![](/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/region-caucasus_01.jpg)
Latest Articles about The Caucasus
![](/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Kabardino-Balkaria_security_services_-_EDM_October_11__2013.jpeg)
As Sochi Approaches, Ethnic Russians Continue to Leave the North Caucasus
With the Olympics in Sochi scheduled to start on February 7, 2014, the situation in the North Caucasus is not improving as quickly as the authorities in the Kremlin would like (https://www.sochi2014.com/). The steps the Russian government has taken so far appear to be insufficient... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Davit_Usupashvili.jpg)
Georgian Parliament Once Again Alters Constitution
On October 4, the Georgian parliament passed further amendments to the new Georgian constitution. The country’s new constitution was adopted in October 2010 under President Mikheil Saakashvili and will go into effect after the upcoming presidential election on October 27, 2013. It turns the president... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Kabardino-Balkaria_police.jpg)
Kabardino-Balkaria’s Crackdown on Rebels and Their Relatives Likely to Boomerang
Police in Kabardino-Balkaria conducted operations against the armed resistance and took preventive measures to foil terrorist attacks in the republic throughout the month of September (https://kabardino-balkaria.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/172027/).At the start of October, a young man was killed in Kabardino-Balkaria’s Baksan district. According to police, he was driving... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Sochi_2014_construction_-_EDM_October_9__2013.jpg)
Russia Ramps Up Information Security to Suppress Adverse News Reporting Around Sochi
On September 30, the commander of the Russian ground forces, Colonel-General Vladimir Chirkin, stated that troops under his command would take part in providing security to the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi in 2014 (https://www.itar-tass.com/c96/896137.html). The statement came amid a series of other statements by... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Ramazan_Abdulatipov_-_EDM_October_7__2013.jpg)
Government’s Use of Civilians to Help Police Results in Casualties in Dagestan
The most recent spike of violence in Dagestan, which started in September, culminated on October 1–2, when intense fighting between government forces and rebels in the wooded area between the villages of Verkhnee Ubeki and Nizhnee Ubeki in the republic’s Levashi district left ten people... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Russian_draft_-_EDM_October_4__2013.jpg)
Chechnya’s Exclusion from Military Conscription Shows Moscow’s Weak Hold over Region
Generally, the military conscription campaign in Russia becomes relevant for Chechnya and the North Caucasus twice a year—in the spring and in the fall, when the Russian president issues a decree ordering the start of the draft season (https://www.rg.ru/2013/09/30/prizyv-dok.html). Conscription in Russia is still mandatory,... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Russia-Abkhazia_border_-_EDM_October_3__2013.jpg)
Authorities in Abkhazia Plan to Strip Georgians of Citizenship
On September 18, a special commission formed to probe the lawfulness of issuing Abkhazian passports (i.e. granting Abkhazian “citizenship”) to ethnic Georgians from the Gali district presented its report to the parliament of the breakaway territory of Abkhazia. The commission came to the conclusion that... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Ravil_Gainutdin_-_EDM_October_3__2013.jpg)
Russian Muslim Organizations Split over Local Court’s Banning of Koran Translation
Something completely unexpected recently took place in Russia: a provincial court in Novorossiysk designated a Russian translation of the Koran as extremist material (https://echo.msk.ru/blog/echomsk/1161702-echo/). The court’s decision stipulated that all copies of the publication should be confiscated and eliminated. The court based its decision on... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Kafil_Amirov_-_EDM_October_2__2013.jpg)
Rebel Tatar Prosecutor Banished by Moscow
On September 21, Tatarstan’s Prosecutor General Kafil Amirov unexpectedly resigned. Russian Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika signed the decree about Amirov’s resignation. On September 26, Ildus Nafikov, the prosecutor general of Tatarstan’s capital Kazan was appointed to replace Amirov. During a question-and-answer session with republican parliamentary... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/EUMM_-_EDM_October_2__2013.jpg)
Russia Accelerates ‘Borderization’ in Georgia on War’s 20th Anniversary
On September 30, Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a congratulatory message to Abkhazia’s authorities on the 20th anniversary of “the republic’s independence.” The anniversary marks the Abkhazian proclamation of independence in 1993, as Sukhumi fell to Russian military forces. “This holiday is a symbol of... MORE