Latest Articles about The Caucasus
Turkey Prioritizing its Relations with Azerbaijan
The recent uncertainty surrounding Turkish-Azeri relations is giving way to a new period of optimism, ahead of high level diplomatic contacts. Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet Azeri officials in a bid to reassure Baku of Ankara's intention to... MORE
Moscow Playing Hard-Ball in its Quasi-Partnership with NATO
The last thing that NATO needed on the eve of its controversial military exercises in Georgia was a mutiny, and that is exactly what happened yesterday. The details are still scarce and rumors run rife, as they always do in the South Caucasus, but perhaps... MORE
Baku Calling for Openness in Turkish-Armenian Relations
Most Azerbaijani politicians as well as the general public believe that the recent developments in Turkey's bilateral relationship with Armenia were aimed only at influencing Barack Obama's April 24 statement. Supposedly, Turkey wanted to provide a reason for Obama to avoid using the word "genocide"... MORE
Dagestan’s Sharia Jamaat Gets a New Leader
For nearly two months after the death of the last leader of Dagestan’s Sharia Jamaat, Emir Muaz (Umar Sheikhullaev), who was killed in Leninkent, a suburb of the Dagestani capital Makhachkala, during a special operation on February 5 (https://www.kavkaz.tv/russ/content/2009/02/16/64019.shtml), the Sharia Jamaat operated without a... MORE
Delimkhanov Placed on Interpol Wanted List
Seven Russian citizens, including Adam Delimkhanov, the State Duma deputy and cousin of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, have been put on Interpol’s wanted list at the request of the United Arab Emirates in connection with last month’s murder of former Vostok battalion commander Sulim Yamadaev... MORE
Dagestani Authorities Crack Down on Banned Muslim Organization
Several Russian news agencies reported on April 30 that two people were wounded when police and interior ministry troops in Dagestan were involved in what RIA Novosti called “a friendly-fire shootout” the previous day. The news agency, quoting an anonymous law-enforcement source, reported that the... MORE
Chechnya: Bombings, Shootings and Counter-Terrorist Operations Persist
RIA Novosti reported on April 25 that three explosions and a shooting over the previous 24-hour period in Chechnya had left one soldier dead and three wounded. A law enforcement source told the news agency that a soldier was killed when gunmen fired on a... MORE
Ingush Presidential Bodyguards Reportedly Involved in Shootout
Kavkazky Uzel reported on April 29 that unidentified attackers the previous evening fired an anti-tank grenade launcher at a group of servicemen who were guarding a train loaded with military equipment in Ingushetia’s Sunzha district. No one was hurt in the incident. On the evening... MORE
Memorial: More Kidnappings in Chechnya, More Killings in Ingushetia
According to research by the Memorial human rights group, the number of kidnappings in Chechnya and people killed in violence in Ingushetia increased between January-April of this year, compared to the same period in 2008. Kavkazky Uzel reported on April 27 that, according to Memorial,... MORE
Azerbaijan Looking at Narrow Gas Export Options
At the oil and gas conference just held in Baku, Industry and Energy Minister Natig Aliyev, confirmed that Azerbaijan strives for access to European markets as the main export destination for Azerbaijani gas and, potentially, for Turkmen gas via Azerbaijan to Europe (Turan, April 27).The... MORE