Latest Articles about The Caucasus
BREAKTHROUGH IN GEORGIA-RUSSIA NEGOTIATIONS ON TROOP WITHDRAWAL
On May 30 in Moscow, Ministers of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov and Salome Zourabichvili signed a Joint Statement regarding the "cessation of functioning" of Russian military bases and other installations and withdrawal of Russian forces from Georgia. In this document, the Russian side renounces some... MORE
ARMENIAN LOCAL ELECTIONS REMAIN INTRA-GOVERNMENT CONTESTS AMID OPPOSITION APATHY
Over the past 15 years Armenians have grown accustomed to a great variety of political groups vying for power in their country. They must therefore be amazed by the glaring lack of choice in unfolding local elections across Armenia, races that are largely contested by... MORE
ZHVANIA’S DEATH STILL CONTROVERSIAL TOPIC IN GEORGIA
The almost-shelved investigation into the February 3 death of Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania has resurfaced and may yet damage President Mikheil Saakashvili's government. Saakashvili did not mention Zhvania's death when he reviewed the troubles Georgia has faced in 2005 when he addressed the crowd... MORE
BAKU-TBILISI-CEYHAN OIL PIPELINE INAUGURATED
The first stage of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil export pipeline was officially inaugurated on May 25 at the Sangachal shore terminal, south of Baku. The presidents of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Kazakhstan, as well as BP President Lord John Browne, U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman,... MORE
BAKU AND ASTANA PLAY IT SAFE IN CASPIAN OIL BATTLE
Until Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev made a landmark trip to Baku on May 25, marking Kazakhstan's decisive move towards joining the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline project, bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan had shown few signs of progress. Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliev visited Kazakhstan in March 2004,... MORE
WILL BAKU-TBILISI-CEYHAN PIPELINE CARRY REVOLUTIONARY IDEAS ALONG WITH CRUDE?
During the opening ceremony on May 25, oil started flowing into the U.S.-backed Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, which will bring Caspian hydrocarbons to Western markets and break Russia's monopoly on energy exports from the Caucasus and Central Asia. But some Russian political analysts contend that the... MORE
TALYSH ISSUE, DORMANT IN AZERBAIJAN, REOPENED IN ARMENIA
On May 20-22, in Armenia's resort town of Tsaghkadzor, an event billed as the "First International Conference on Talysh Studies" was hosted by Yerevan State University's Iranian Studies Department and the Yerevan-based Center for Iranian Studies. Almost certainly, some political circles in Armenia were behind... MORE
ASSASSINATION IN DAGESTAN DAMAGES KREMLIN ATTEMPTS TO ATTRACT FOREIGN INVESTMENT FOR THE CAUCASUS
Early last year Russian President Vladimir Putin solemnly declared, "Armed confrontations and conflicts are becoming history. Even in the most difficult territory, the Chechen republic, the peace process is becoming irreversible" (grani.ru, March 3, 2004). Putin then called for investment in the North Caucasus. However,... MORE
AMENDMENTS TO KEY LAWS UNLIKELY TO FOSTER ARMENIA’S DEMOCRATIZATION
The Armenian authorities claim to have taken a further step toward meeting their membership commitments to the Council of Europe with the May 20 passage of amendments to the country's controversial laws on elections and rallies. President Robert Kocharian's leading political allies say the move... MORE
JAVAKHETI REGION COMPLICATES GEORGIAN RELATIONS WITH ARMENIA
In April Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and his Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharian held talks in Tbilisi following unrest in Georgia's predominately Armenian-populated southern region, Samtskhe-Javakheti. The disturbances, which calmed down soon, coincided with a parliamentary resolution about the withdrawal of Russian military bases from Georgia,... MORE