Turkey and Armenia signed twin protocols on October 10 that were in preparation since February of this year (EDM, February 10, March 27, April 9, May 14, May 18, October 7). Under the agreement, Turkey and Armenia will establish diplomatic relations and re-open their border.... MORE

Despite promises of renewed “decisive” action, Armenia’s largest opposition alliance led by former President Levon Ter-Petrosian remains reluctant to make a new push for power and is instead seeking to form a more broad-based anti-government coalition. Ter-Petrosian has publicly admitted that he and his Armenian... MORE

One of the trends surfacing in news reports about the North Caucasus insurgency this year is the presence of Azeri fighters within the rebel ranks. Chechnya’s president Ramzan Kadyrov also pointed a finger at Azerbaijan in a recent interview, claiming: “Most of the ammunition warehouses... MORE

In response to a question as to whether Ankara and Moscow have reached a deal to recognize Abkhazia and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated: “Russia will not enter a deal implying the recognition of Northern Cyprus in... MORE

This week in an unusual demonstration of solidarity, the authorities in Tbilisi and Moscow jointly welcomed the E.U.-sponsored report on the origins of the August 2008 Russian-Georgian war, compiled by Swiss diplomat Heidi Tagliavini. Each side praised the 1000-page report as "balanced" and concluded that... MORE

International diplomatic pressure on Turkey and Armenia to boost their efforts toward the normalization of their bilateral relations has continued on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held separate meetings with the foreign ministers of both countries, urging... MORE

President Barack Obama's recent decision to scrap plans to deploy elements of ballistic missile defense (BMD) in Poland and the Czech Republic has renewed speculation in Baku over the future of the Gabala Radio Location Station in Azerbaijan. This powerful Soviet-era radar station is currently... MORE

Another appeal to Western governments from renowned public figures, this time over Georgia, has appeared in European newspapers (Le Monde, Die Welt, The Guardian, Corriere della Sera, September 22, 23). Signed by the Czech, Lithuanian, and Estonian former heads of state and government (Vaclav Havel,... MORE

Yerevan's fence-mending agreements with Ankara, which are expected to be signed by October 14, have generated lively and bitter debates among Armenia's leading political groups. Although many of them have voiced misgivings about key parts of the deal, President Serzh Sargsyan should have no trouble... MORE

On September 13 experts from the Center for Military Analytical Research in Baku launched an unprecedented attack on the Azeri defense ministry, arguing that the country had stepped back from its cooperation with the United States and NATO. The controversy erupted over a semantic nuance,... MORE