 RFE/RL Caucasus Report 5/28/2010 5:41:52 PM A review of RFE/RL reporting and analysis about the countries of the South Caucasus and Russia's North Caucasus region. For more stories on the Caucasus, please visit and bookmark our Caucasus page . |
 Armenia, Azerbaijan Mark Republic Day Armenia today marked the 92nd anniversary of the establishment of the first independent Armenian republic that emerged from the Russian Empire at the end of World War I. More  Albright Presents Strategic Concept For NATO’s Next Decade Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright, the chair of an expert committee advising NATO, says that the alliance must work quickly to become versatile, efficient, and capable of operating far from home and in partnership with others. Presenting the expert group's findings in New York, Albright also said that no one should be excluded from NATO membership -- even Russia. More  Armenian-American Group Seeks Scrutiny Of Bryza Nomination An influential Armenian-American group has called for careful scrutiny of the record of a diplomat nominated to be the next U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan. More  Armenia Cops Fired Over Suspect Death A local Armenian police chief and three officers have been fired over the death of man in custody. More  Armenia Ruling Party: No Early Election A senior member of Armenia's ruling party has downplayed the possibility of early elections, which have been called for by the opposition. More  Armenian Government Reworks Bill On Foreign Language Schools Armenian Education Minister Armen Ashotian says a revised government bill allowing a limited number of schools in Armenia to teach in a foreign language is due to be submitted to parliament for approval soon. More  Watchdog Amnesty Harsh On 2009 Watchdog Amnesty International has warned that human rights abuses continued to plague the world in 2009, with torture or ill treatment, unfair trials and imprisonment, and restrictions on free speech among the most common violations. More  UN 'Civilizations' Forum In Brazil Hopes To Reframe Debate Over Global Culture, Politics The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations will host its third-annual forum in Rio de Janeiro from May 27-29. The conference, titled "Bridging Cultures, Building Peace," will be attended by high-level dignitaries including President Lula da Silva of Brazil, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. More  Saakashvili: Threat From 'Outside' Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili today oversaw Georgia's first military parade since the 2008 war with Russia and warned against what he called a continuing threat from "outside forces." More  Embattled North Ossetian Mufti Steps Down The Spiritual Board of Muslims of North Ossetia (DUMSO) accepted late on May 24 after a prolonged discussion the letter of resignation submitted by the republic's mufti, Ali-haji Yevteyev, four days earlier. More  Armenian Opposition Holds Rally In Second-Largest City Thousands of activists from Armenia's main opposition alliance held a public rally in the country's second-largest city, Gyumri, during which they denounced the policies of the current government and called for snap elections. More  Victims Decry 'Mild' Sentence In Armenian Child-Abuse Trial Armenian rights activists and abuse victims are unhappy with the light sentence given to a teacher convicted of child abuse. More  Georgian Local Elections Focus Of Intense Scrutiny In the wake of two successive elections in 2008 that many opposition parties claim were rigged, the key issue is not so much one of policy, or even who will win most votes where, as of procedure: will President Mikheil Saakashvili's United National Movement use all the administrative resources at its disposal to preserve its hold on power, or it will it allow a vote that is truly free, fair, and democratic? More  Chechen Leader Challenges FSB Data On Insurgents Addressing a recent meeting of senior law enforcement officials, Ramzan Kadyrov questioned periodic estimates released by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) of the number of Islamic insurgents currently based in Chechnya, and that organization's criteria for determining who falls into that category. More  Armenian Investigators Point To Suicide In Police Custody Case An Armenian law-enforcement body investigating a suspicious death in police custody has largely endorsed police claims that the man committed suicide. More  Armenia Praises Karabakh Elections Armenia has hailed the parliamentary elections in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh territory as a sign of the breakaway Azerbaijani region's strengthening democracy. More  New Political Party Formed In South Ossetia The founding congress of a new political party named Iron (Ossetia) took place on May 22 in Tskhinvali, capital of the unrecognized breakaway republic of South Ossetia. More  History, BP Oil Spill Haunt Caspian Sea As BP struggles to contain the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, a wary eye is being cast on offshore drilling projects around the world, especially in the Caspian Sea, where observers warn of severe consequences if steps are not taken to improve environmental oversight. More  Georgian Flights To Moscow Resume Georgian Airways resumed charter flights today between Tbilisi and Moscow. More  EU, East Meet Before Summit Ahead of a milestone EU-Russia summit next week, leading diplomats from the 27 EU governments met their counterparts from the six members of the bloc's Eastern Partnership -- Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan -- in what was meant by its Polish hosts as a show of support. More  Georgian Party Accused Of Intimidation Some Georgians are accusing the ruling United National Movement of intimidating people not to vote for opposition parties in the upcoming local elections. More  Armenia Raps EU Over Karabakh Resolution Armenia has criticized the European Parliament for demanding the "withdrawal of Armenian forces from all occupied territories of Azerbaijan" in its latest resolution on the South Caucasus. More  Georgian Opposition Accuses Government Of Bribery The leader of the Georgian opposition Labor Party has accused the government of offering him 4 million euros (about $5 million) in exchange for his party's withdrawal from upcoming local elections. More  Nagorno-Karabakh Holds Elections Parliamentary elections are taking place today in Nagorno-Karabakh, the breakaway region of Azerbaijan populated mainly by ethnic Armenians. More The Muslim leader in the Russian republic of North Ossetia has offered his resignation following controversial statements he made in an interview earlier this month. More  Georgian Energy Mogul Arrested Geno Malazonia, the president of JSC Energy Invest, was arrested and charged with fraud, tax evasion, and abuse of power. More  EU: Nagorno-Karabakh Elections Illegal The European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, has warned that planned parliamentary elections in the disputed Caucasus enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh on May 23 will not be legal. More The Armenian parliament has approved a controversial bill which local press groups say enables the government to tighten its grip on broadcast media. More  Azeri Mosque Threatened With Closure Azerbaijani police have warned the clergy of a Sunni mosque outside of Baku that it may be closed because it is not officially registered. More  Georgian Daily Wants To See State Deal With Russian Energy Company The Georgian newspaper "Rezonansi" and the Young Lawyers Association (AIA) said they will continue their legal case against the Energy Ministry for not revealing details of a deal it made with a Russian energy company. More  Armenian Growth Accelerates In April Official statistics show that Armenia's ongoing economic recovery accelerated further in April. More  Azerbaijani Rights Activists Seek International Help On Torture Cases Dozens of Azerbaijani nongovernmental organizations have signed a petition urging international organizations to support an investigation into torture cases in Azerbaijan. More  Prosecutor Shot Dead In North Caucasus A local deputy prosecutor has been shot dead in Russia's republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, the latest victim of ongoing violence in the North Caucasus. More Armenian Vow To Combat Torture Armenian Prosecutor-General Aghvan Hovsepian has told visiting Council of Europe officials that security officials are doing more to stop the mistreatment of criminal suspects. More |
