Latest Articles about South Caucasus
FORMER ABKHAZ PRESIDENTIAL RIVALS UNITE UNDER PRESSURE FROM MOSCOW
Georgia's breakaway region Abkhazia holds a second round of its presidential elections today (January 12). Sergei Bagapsh claimed victory in the initial election on October 3, 2004. However, Russian officials soon arrived in Abkhazia to annul the result. Russia forced Bagapsh to re-run the election,... MORE
RIVAL GEORGIAN MINISTERS CROSS SWORDS
Last week, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili was forced to mediate between two bickering members of his government. Ultimately, Saakashvili reached a temporary truce in the standoff between Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili and his predecessor, Gia Baramidze, currently State Minister for European Integration. Baramidze had replaced... MORE
DEFENSE MINISTER TARGETS CORRUPTION IN GEORGIAN MILITARY
Irakli Okruashvili, Georgia's Minister of Defense has alleged the continued existence of widespread corruption within the military. On January 4, he named senior Ministry of Defense officials, whom he said were involved in misappropriating funds, and set the target of seeing them imprisoned within one... MORE
OPPOSITION LEADER RESIGNS IN ATTEMPT TO RE-ENERGIZE AZERI POLITICS
Etibar Mammadov, the long-time chairman of the Azerbaijan National Independence Party (ANIP) and one of the most influential opposition leaders in Azerbaijan, announced his resignation from his party position on December 24. His decision came as a surprise not only to other political parties, but... MORE
ARMENIA TO DEPLOY TOKEN CONTINGENT TO IRAQ
On December 24, the Armenian parliament approved a symbolic deployment of Armenian military personnel as part of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq. The vote was 91-23, with one abstention, after a seven-hour closed session late into the night. A last-hour switch by the opposition National... MORE
NEW GEORGIAN GOVERNMENT TO INCREASE STABILITY, CONSISTENCY
After last week's intense media speculation, yesterday Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili announced an overhaul of key ministries. That same day, December 14, Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania announced the structural and personnel reorganization planned for the rest of the ministries. "We are doing this to make... MORE
MEDIA SPECULATION RISES ABOUT GEORGIAN MINISTERIAL CHANGES
After two days of media speculation, there are signs that the rumored imminent reshuffle of Georgia's power ministries may contain a grain of truth. On December 8 both Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania made statements that pointed toward a forthcoming reorganization.... MORE
AZERBAIJAN TAKES KARABAKH CASE TO THE UN: A STEP BACK OR FORWARD?
Perhaps for the first time in the past ten years, Azerbaijan has departed from the traditional path of peace negotiation on the Karabakh conflict and taken its case to the UN General Assembly. On November 23, the plenary meeting of the 59th session of the... MORE
ABKHAZ OPPOSITION CANDIDATE INCHES TOWARD PRESIDENTIAL POWER
Sergei Bagapsh, the opposition's presidential candidate in the disputed presidential elections in Georgia's breakaway region, Abkhazia, is inching toward securing the presidency. On November 26, the Abkhazian parliament officially decreed the October 3 presidential elections valid, "despite certain electoral violations" and declared Bagapsh president-elect. The... MORE
ABKHAZIA’S COUNCIL OF ELDERS CONVENES TO ADDRESS CURRENT CRISIS
Abkhazia's political polarization deepened suddenly on November 17, amid continuing attempts by presidential election loser Raul Khajimba and his Moscow backers to prevent the election's winner, Sergei Bagapsh, from taking office. Nodar Khashba, an Abkhaz-born Russian officer recently installed by Moscow as prime minister in... MORE