Ukraine’s war-torn Luhansk region.... MORE

The Russian air campaign in Syria has captured so much international attention that this past Friday’s (October 2) difficult summit in Paris, involving French President François Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin, made nearly no headlines. The... MORE

Snaking across Eurasia—from China, through Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Georgia, and on to Turkey—the first test container train arrived at the new Baku International Sea Trade Port complex, located in the town of Alyat (around 30 miles southwest of Baku), on August 3, 2015. Turkey, Azerbaijan,... MORE

On September 20, Crimean Tatars launched a nonviolent protest action that they have named the “Citizens’ Blockade of Crimea” to suspend the transfer of goods from mainland Ukraine to the occupied territory of the Crimean peninsula. The peaceful blockade is taking place at Kalanchak, Chongar... MORE

Russia’s security services recently launched a special operation across Dagestan, the largest republic of the North Caucasus. Combined forces from the military, police and security services specifically targeted five Dagestani districts—Kurakhsky, Magaramkentsky, Suleiman-Stalsky, Tabasaransky and Khivsky. The special feature of the latest special operation is... MORE

Turkey has been one of Georgia’s closest economic and political partners in the wider Middle East since the latter country regained its national independence in 1991. Currently, Turkey is Georgia’s biggest trading partner, with a 15.4 percent share of Georgia’s total trade turnover with the... MORE

Russia’s involvement in the Syrian conflict on behalf of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad may take the war in the Middle East to a new level. The main concern of North Caucasians will be whether Moscow’s involvement in the conflict results in it sending military personnel... MORE