On March 10, Russia and Georgia held their first meeting in a new round of negotiations over Russia’s World Trade Organization (WTO) bid. Maxim Medvedkov, Russia’s chief negotiator, and Tamar Kovziridze, the Georgian prime minister’s senior aide and long time negotiator over WTO issues, held... MORE

The North Caucasus is increasingly reminiscent of the zone of military conflict where the situation is gradually approaching a critical point. News stories coming from the region – even those covered by official Russian media, the task of which is by no means to depict... MORE

Forces loyal to embattled Libyan leader Mu’ammar al-Qaddafi have battled for days to take the coastal city of Misrata. Qaddafi’s efforts to take Misrata shed light on the little known role of Circassians in Libya, descendants of the Muslim tribes of the northwest Caucasus region... MORE

On March 10-11, a large forum of Azerbaijani students studying in foreign countries took place in the French city of Strasbourg (www.1news.az). The event was sponsored by the Azeri Ministry of Youth and Sports and organized by the newly established NGO: ASAIF (Azerbaijani Students and... MORE

The muftis of Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachaevo-Cherkessia and North Ossetia were elected on March 15, 16 and 17. Russian experts on Islam have started questioning the official policy on Islamic bureaucracies and are now calling for their “modernization,” while the government continues its efforts to control the... MORE

On March 3, a conference titled “The Circassian Question and the Olympics in Sochi” was held at the Moscow center of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Many of the participants expressed disappointment with the Kremlin’s reluctance to discuss the issue of the Circassian “genocide”... MORE

The body of an officer of the Dagestani branch of the Federal Penitentiary Service was found in the republic’s capital on March 17. The officer, whose was a captain, was killed with two shots to the head, and two shell casings were found along with... MORE

Interviewed by Turkish media after concluding a visit to Ankara (Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review, March 14; CNN Turk, March 16), Azerbaijan’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Araz Azimov, has clarified his government’s view on normalizing Azerbaijan-Turkey-Armenia relations. Baku sees this as a two-track process that... MORE

On March 13, Dagestan and Adygea elected their respective regional parliaments. There were reports of serious violations of electoral rules from both republics. At the same time, sources reported an extremely low turnout of the voters, which may indicate a growing political crisis. There are... MORE

On March 11, two explosions took place in northern Moscow about 5-10 minutes apart. The bombs reportedly contained 0.3-0.4 kg of TNT along with fragments of nails to cause injuries. No one was hurt since the bombs detonated early in the evening, when there were... MORE