RFE/RL CAUCASUS REPORT
11.01.2013
A review of RFE/RL reporting and analysis about the countries of the South Caucasus and Russia's North Caucasus region.FIND OUT HOW MUCH YOU KNOW ABOUT RUSSIAN-PASSPORT HOLDER GERARD DEPARDIEU BY TAKING OUR LATEST QUIZ For more stories on the Caucasus, please visit and bookmark our Caucasus page . |
 Family Of Dead Azerbaijani Soldier Seeks Answers Azerbaijani soldier Ceyhun Qubadov died on January 7 of what his officers say was a heart attack. But his relatives say he was beaten to death. The case has raised public concerns about the mistreatment of army conscripts. (RFE/RL's Azerbaijan Service) More  Georgian Ex-Defense Minister Bailed An appeals court in Tbilisi has released former Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili on bail. More  Chechen Leader Appoints Gold-Smuggling Suspects To Senior Government Posts Chechen Republic head Ramzan Kadyrov has named to senior government posts two men detained in Turkey in October while apparently attempting to smuggle 12 kilograms of gold out of the country. More Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has appointed a former Interior Ministry official who is under investigation for alleged abuse of office as the governor of the western province of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti. More Activists in Azerbaijan are calling for a mass gathering on Baku's Fountains Square on January 12 to raise awareness about the deaths of young conscripts in the Azerbaijani army.More  In Election-Year Azerbaijan, Video Scandal Threatens To Rattle Regime A former university rector in Azerbaijan has set off the scandal of the season with a series of videos that appear to implicate Ilham Aliyev's right-hand man in everything from kidnapping to selling off parliament seats for $1 million apiece. More  Georgia Ex-Minister's Sentence Overturned A court of appeals in Tbilisi has overturned an 11-year prison sentence imposed on former Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili. More  New Year's Holiday Sparks Controversy In Daghestan Ten Daghestani men were arrested in late December for urging fellow citizens of the Muslim-majority, North Caucasus republic to shun the secular New Year's holiday. All the men have now been released, but the controversy over whether Muslims should celebrate secular holidays simmers on. More  No Cross-Dressing Comedians Please, We're Azerbaijani An advertisement showing two male comedians in women's clothes has proven too much to stomach for some in Azerbaijan, where the posters -- for a major mobile-phone operator -- have been withdrawn. More  1 Million Urge Saakashvili To Exit Activists in Georgia say they have collected more than 1 million signatures on a petition calling for the resignation of President Mikheil Saakashvili. More  Disabled Daghestani Comes Out Kicking Sakinat Magamedova, a taekwondo champion from the Russian republic of Daghestan, proves that life is what you make of it. Born without arms, she's not only a successful athlete but is also busy raising two children. More  Invigorated Customs Union Presents Russia's Neighbors With Stark Choice Russian President Vladimir Putin's premier foreign-policy initiative, the Eurasian Customs Union, is showing unprecedented vitality. But the European Union says membership in the ECU is incompatible with closer economic ties with the EU. This confronts many former Soviet states -- especially Ukraine and Moldova -- with a stark choice. More  One In Five Georgians Says President Should Resign Some 835,000 Georgians have signed a petition launched by a local NGO to demand the resignation of President Mikheil Saakashvili. That is equal to almost 20 percent of the country's total population of 4.5 million. The organizers hope that by January 20 -- the fifth anniversary of Saakashvili's inauguration for his second term -- the number of signatories will exceed 1 million. More  Orthodox Christians Celebrate Christmas Orthodox Christians around Europe and Russia celebrated Christmas on January 6 and 7 with liturgies, processions, and an array of local traditions to mark the holiday. More  Grozny Facelift Continues With New Synagogue Grozny already boasts one of the largest mosques in Europe. Now, the Chechen capital is also due to become home to a new synagogue. More  Georgian President’s New Year's Proposals Meet Cool Reception Speaking on Georgian TV late on New Year’s Eve, President Mikheil Saakashvili proposed to the new government headed by Bidzina Ivanishvili a five-point agenda that he claimed would help reverse the "downward spiral" toward "chaos" Saakashvili said had been precipitated by what he termed the new leadership’s vindictive and destructive actions. More  Atletico Madrid May Team Up With Azerbaijan There have been reports that Spanish soccer club Atletico Madrid is set to sign a sponsorship deal with Azerbaijan that will boost the club's finances by millions of dollars. More |
