Latest Articles about The Caucasus
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
GEORGIAN WINE WAR — IS HANGOVER MORE POLITICAL THAN ECONOMIC?
Despite huge losses, Georgian wine merchants continue to suffer the consequences of Moscow’s March 27 ban on imported Georgian wines. Russian authorities claimed to be protecting the Russian consumer market from fake beverages. According to Gennady Onishchenko, Russia’s chief health inspector, more than 1.5 million... MORE
REBELS IN NORTH CAUCASUS TARGET SENIOR POLICE OFFICERS
On June 21 assassinations rocked the city of Khasavyurt, in the North Caucasus republic of Dagestan. Saigidsalim Zabitov, head of the local police organized crime division, was shot dead together with Shamsudin Kachakaev, a policeman who was accompanying him. Rebels ambushed their car late at... MORE
GEORGIAN MEDIA QUESTIONS SAAKASHVILI’S HEALTH, CABINET PLANS
This week two Georgian newspaper articles stood out from the typical reports about current events. One was about the sanity of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, and the other was about his plans to reshuffle the cabinet once again. On Monday, June 26, Khronika published a... MORE
YEREVAN PRESSING FOR TOUGHER ACTION AGAINST ANTI-ARMENIAN RACISM IN RUSSIA
Armenia’s leadership has indicated its discontent with the Russian authorities’ failure to stop racially motivated attacks on non-Slavic immigrants in Russia. Such attacks have claimed at least six Armenian lives this year. Faced with domestic outcry against its reluctance to publicly exert pressure on Moscow,... MORE
WITH FEW OUTLETS TO VOICE OPPOSITION, AZERBAIJANI STUDENTS STAGE HUNGER STRIKE
In an otherwise calm post-election period, Azerbaijan’s students are emerging as the only loud critic of the government. For the second time this year, students have staged a hunger strike against the Ministry of Education. This time, the protest action was organized by students from... MORE