Recent changes to the federal laws in Kabardin-Balkaria concerning education in schools have provoked controversy. "Representatives of minorities will be able to teach their children their mother tongues only at home," - lamented Muazin Khachetlov, the head of the Kabardin Congress in Kabardin-Balkaria. Khachetlov said... MORE

Public discourse in Dagestan is currently dominated by the subject of two anniversaries: last year's occupation of Georgian territory by Russian troops in August 2008, and the tenth anniversary of the rebel incursion into the Dagestani village of Botlikh led by Bagauddin Kebedov, then-Amir of... MORE

Less than one month after the notorious murder of the Chechen human rights activist Natalya Estemirova, Zarema Sadullaeva and her husband Alik Dzhabrailov were kidnapped and found dead the next day in Grozny. When they initially disappeared on August 10, the Chechen police attempted to... MORE

On August 10 the family of the celebrated murdered Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who covered human rights abuses in Chechnya, issued a statement condemning a Moscow court's decision to refuse to reopen the investigation and to merge it with the main case, (designed to find... MORE

Following the signing of energy cooperation agreements between Turkey and Russia, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz continued his "energy diplomacy," by visiting Azerbaijan. Prior to departing for the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, the Azerbaijani enclave between Turkey and Armenia, on August 8 Yildiz stressed that his... MORE

In a highly unusual move, the head of North Ossetia Taimuraz Mamsurov in an open letter on August 1 called on the governor of the neighboring Krasnodar region Alexander Tkachev to stop persecuting Ossetians in Sochi. Mamsurov cited the complaint that he had received from... MORE

The federal government in Moscow may be growing increasingly frustrated with the Chechen leadership. Despite frequently repeated and vocal claims that life in Chechnya has returned to normal, in reality the launch of large-scale operations targeting the insurgency across the republic suggests a new wave... MORE

On July 24 Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov declared his country's intention to take Azerbaijan to the international court of arbitration (ICA) over disputed oil fields. This announcement has shocked the Azeri government. Berdimuhamedov, speaking at a cabinet meeting, blamed Azerbaijan for the unsettled legal status... MORE

On July 26 the Balkar people sent the strongest signal yet aimed at convincing the authorities to take into account their opinions and preferences, stating that they will demand autonomous districts within Kabardin-Balkaria or if it does not work then a separate autonomous republic. The... MORE

U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden made clear during his Georgia visit (July 22-23) that the United States would not supply Georgia with defensive weapons. Georgia has no anti-tank and anti-aircraft systems (never having received any from the United States or other Western allies). Tbilisi had hoped... MORE