Opposition groups drew some 60,000 participants (by average estimates) for a rally in Tbilisi on April 9 and threatened to continue rallying on a daily basis. All Georgian television channels covered the advance preparations for the rally, as well as the event itself and the... MORE

Rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia has been fast tracked as diplomats intensified their work in the past two months on possible ways of addressing the issue (EDM, February 10, March 27). Ankara and Yerevan now appear poised to find a solution to their bilateral problems.... MORE

It took an eleventh-hour lobbying effort by the separatist leader of South Ossetia Eduard Kokoity to avert a serious fiscal crisis in the breakaway republic. On March 26, Kokoity led a delegation from South Ossetia to meet the Minister of Regional Development, Victor Basargin and... MORE

Only two days after Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov predicted that a formal end to the counter-terrorist operation in Chechnya would soon be announced, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on March 27 that improved security in the republic meant it is time to review tight restrictions... MORE

As early as the middle of 19th century, oil was extracted to the surface through wells on the territory of Dagestan. With the participation of Swedish oil industrialist Ludvig Nobel, several relatively shallow oil wells were operating in Dagestan by the end of that century... MORE

Chechnya was back in the spotlight at the end of last week because of the announcements made by its president, Ramzan Kadyrov, with regard to the fate of the counter-terrorist operation in the republic. In the best traditions of the Soviet past, a number of... MORE

Kavkazky Uzel on April 1 quoted Anatoly Tsyganok, head of the Center for Military Forecasts at the Institute of Political and Military Studies, as saying that former Vostok battalion commander Sulim Yamadaev, who was reportedly shot to death in Dubai on March 28, may have... MORE

Dubai’s The National newspaper reported on April 2 that police in the United Arab Emirates had detained “the prime suspect” in the killing of Sulim Yamadaev, the former commander of the Chechen-manned elite Russian army unit, the Vostok battalion. Citing police sources, the newspaper reported... MORE

Armenia's leadership and main opposition forces are gearing up for a fresh showdown in the first local elections in Yerevan since the early 1990s to be held on May 31. The surprise decision by the top opposition leader, Levon Ter-Petrosian, to run for Yerevan mayor... MORE