Latest Articles about The Caucasus
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
SUKHUMI’S ANTI-GEORGIAN STANCE JEOPARDIZES INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC INITIATIVES
The promising movement toward reopening railways to link Russia, Georgia, and Armenia via Georgia’s breakaway Abkhazia region is now in jeopardy. The $300 million project to restore the Abkhaz section of the Russo-Georgian railway after it was cut in 1992-93 appears to have stumbled over... MORE
STATEMENT BY OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS SPARKS DEBATE IN ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN
On June 22, during a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna, the Minsk Group co-chairs announced the main principles of the Karabakh peace process. The accompanying statement described these principles as “a set of core principles that [the co-chairs] believe are fair, balanced,... MORE
EXPULSION OF TURKISH ELECTRICITY COMPANY PROMISES GEOPOLITICAL LOSSES FOR AZERBAIJAN
After months of mutual accusations, arrests, investigations, and political statements, the Turkish electricity company Barmek has broken its contract with the Azerbaijani government to manage electricity supplies for Baku, the capital, and the northern regions of the country. “I did not want to do it,”... MORE
IS ABKHAZIA A PAWN IN THE GLOBAL POWER GAME?
The reactivated confidence-building measures for settling the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict have not moved Georgia any closer to restoring its territorial integrity, but instead has raised hopes among the separatists. On June 30 the UN-sponsored Georgian-Abkhaz Coordinating Council's working group convened after a five-year pause and discussed... MORE
ROBBERY, RACKETEERING, RANSOM FUND NORTH CAUCASUS INSURGENCY
Dagestan has experienced a wave of armored-car robberies this spring. The costliest attacks took place in Khasavyurt, Makhachkala, and in the mountainous Utsukul district. In March a bank vehicle in Khasavyurt was robbed of 1 million rubles. In April gunmen held up a bank vehicle... MORE