Latest Articles about South Caucasus
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
EXPERT REPORT ON MISSILE DROP IN GEORGIA LEAVES UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
On August 12-14 in Georgia, an international group of experts investigated the circumstances of the August 6 Russian air incursion and missile drop on that country. Following the incident, Georgia called for an independent international investigation -- independent meaning that the experts would volunteer their... MORE
EVIDENCE ACCUMULATES ON RUSSIAN AIR INCURSION INTO GEORGIA
A growing body of evidence confirms that the aircraft that dropped a missile on Georgia on August 6 (see EDM, August 8) entered from Russia’s North Ossetia and returned there, Russian denials notwithstanding. Some confirmation even came from Russian sources at the scene initially, before... MORE
RUSSIAN DENIALS OF AIR RAID ON GEORGIA FLY IN THE FACE OF EVIDENCE
Two Sukhoi fighter-bombers with Russian Air Force markings, flying together from the direction of North Ossetia, intruded by some 80 kilometers into Georgia’s air space on August 6. At 18:20 local time, one of these planes dived from 3,000 meters altitude and dropped a missile... MORE
ARMENIAN OPPOSITION SEEKS SINGLE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
Armenia’s fragmented opposition, reeling from its crushing defeat in recent parliamentary elections, is looking to join forces ahead of the presidential ballot due early next year. Leaders of the country’s main opposition parties have begun consultations on the possibility of fielding a single presidential candidate.... MORE
FOREIGN TV CHANNELS CLOSED IN AZERBAIJAN: POLITICS, ECONOMICS, OR SOMETHING ELSE?
Russia’s ORT television, the successor to the first TV station in the Soviet Union, was officially closed in Azerbaijan as of July 11. The decision came as a result of failed negotiations between the governments of Russia and Azerbaijan to continue broadcasting the channel in... MORE
ARMENIA DEEPENS ECONOMIC TIES WITH IRAN
Armenia and Iran have agreed to give new impetus to their bilateral relations and press ahead with the implementation of more multimillion-dollar energy projects. The agreements were announced in Yerevan after the July 20 meeting of their intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation, co-chaired by Iranian... MORE
AZERBAIJAN STATE OIL COMPANY TO BUILD REFINERIES ABROAD
On July 13 the Turkish Energy Markets Regulatory Authority (EMRA) approved a joint proposal by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) and Turkey’s Turcas Petrol to build a refinery near the Turkish port of Ceyhan. This was the second large-scale, successful initiative by SOCAR... MORE
INTELLIGENTSIA EXCHANGE SPARKS DEBATE, RAISES HOPES IN AZERBAIJAN AND ARMENIA
The surprise and controversial exchange of intelligentsia delegations between Azerbaijan and Armenia on June 28 generated heated debates in both societies. The move, the first of its kind in the past decade, raised more questions than answers. Each delegation was comprised of five or six... MORE