RFE/RL CAUCASUS REPORT
03.05.2013
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 . |
While Freedom House classifies 13 of RFE/RL's broadcast countries as "not free," and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) puts three of RFE/RL’s broadcast countries squarely in the worst category, RFE/RL journalists are still on the ground, determined to report the news. More  EU Urges Baku On Democracy EU Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fuele says Azerbaijan must continue to meet its commitments on advancing democracy and human rights. More  Insurgency In Daghestan Extorts Funding From State Budget, Businessmen On May 1, an improvised explosive device went off outside a store in Makhachkala, killing two people. Daghestan’s security services believe that the bomb was intended as a warning to the owner of the store, who had refused to pay “zakyat” – the percentage of one’s income that the North Caucasus insurgency seeks to extort to fund its activities. More  Sound Bites Aside, Baku Has Little To Celebrate This Press Freedom Day The Azerbaijani presidential administration's Ali Hasanov had a saucy sound bite ready as World Press Freedom Day rolled around. If by "no media outlet" Hasanov meant "virtually no media outlet still standing," he might have a point. More  And Chechnya's 'Person Of The Year' Award Goes To... Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov was this week unanimously voted "Person of the Year" for 2012 by jurors at a ceremony in Grozny, the regional capital. His relative, Islam Kadyrov, the mayor of Grozny, received the "Best Manager" award. More  OSCE Criticizes Baku For Backsliding On Defamation The media freedom representative of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has criticized Azerbaijan for not living up to its commitments to decriminalize defamation. More  Azerbaijan Protests Iran Arrests Baku is demanding an explanation for the arrest of two Azerbaijani citizens in Iran. More  Georgia Agriculture Minister Steps Down Georgian Agriculture Minister David Kirvalidze has temporarily stepped down from his post after several of his ministry’s top officials were detained on corruption charges. More  Mysterious NGOs Benefit From Armenian Government's Largesse Activists in Armenia recently obtained a list of 31 nongovernmental organizations that have received more than $1 million in state grants. But finding most of these mysterious groups has proven virtually impossible. More  Tsarnaev Case Highlights Communication Breakdown Between Daghestani Agencies The Boston Marathon bombings have served to corroborate many observers’ previously unsubstantiated hunch that one reason for the Russian security services’ inability to contain the North Caucasus insurgency is that the various agencies responsible fail to share information among themselves. More  Disgraced Former Russian Olympics Official Says He Was Poisoned Akhmed Bilalov, a former deputy head of Russia’s Olympic Committee, says he has been poisoned with mercury. Bilalov’s claim comes just weeks after he was fired by President Vladimir Putin over huge cost overruns in the construction of a ski jump for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. The allegations add to the long list of controversies surrounding the upcoming Sochi Olympics. More  Georgia’s Changing Russia Policy Critics say Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili's government is softening its stance to Russia and risking Georgian security. But officials counter that their approach is more pragmatic -- and will be more effective in dealing with Georgia’s powerful adversary to the north. More  Saakashvili’s National Movement Fights To Escape Political Wilderness Half a year after losing power, President Mikheil Saakashvili’s United National Movement is a shadow of the juggernaut that once dominated Georgian politics.More  Georgian Defense Minister Irakli Alasania: 'We Need To Outsmart Russia' Irakli Alasania served as Georgia's UN ambassador before resigning in late 2008 and joining the opposition to President Mikheil Saakashvili. He is now defense minister in Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili's coalition government. RFE/RL correspondent Brian Whitmore caught up with Alasania in Tbilisi to discuss the new government's approach to Russia. More |
