Following his re-election on October 9, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s first official foreign visit was to Turkey. During the November 12–13 visit, Aliyev met with Turkish President Abdulla Gul, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and the chairman of the Grand National... MORE

Georgia’s Western orientation is the legacy of former president Mikheil Saakashvili’s government (2003–2012), which ended the predecessor governments’ equivocations. A tradition-bound society with almost no historical experience of Europe, very limited comprehension of European norms and values, and isolated during the past two centuries within... MORE

Georgia’s new prime minister, Irakli Garibashvili, took office on November 20, casting anathema on the opposition United National Movement (UNM) party, and warning it of more criminal investigations to come. His fierce introductory speech as head of government came across as an attempt to intimidate... MORE

On November 17, Giorgi Margvelashvili was inaugurated as the fourth president of Georgia (Rustavi 2 TV, Channel 1, Imedi TV, November 17). However, his rhetoric and appointments to his foreign policy team have already raised concerns about the foreign policy course his administration may take.... MORE

The ethnically charged riots in the Moscow suburb of Biryulyovo in early October, as well as the resulting case of Orkhan Zeynalov—an Azerbaijani citizen charged with sparking the violence—have electrified Azerbaijani society and become sources of anti-Kremlin feelings in the South Caucasus country. On October... MORE

The resignation, after November 17, of Georgia’s chief prosecutor, Archil Kbilashvili, was to be expected: all top officials in the government will have to step down following the inauguration of the newly elected president, Giorgi Margvelashivili (https://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=26665). According to the Georgian constitution, after the new... MORE

On October 24 and 25, Belarus hosted two high-level meetings of heads of state of the Supreme Economic Council of the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEc) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). While these gatherings enabled their participants to discuss a wide range of issues... MORE

On November 2, outgoing Georgian prime minister and multi-billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili named his protégé, 31-year-old Minister of Interior Irakli Garibashvili, as his successor when he voluntarily steps down as head of government following the November 17 presidential inauguration (Channel 1; Rustavi 2 TV, November 2).... MORE

In October 2013, Russian authorities reportedly thwarted a possible attack by militant extremists against the Maradykovo chemical weapons (CW) storage and elimination facility in the Middle Volga region of Kirov. The authorities stated that two young males from the North Caucasus allegedly had bomb components... MORE

The Central Electoral Commission of Georgia has finalized the vote count after last Sunday’s (October 27) presidential election (https://www.results.cec.gov.ge). The candidate of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) coalition, Giorgi Margvelashvili, received 62.11 percent of votes cast; the leader of the opposition United National Movement (UNM)... MORE