Latest Articles about The Caucasus
ROSE, ORANGE REVOLUTIONS’ PROTAGONISTS AGAINST ‘COLOR REVOLUTION’ IN AZERBAIJAN
Judging by the experience of past elections in Azerbaijan -- particularly the 2003 presidential vote -- the crucial date in the upcoming parliamentary elections will not be the November 6 balloting day, but the day after. All opinion surveys and other indicators presage a clear-cut... MORE
FREEDOM OF MEDIA IN GEORGIA DECLINES EVEN FURTHER
Reporters Without Frontiers, a Paris-based watchdog organization, released the 2005 version of its Worldwide Press Freedom Index on October 20. Georgia fell from 94th place in 2004 to 99th place. Prior to the November 2003 Rose Revolution, the organization ranked Georgia 73rd. Georgia's falling scores... MORE
ALIYEV ISSUES NEW DECREES TO IMPROVE ELECTION TRANSPARENCY
A combination of international pressure and domestic tension has forced the Azerbaijani authorities to make several significant concessions regarding the November 6 parliamentary elections. Speaking at the October 25 governmental session, President Ilham Aliyev outlined new measures to ensure a transparent and democratic electoral process.... MORE
CONSPIRATORS OR SCAPEGOATS? AZERBAIJAN STILL BUZZING OVER CABINET SHAKEUP
Throughout the past week, Azerbaijan's citizens and outside observers have been discussing President Ilham Aliyev's surprising cabinet reshuffle. On October 19 President Aliyev suddenly dismissed several ministers and high-ranking officials, some of whom were quickly arrested by the country's law enforcement agencies. This risky, but... MORE
AZERBAIJAN’S ELECTORAL CAMPAIGN: FREER, FAIRER, AWAITING FAIR JUDGMENT
Images of baton-wielding police breaking up unlawful rallies by the radical opposition in a central square of Baku are partly responsible for diverting international attention from Azerbaijan's genuine advances toward holding freer and fairer elections. The other distracting factors include local authorities' uneasy learning process... MORE
CONTROVERSIAL ARRESTS SHED LIGHT ON ARMENIA’S MURKY SECURITY SERVICE
Armenia's National Security Service (NSS), the unreformed successor to the local branch of the Soviet KGB, has come under rare media attention after launching dubious criminal proceedings against prominent government critics. The resulting arrests of two businessmen who have alleged high-level corruption within the Armenian... MORE
JCC, “PEACEKEEPING” FORMATS IN SOUTH OSSETIA SHOWN TO BE UNTENABLE
An emergency session of the Joint Control Commission (JCC, overseeing the ceasefire in South Ossetia) was held on October 24-25 in Moscow. Convened ostensibly to overcome tensions in the wake of the September 20 demonstration of force by Russian-assisted Ossetian troops, the Moscow meeting merely... MORE
PRESIDENT ALIYEV SACKS KEY MINISTERS, CLAIMS COUP WAS IMMINENT
On October 19, Azerbaijani authorities announced they had successfully prevented a coup in the country. Authorities arrested two powerful and influential cabinet ministers -- Minister of Economic Development Farhad Aliyev (no relations to President Ilham Aliyev) and Minister of Health Ali Insanov. A third figure,... MORE
WILL FIRED GEORGIAN FOREIGN MINISTER BECOME OPPOSITION LEADER?
Late on Wednesday, October 19, Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli announced the dismissal of Foreign Minister Salome Zourabichvili. Nogaideli, who was forced to postpone a scheduled trip to the United States because of the situation, said that he had experienced "a very difficult conversation" with... MORE
GEORGIA DE-FREEZES THE CONFLICT-SETTLEMENT PROCESSES
Interviewed in the October 17 issue of the Kyiv daily Den, Georgia's National Security Council Secretary Gela Bezhuashvili underscores a point that many in Russia and some in international diplomatic chancelleries seem disinclined to acknowledge openly: Georgia has succeeded in "de-freezing" the conflict-settlement processes regarding... MORE