Maulana Amir Hamza is one of the most important leaders of the Pakistan-based Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) terrorist group after its amir Hafiz Muhammad Saeed. He is a fiery speaker and a prolific writer. These two skills enabled him to rise to a top slot in the... MORE

It came as a complete surprise when Chechen TV, on the evening of June 13, broadcast a meeting between Ramzan Kadyrov and Khizri Aldamov, who was the general representative in Georgia for the separatist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria from 1994-2004 and is now a Georgian... MORE

On June 28, the Shah Deniz gas producers’ consortium in Azerbaijan announced that it has selected the Nabucco-West pipeline project to be the route for Caspian gas into Central Europe. This decision is an immediate consequence of the Azerbaijan-Turkey inter-governmental agreement, signed on June 26,... MORE

The Azerbaijani-Turkish Trans-Anatolia gas pipeline project (TANAP), officially launched on June 26 (see EDM, June 27), is impacting a vast field ranging from Turkmenistan, across the South Caucasus and Turkey, to Central Europe and EU authorities in Brussels.This project encourages Turkmenistan to pursue a trans-Caspian... MORE

Russian authorities are trying to dramatically change the situation in Dagestan. The strategically important North Caucasian republic has a 150-kilometer (93-mile) long border with Georgia and a 315-km (196-mile) long border with Azerbaijan. The republic also has 530 km (329 miles) of coastline on the... MORE

Azerbaijan-Turkmenistan relations, which experienced a significant thaw since the death of Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov (Turkmenbashi), deteriorated again last week (June 19). The most recent conflict began when Turkmenistan started undertaking seismic work on a disputed oilfield in the Caspian Sea. The oilfield, discovered by... MORE

A fight between non-Slavic Dagestanis and Russians in the northern Russian Kirov region on June 20 spiraled into massive clashes involving more than 100 people two days later. One hundred seventy police officers were sent in to stop the violence. Although officials deny there was... MORE

On June 26 in Istanbul, Azerbaijan’s and Turkey’s leaders signed the inter-governmental agreement on the Trans-Anatolia Gas Pipeline (TANAP) project. This agreement marks the start of implementing the EU-planned Southern Corridor to Europe for Caspian gas. This pipeline would run from the Georgia-Turkey border to... MORE

On June 19, Amnesty International issued a report titled “The Circle of Injustice: Security Operations and Human Rights Violations in Ingushetia.” The report points to five republics where armed groups strike most often: Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia, North Ossetia and Kabardino-Balkaria. Although Amnesty International recognizes that... MORE

Against the backdrop of the general security situation across the North Caucasus, where in May alone 164 people were victims of the conflict between the government and the armed opposition, the situation in Chechnya appears to be less intense. Violence in the republic in May... MORE