Latest Articles about South Caucasus
THE CONSPIRATOR AS BRAGGART
On August 4 and 5, Azerbaijani television channels screened a videotape of a meeting held on July 29 in Tbilisi between Ruslan Bashirli, leader of the Baku-based Yeni Fikir (New Thinking) youth association, and two Georgians who claimed to represent a youth group supporting regime... MORE
ARMENIAN NUCLEAR PLANT TO FUNCTION FOR ANOTHER DECADE
Armenia appears to have decided to keep its vital nuclear power station at Metsamor operational for another decade, despite persisting Western concerns about the safety of the Soviet-built facility. The authorities in Yerevan, reluctant to set a date for the plant's inevitable closure until recently,... MORE
TENSIONS SIMMERING IN GEORGIA’S JAVAKHETI REGION
The recent anti-terrorist operations in Georgia (see EDM July 25, 29) have overshadowed coverage of anti-Georgian developments flaring in Georgia's turbulent Javakheti region, a southern area predominantly populated by ethnic Armenians. On July 17, Armenian residents of Samsar blocked efforts by students and nuns from... MORE
RUSSIAN FORCES BEGIN WITHDRAWAL FROM GEORGIA, DIG HEELS IN MOLDOVA
Presented with flowers and Georgian champagne by demonstrators cheering their withdrawal, Russian soldiers set out from the Batumi base at dawn on July 30 in a convoy bound for Russia. The move marks the beginning of Russia’s implementation of the agreement, signed May 30 by... MORE
BAKU ON EDGE AMID REPORTS OF INCREASING TERRORIST MOVEMENTS IN AZERBAIJAN
Several incidents in the last few months suggest that Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, faces a significant terrorist threat. On July 21, two policemen were wounded during a daytime ambush. When the two approached a car near the central market and asked for documents, the... MORE
TBILISI ACCUSES MOSCOW OF SPONSORING TERRORISM
This week the Georgian special services celebrated breakthroughs in two high-profile criminal cases. Shortly after arresting a man accused of throwing a hand grenade at U.S. President George W. Bush in May (see EDM, July 25), the Georgian Interior Ministry made arrests in connection with... MORE
ABKHAZ RHETORIC CALCULATED TO STALL TALKS WITH TBILISI
Abkhaz authorities are derailing political talks with Tbilisi, ostensibly in protest against Georgian actions in a July 3 maritime incident and in its wake. On that day, Georgia's coast guard stopped a Turkish cargo vessel off Pitsunda en route to an Abkhaz port, impounded the... MORE
ARMENIAN OPPOSITION CONSIDERS SUPPORTING CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM
The Armenian authorities have been given a major boost in their standoff with the opposition with the Council of Europe's effective endorsement of their draft amendments to Armenia's controversial post-Soviet constitution. Experts from the Venice Commission have declared that the amendments' passage at a referendum... MORE
TBILISI ARRESTS SUSPECT IN BUSH GRENADE INCIDENT, BUT MANY QUESTIONS REMAIN
After an intense search, on July 20 Georgian police arrested an individual suspected of tossing a hand-grenade towards U.S. President George W. Bush during his speech at Tbilisi's Freedom Square on May 10. Vladimir Arutyunian, 27, is an ethnic Armenian resident of Tbilisi. The police... MORE
ARMS RACE IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS: A TIME BOMB?
Locked in a decade-old conflict over Karabakh, Armenia and Azerbaijan have been increasing their military expenditures over the last few years. Lately this trend seems to have accelerated dramatically. The competition has launched an informal arms race in the South Caucasus that could easily lead... MORE