Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Friday, 3 September 2010

RFE/RL Caucasus Report
 
RFE/RL Caucasus Report
9/3/2010 6:17:07 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 .

Abkhazia: Refugee Return 'Impossible' Abkhazia: Refugee Return 'Impossible'
The de facto prime minister of Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia says the return of Georgian refugees to Abkhazia is not possible in the current political circumstances. More
Armenian Opposition Rally In Key Yerevan Square Banned Armenian Opposition Rally In Key Yerevan Square Banned
Yerevan city authorities have banned the opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK) from holding a rally in a main square but will allow it to take place at another location. More
Is Armenia Russia's Partner Or Pawn? Is Armenia Russia's Partner Or Pawn?
Richard Giragosian argues that a new agreement may deal a further blow to Armenian sovereignty by deploying additional Russian border guards to Armenia's other borders, with Iran and Georgia, if not Azerbaijan. More
Monster Azerbaijani Flag Is No More...For Now Monster Azerbaijani Flag Is No More...For Now
We blogged yesterday about the unfurling of a huge new flag in Azerbaijan, which sits atop the world's tallest unsupported flagpole. More
Nagorno-Karabakh Marks Anniversary Nagorno-Karabakh Marks Anniversary
Authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh today marked the 19th anniversary of the disputed enclave's de facto secession from Azerbaijan and pledged Baku will never resume control of their territory. More
Russia Intensifies Focus On Misuse Of Funds In South Ossetia Russia Intensifies Focus On Misuse Of Funds In South Ossetia
No less a figure than Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev has arrived in Tskhinvali in connection with the ongoing investigation into the embezzlement of funds Moscow provided for postconflict reconstruction in the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia in the wake of the Russian-Georgian war. More
Azerbaijan Unfurls Huge National Flag
With much pomp, the Azerbaijani government has unfurled a huge new flag, one of the largest in the world. More
Tense Days As Medvedev Visits Baku Tense Days As Medvedev Visits Baku
Moscow has sought to regain influence in the strategically important South Caucasus, and observers say Dmitry Medvedev's trip to Azerbaijan may lend insight into the Kremlin's long-term goals in the region. More
Umarov Names New Daghestan Front Commander Umarov Names New Daghestan Front Commander
Self-styled leader of the Caucasus emirate Doku Umarov has named a commander from southern Daghestan to succeed Magomedali Vagabov (aka Seyfullakh Gubdensky) as emir of the Daghestan front. Vagabov had occupied that post for only five weeks before being killed in a counterterrorism operation in the village of Gunib in central Daghestan. More
Azerbaijan Says Five Killed In Karabakh Azerbaijan Says Five Killed In Karabakh
Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry has announced that three Armenian and two Azerbaijani soldiers have been killed in clashes near the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. More
Experts Point To More Flaws In Georgian Constitutional Amendments Experts Point To More Flaws In Georgian Constitutional Amendments
The Georgian authorities appear determined to enact as swiftly as possible constitutional amendments that many opposition politicians are convinced are designed to prolong Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's hold on power after his second term expires in January 2013. More
Is There A Foundation For Peace Between Russia And Georgia? Is There A Foundation For Peace Between Russia And Georgia?
In order even to begin thinking about possible solutions, one must first imagine a Russia that is capable of genuinely recognizing Georgia's right to choose its own government and its own political course. But no such Russia is anywhere in sight. More
Russian Rights Activist Battles On In Chechnya Russian Rights Activist Battles On In Chechnya
A decade after Russia launched the second war in Chechnya, supposedly to bring order to a lawless region, Chechens are still being abducted, tortured, and killed -- this time mostly by the Kremlin-installed authorities who are firmly in charge. Kheda Saratova is one of the handful of human rights activists left who continue to risk their lives in Chechnya. More
Following The Tracks Of The 'Disappeared' on Georgia's Abkhaz Border Following The Tracks Of The 'Disappeared' on Georgia's Abkhaz Border
As the world marks the International Day of the Disappeared on August 30, Georgia's tiny Tsalenjikha District, along the Abkhaz-Georgian administrative border, remains fraught with anxiety over the fate of its missing persons. More
Kadyrov Is Warned: 'You Can Run, But You Can't Hide' Kadyrov Is Warned: 'You Can Run, But You Can't Hide'
Precisely what happened during the fighting early on August 29 in Chechen Republic head Ramzan Kadyrov's home village of Tsentoroi remains unclear. But the version promulgated by insurgency websites is far more credible than the contradictory accounts Kadyrov himself has given. More
Russia's 'Federation' Myth Russia's 'Federation' Myth
Having created a "management vertical" and having destroyed all vestiges of federalism and the first sprouts of local self-government, the Kremlin nonetheless must hang on to the old banner of the Russian "Federation." More