Extra-parliamentary opposition groups continue pushing for regime change in Georgia despite the diminishing numbers at their daily rallies in Tbilisi. All of Georgia's television channels are covering the events -including the leaders' dangerously inflammatory rhetoric- in full detail (Rustavi-2 TV, Imedi TV, April 10-13). Predictably... MORE

Claims relating to the re-opening the Turkish-Armenian border and imminent rapprochement continue to intensify ahead of April 24, the day the Armenian diaspora proclaims as "Genocide Day." The Turkish press has added to mounting speculation of a breakthrough based on a Wall Street Journal article... MORE

Opposition groups drew some 60,000 participants (by average estimates) for a rally in Tbilisi on April 9 and threatened to continue rallying on a daily basis. All Georgian television channels covered the advance preparations for the rally, as well as the event itself and the... MORE

Rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia has been fast tracked as diplomats intensified their work in the past two months on possible ways of addressing the issue (EDM, February 10, March 27). Ankara and Yerevan now appear poised to find a solution to their bilateral problems.... MORE

It took an eleventh-hour lobbying effort by the separatist leader of South Ossetia Eduard Kokoity to avert a serious fiscal crisis in the breakaway republic. On March 26, Kokoity led a delegation from South Ossetia to meet the Minister of Regional Development, Victor Basargin and... MORE

Armenia's leadership and main opposition forces are gearing up for a fresh showdown in the first local elections in Yerevan since the early 1990s to be held on May 31. The surprise decision by the top opposition leader, Levon Ter-Petrosian, to run for Yerevan mayor... MORE

On March 27 Russia's state owned gas monopoly Gazprom signed a memorandum of understanding with Azerbaijan's state-owned oil and Gas Company, SOCAR, which would provide for deliveries of Azeri gas to Russia starting in January 2010. The report in the Russian newspaper Vedomosti on March... MORE

President Mikheil Saakashvili's announcement on March 4, reshuffling the leadership of Georgia's armed forces has caused widespread surprise. Colonel Vladimir Chachibaia, Chief of the Joint Staff resigned, after holding the post since only November 2008, with General Devi Chankotadze appointed as his replacement (Inter Press... MORE

On March 17, Congressmen Adam Schiff, George Radanovich and Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairmen Frank Pallone and Mark Kirk introduced a resolution to the U.S. House of Representatives co-sponsored by over 70 House colleagues to recognize the Armenian "genocide" of 1915. The resolution is identical to... MORE

The global economic crisis is taking an increasingly heavy toll on Armenia, forcing its government to devalue the national currency, cut budgetary spending, and seek hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign assistance. With no end to the worldwide downturn in sight, the Armenian economy... MORE