 RFE/RL Caucasus Report 8/2/2010 6:08:32 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 . |
 Azeri Journalists Barred From Office Due To Debt Journalists from the opposition newspaper "Azadliq" were not allowed to enter the paper's premises today due to unpaid debts to a state-owned publishing house. More  Lawyers in Daghestan Demand Immunity From Police Violence The council of Daghestan's Chamber of Advocates has addressed an appeal to Interior Minister Major-General Ali Magomedov and Prosecutor-General Andrei Nazarov demanding immunity from police violence and guaranteed access to their defendants. More  Tabriz Demonstrators Demand Right To Education In Azeri Turkish On August 1, some 2,000 to 3,000 people demonstrated in the northern Iranian city of Tabriz to demand the right to be educated in Azeri Turkish and to condemn what they called "discrimination against Azeri Turks in Iran." More  Medieval Georgian Sites Placed On UNESCO Endangered List The Bagrati Cathedral and Gelati Monastery, two jewels of medieval Georgian architecture, are under threat. That's according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), whose World Heritage Committee is holding its annual session this week in Brazil. More  U.S. In Armenia Opposition Meeting U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Marie Yovanovitch has met with opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrossian to discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and Turkish-Armenian relations. More  Umarov Bows Out As North Caucasus Emir Doku Umarov announced in a two-minute video statement posted on August 1 that he is stepping down as emir of the North Caucasus because he is "tired." More  Chechen Site Claims Umarov Steps Down An unofficial website that serves as a mouthpiece for insurgents in Russia's North Caucasus region says Chechen militant leader Doku Umarov has stepped down and appointed Aslambek Vadalov as his successor. More  The Kosovo Precedent Kosovo, as observers were unanimous to observe in the wake of the International Court of Justice's ruling, forms the tip of the iceberg of global separatism, and the ruling may well have opened Pandora's box. More  Kosovo Ruling Accelerates Erosion Of European Order The decision by a UN court on Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence will not have immediate consequences. But it has become another element in the general erosion of the European order that has been ongoing since the end of the Cold War. And the long-term consequences of this erosion are impossible to predict. More  Funds For Conflict Victims In South Ossetia Disbursed To Army, Police The parliament of Georgia's breakaway republic of South Ossetia has ruled to make available 50 million rubles ($1.65 million) from a bank account opened for private donations in support of persons who suffered during the August 2008 war. More A group of some 20 Georgian internally displaced persons who fled Abkhazia during the 1992-93 war are continuing their protests against the Georgian authorities' plans to move them from Tbilisi to alternative accommodation in two villages in the western district of Zugdidi. More  Are Chechen Officials Playing Up Summer Camp Contretemps To Score Political Points? Senior Chechen officials and Russian law enforcement bodies are on collision course over a recent incident at a summer camp in Krasnodar Krai in which Chechen teenagers and local Russians clashed. More  Azerbaijani President Takes Up Twitter Another world leader is utilizing the power of social networking. First it was Medvedev, now it's Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. More  Jailed Azerbaijani Blogger's Appeal Rejected An Azerbaijani court has rejected an appeal by a jailed blogger seeking an early release from prison. More  Controversy Over New Georgian Draft Constitution Continues Georgian opposition parties, legal experts, and NGOs are continuing their last-ditch battle to prevent the formal adoption by parliament of a new draft constitution formulated in such a way as to enable President Mikheil Saakashvili to retain supreme power as prime minister once his second presidential term expires in 2013. More  Daghestan's Leaders Issue Ultimatum To Militants Senior officials in Daghestan issued a "final warning" last week to Islamic militants that if they refuse to lay down their arms, "they will be destroyed," a retreat from repeated earlier assurances by President Magomedsalam Magomedov. More  Abkhazia Does U-Turn Over Geneva Talks Georgia's breakaway republic of Abkhazia apparently will, after all, send a delegation to attend the next round of internationally mediated talks in Geneva on security measures for Abkhazia and South Ossetia in the wake of the August 2008 war. More  Eastern Europe's Frozen Conflicts Look To Kosovo Ruling While the International Court of Justice says has said its ruling approving Kosovo's declaration of independence is unique to Kosovo, the ruling is being regarded in more universal terms. And nowhere more so than by parties involved in secession crises or frozen conflicts themselves. More  Georgia Coming Back In From The Cold Georgia's opponents (or the opponents of the current government) have been fond of saying that the country is isolated and the West no longer supports us. After the diplomatic parade this month, it's much harder to make this argument. More |
