Latest Articles about The Caucasus

DEVELOPMENT AID CAN BE GEARED TOWARD CONFLICT RESOLUTION IN ABKHAZIA

Georgia is preparing to exercise its sovereign right to demand the termination of Russian “peacekeeping” operations on its territory and their replacement with genuine international peacekeeping missions. Concurrently, Tbilisi is redoubling efforts to unfreeze not the conflicts as such (these are not and never were... MORE

FSB CLAIMS GEORGIA PLANNING “PROVOCATION” DURING G-8 MEETING

On July 9 Oleg Alborov, secretary of South Ossetia’s security council, was killed by a remote-controlled bomb as he opened his garage door. Officials in the breakaway Georgian republic immediately accused the Georgian special services of carrying out this assassination. As the simmering conflict between... MORE

BASAEV’S DEATH DOES NOT SOLVE KREMLIN WORRIES IN NORTH CAUCASUS

Chechen warlord Shamil Basaev died in Ingushetia on Monday, July 10. He perished either accidentally while preparing a sabotage operation or, according to the official version, he was eliminated by Russian special forces. Following the news, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, visited Grozny, the Chechen... MORE

GEORGIAN COURTS, MEDIA, CRITICIZED FOR UNPOPULAR DECISIONS

As top Georgian leaders conducted diplomatic trips abroad, the domestic political situation at home heated up. President Mikheil Saakashvili returned from his July 3-6 visit to the United States with declarations of support from the Bush administration. Parliamentary Chair Nino Burjanadze was not as fortunate,... MORE

BTC PIPELINE COULD MAKE CEYHAN AN ENERGY HUB

On Thursday, July 13, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline will be inaugurated at a ceremony in Ceyhan, Turkey. More than 40 high-level officials from some 30 countries plan to attend (Trend.az, July 11). President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia have already... MORE

BASAEV GONE, BUT MOSCOW STILL HAS HEADACHES IN THE NORTH CAUCASUS

The July 9 death of Chechen warlord Shamil Basaev from an accidental explosion -- not a Russian-planned operation -- removes the Chechen rebels’ most charismatic and probably most ruthless commander from the scene. Although Federal Security Service (FSB) Director Nikolai Patrushev claimed, “The effort became... MORE

ARMENIA’S GREEK-OWNED TELECOM OPERATOR PUT UP FOR SALE

Greece’s Hellenic Telecommunications Organization (OTE) is pressing ahead with the surprise sale of its commanding share in Armenia’s national telephone company, ArmenTel. Four companies and consortiums, two of them Russian, have already been short listed to take part in a tender called by the Greek... MORE