On December 16, Circassian activists issued a special statement in support of their colleagues persecuted by the Russian authorities in the North Caucasus. The appeal, signed by 65 politicians, writers, civil activists, businessmen and academicians from Turkey, Germany, the United States and several other countries,... MORE

Armenia’s strong economic dependence on the Russian Federation is dramatically being highlighted at the moment by the devaluation of the Russian ruble and the general economic decline in Russia. The structure of Armenia’s economy and the character of its relationship with Russia suggest that Armenian... MORE

Last week (December 11), Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan paid an official two-day visit to Georgia (Newsday.ge, December 11). The head of the Armenian government held intensive talks with his Georgian counterpart, Irakli Garibashvili, on the entire spectrum of the bilateral agenda. This agenda, however,... MORE

As 2014 draws to a close, energy developments in the Eurasian region have been gaining new prominence. Notably, on December 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a state visit to Turkey to attend the fifth meeting of the Turkish-Russian High-Level Cooperation Council (CNN Turk, December... MORE

The insurgency in Dagestan was plagued by a series of failures last week. On December 9, the Russian security services killed the leader of the rebels’ Makhachkala sector, 25-year-old Emir Usman (Ruslan Darsamov). The incident took place when law enforcement agents stopped a car for... MORE

On December 10, a delegation from the Serbian National Assembly, led by parliamentary speaker Maja Gojkovic, visited the Azerbaijani capital of Baku (Azernews.az, December 10). During their two-day visit, the members of the Serbian delegation met with several high-ranking Azerbaijani officials, including President Ilham Aliyev.... MORE

The plans to build a road connecting Dagestan to Georgia have caused concern among experts outside Russia (see EDM, October 2). Following its moves in eastern Ukraine, the annexation of Crimea, its war with Georgia in 2008 and other aggressive acts, every move by Russia... MORE

The Chechen militant assault on Grozny on December 4 (TASS, December 5) is bound to have an impact on the neighboring republics. What the impact will be and how the other republics will try to prevent similar attacks by the Caucasus Emirate is an important... MORE

Implications related to the signing of the Russo-Abkhazian Agreement on Alliance and Strategic Partnership, on November 24, have been reverberating across the region, and have had profound effects on Armenia. For one thing, the agreement again stimulated a discussion about the possible restoration of the... MORE

The attack by militants in Grozny on December 4 was surprisingly large in scale. The last time Chechen militants launched such a large-scale offensive in Grozny was in October 2010, when three rebels attempted to seize the republican parliament building (NTV.ru, October 19, 2010). Although... MORE