Latest Articles about South Caucasus
AZERBAIJAN’S GROWING ECONOMIC CAPACITY HAS YET TO AFFECT KARABAKH RESOLUTION
On September 4 Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated that the national budget of the country in 2008 would reach $12 billion (Day.az, September 4). Just three years ago, the budget totaled only $4 billion. Aliyev’s announcement was no surprise to the domestic audience, since the... MORE
RUSSIA AND GEORGIA STILL TEETERING ON BRINK OF WAR
Last week Georgia’s former defense minister, Irakli Okruashvili, accused the country’s pro-Western President Mikheil Saakashvili of large-scale corruption and conspiring to kill Badri Patarkatsishvili, a prominent businessman. Okruashvili claimed that then-prime minister Zurab Zhvaniya, who was found dead in a friend’s apartment in 2005, actually... MORE
ARMENIAN EX-PRESIDENT BREAKS LONG SILENCE, SIGNALS COMEBACK
Levon Ter-Petrosian, Armenia’s former president acclaimed in the West for his conciliatory stance on the Karabakh conflict, has rocked the domestic political arena with his first public speech in nearly a decade. Addressing hundreds of supporters in Yerevan on September 21, he described the current... MORE
SAAKASHVILI AT UN: INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS FAILING ON POST-SOVIET CONFLICT RESOLUTION
Addressing the UN General Assembly in New York on September 26, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili cautioned the United Nations and other international institutions that their credibility is eroding as security actors and guardians of international law. Saakashvili noted that the United Nations and the OSCE... MORE
SPORTS BECOMES PUBLIC DIPLOMACY OPPORTUNITY FOR AZERBAIJAN
Baku hosted the world wrestling championship September 17-23, reopening the long-standing dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia regarding the status of Karabakh. According to the rules of the tournament, all sportsmen from other countries, including Armenia, were to be provided with security and other arrangements for... MORE
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE HELD IN SOUTH OSSETIA
On September 21 Georgia organized an international conference within South Ossetia about that conflict. It was the first event of this type ever held in any post-Soviet conflict area, and it was held despite an attempt by the Russian military to stop it. Ambassadors and... MORE
ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT OPPOSITION UNDER FIRE AFTER KEY VOTE
The two opposition parties represented in the Armenian parliament are facing embarrassing accusations of secret collaboration with the government after effectively acquiescing to the reappointment of the country’s top prosecutor. The National Assembly overwhelmingly voted on September 13 to endorse President Robert Kocharian’s decision to... MORE
FRIENDS OF GEORGIA HOLD STRATEGY SESSION IN LITHUANIA
The New Friends of Georgia group of countries conferred in an enlarged and upgraded format on September 13-14 in Vilnius. This meeting shows that a strong nucleus of eight countries has developed within the European Union and NATO (alongside the United States in the latter... MORE
OIL MONEY TO FUND NGOs AND OPPOSITION PARTIES IN AZERBAIJAN
Different groups in Azerbaijan are clamoring for their share of the massive flow of oil revenue generated by the completion of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. Lobbying from the ministries for additional financial resources to complete new, massive projects is leading to a new era in Azerbaijani... MORE
RUSSIANS CLOSE TO BUYING ANOTHER MAJOR ARMENIAN ENTERPRISE
A Russian financial-industrial group looks set to acquire an Indian-owned company that develops the bulk of Armenia’s gold reserves. The deal, if it goes through, will give a further boost to Russia’s already strong economic presence in the South Caucasus states resulting from not only... MORE