Some flowery rhetoric from Tehran notwithstanding, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliev's January 24-26 official visit to Iran turned out to be a routine event that confirmed the tension-free relations between neighboring countries, without evidence of rapprochement at U.S. expense. Such a rapprochement had been the subject... MORE

While local newspapers and political analysts continue to speculate about whether the United States will attack Iran during President George W. Bush's second term, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev departed for a three-day official visit to Tehran. Turan News Agency reported on January 24 that eight... MORE

Two newly formed election coalitions have awakened Azerbaijan 's seemingly indifferent political scene, promising heated parliamentary elections later this year. On January 10, 26 NGOs and representatives from various political parties formed a new election coalition, "Solidarity and Trust." Ilgar Gasimov, chairman of the public... MORE

Etibar Mammadov, the long-time chairman of the Azerbaijan National Independence Party (ANIP) and one of the most influential opposition leaders in Azerbaijan, announced his resignation from his party position on December 24. His decision came as a surprise not only to other political parties, but... MORE

Perhaps for the first time in the past ten years, Azerbaijan has departed from the traditional path of peace negotiation on the Karabakh conflict and taken its case to the UN General Assembly. On November 23, the plenary meeting of the 59th session of the... MORE

On September 13 the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, U.S. General James Jones, canceled the Cooperative Best Effort-2004 exercise, which was scheduled to be held September 14-26 in Azerbaijan and involve almost 1,000 personnel from more than 20 NATO member and partner countries. The exercise... MORE

The Azerbaijani leadership is showing its impatience at the continuing diplomatic deadlock over the disputed province of Karabakh. The signals coming out of Baku indicate that the Aliev administration is prepared -- at least in words -- to try to resolve the long-running conflict with... MORE

On July 22 Georgia's Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources ordered British Petroleum (BP) to suspend construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline in the Borjomi valley of Western Georgia. The U.S.-backed and BP-led strategic $3.6-billion, 1750-km pipeline is intended to transport 800,000 barrels of crude... MORE