http://www.rferl.org Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty is an international news and broadcast organization serving Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Russia, the Middle East and Balkan countries http://www.rferl.org/img/rssLogo.gif http://www.rferl.org en-US Copyright 2009 - RFE/RL, Inc. 60 Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:08:52 +0000 Pangea CMS – RFE/RL A little less than three years ago, Serzh Sarkisian, then Armenian defense minister, nailed his foreign-policy colors to the mast by publishing a commentary calling for Turkey and Armenia to establish diplomatic and good-neighborly relations with no preconditions on either side. Now, thanks in large part to Sarkisian's personal commitment and with the support of the United States, the two countries are tantalizingly close to attaining that goal. http://www.rferl.org/content/Will_Serzh_Sarkisians_Biggest_Gamble_Pay_Off/1852787.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Will_Serzh_Sarkisians_Biggest_Gamble_Pay_Off/1852787.html Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:19:16 +0000 Features http://www.rferl.org/content/Will_Serzh_Sarkisians_Biggest_Gamble_Pay_Off/1852787.html#relatedInfoContainer The widespread public outcry in Yerevan triggered by the publication one month ago of two draft protocols intended to pave the way for the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey shows no sign of abating. http://www.rferl.org/content/Two_Armenian_Opposition_Parties_To_Campaign_Jointly_Against_Draft_Agreements_With_Turkey/1839409.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Two_Armenian_Opposition_Parties_To_Campaign_Jointly_Against_Draft_Agreements_With_Turkey/1839409.html Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:16:58 +0000 Caucasus Report http://www.rferl.org/content/Two_Armenian_Opposition_Parties_To_Campaign_Jointly_Against_Draft_Agreements_With_Turkey/1839409.html#relatedInfoContainer Akmed Zakayev, the head of the pro-independence Chechen Republic Ichkeria, has announced he and an official from the pro-Moscow Chechen leadership had reached agreement on convening a world congress to promote the further unity of Chechen society. http://www.rferl.org/content/Chechen_Factions_Agree_To_Convene_World_Congress/1799178.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Chechen_Factions_Agree_To_Convene_World_Congress/1799178.html Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:12:47 +0000 Features http://www.rferl.org/content/Chechen_Factions_Agree_To_Convene_World_Congress/1799178.html#relatedInfoContainer Ramzan Kadyrov's career trajectory, from the poorly educated son of a Muslim cleric to one of the most powerful men in Russia, epitomizes Mao Tse-Tung's classic pronouncement that "political power grows out of the barrel of a gun." But Kadyrov's recent statements reflect a desire for a redefinition of the powers of federation subject heads that would strengthen his position even further. http://www.rferl.org/content/Ramzan_Kadyrovs_Evolving_Political_Credo/1796442.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Ramzan_Kadyrovs_Evolving_Political_Credo/1796442.html Mon, 10 Aug 2009 12:08:47 +0000 Features http://www.rferl.org/content/Ramzan_Kadyrovs_Evolving_Political_Credo/1796442.html#relatedInfoContainer Representatives of the Chechen Republic Ichkeria (ChRI) government in exile and the pro-Moscow Chechen Republic announced on July 24 that they have embarked on consultations aimed at promoting national reconciliation in Chechnya. But can this process bring an end to the ongoing fighting across the North Caucasus? http://www.rferl.org/content/Can_Chechen_Talks_Bring_Peace_To_North_Caucasus/1785210.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Can_Chechen_Talks_Bring_Peace_To_North_Caucasus/1785210.html Sat, 25 Jul 2009 11:48:21 +0000 Features http://www.rferl.org/content/Can_Chechen_Talks_Bring_Peace_To_North_Caucasus/1785210.html#relatedInfoContainer The visit by the French, Russian, and U.S. co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group to Yerevan and Baku may have brought a formal settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict one step closer. http://www.rferl.org/content/Minsk_Group_CoChairs_Hopeful_Of_Karabakh_Breakthrough_/1774141.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Minsk_Group_CoChairs_Hopeful_Of_Karabakh_Breakthrough_/1774141.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:14:11 +0000 Features http://www.rferl.org/content/Minsk_Group_CoChairs_Hopeful_Of_Karabakh_Breakthrough_/1774141.html#relatedInfoContainer Four leading Armenian opposition figures walked out of a courtroom free men on June 22 despite being sentenced to up to five years' imprisonment for their imputed roles in the post-presidential election violence in Yerevan in early 2008. The amnesty is, however, unlikely to alleviate the deep-rooted tensions and enmity between the authorities and the opposition. http://www.rferl.org/content/Four_Leading_Armenian_Oppositionists_Freed_In_Amnesty/1760614.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Four_Leading_Armenian_Oppositionists_Freed_In_Amnesty/1760614.html Tue, 23 Jun 2009 10:08:28 +0000 Caucasus Report http://www.rferl.org/content/Four_Leading_Armenian_Oppositionists_Freed_In_Amnesty/1760614.html#relatedInfoContainer A resistance website reported the attack on Ingushetia President Yunusbek Yevkurov two hours after it occurred, but no one has claimed responsibility for it. However, its timing and the modus operandi suggest it was the work of the North Caucasus resistance. http://www.rferl.org/content/Attack_On_Ingushetia_President_Latest_In_Troubling_Trend/1759721.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Attack_On_Ingushetia_President_Latest_In_Troubling_Trend/1759721.html Mon, 22 Jun 2009 09:46:17 +0000 Features http://www.rferl.org/content/Attack_On_Ingushetia_President_Latest_In_Troubling_Trend/1759721.html#relatedInfoContainer The multiple attacks on the Interior Ministry headquarters and other police buildings in Nazran, the capital of Ingushetia, five years ago constituted a significant milestone in the evolution of the Chechen resistance into a pan-Caucasus Islamic movement uniting young Muslims alienated by official corruption and arbitrary police brutality. http://www.rferl.org/content/Five_Years_Later_Repercussions_Of_Nazran_Attack_Still_Reverberate/1758140.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Five_Years_Later_Repercussions_Of_Nazran_Attack_Still_Reverberate/1758140.html Fri, 19 Jun 2009 13:09:58 +0000 Commentary http://www.rferl.org/content/Five_Years_Later_Repercussions_Of_Nazran_Attack_Still_Reverberate/1758140.html#relatedInfoContainer The death three years ago today of Chechen Republic Ichkeria (ChRI) President and resistance commander Abdul-Khalim Sadullayev was a milestone in the evolution of what emerged in 1994 as an almost exclusively Chechen fight for independence into a pan-Caucasian, multinational Islamic resistance movement. http://www.rferl.org/content/Moderate_Leaders_Death_Accelerated_Transformation_Of_Chechen_Resistance/1756530.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Moderate_Leaders_Death_Accelerated_Transformation_Of_Chechen_Resistance/1756530.html Wed, 17 Jun 2009 12:10:23 +0000 Commentary http://www.rferl.org/content/Moderate_Leaders_Death_Accelerated_Transformation_Of_Chechen_Resistance/1756530.html#relatedInfoContainer Nearly nine months after the war between Russia and Georgia last August, the situation surrounding the breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia remains tense. Some observers have warned that fighting in the region could flare up again within the next few months. But would a new war helpRussia achieve its objectives? http://www.rferl.org/content/Does_Russia_Even_Need_To_Invade_Georgia/1739947.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Does_Russia_Even_Need_To_Invade_Georgia/1739947.html Tue, 26 May 2009 12:43:57 +0000 Commentary http://www.rferl.org/content/Does_Russia_Even_Need_To_Invade_Georgia/1739947.html#relatedInfoContainer Does Baku intend to create a pretext for Azerbaijan to backtrack on all or some of the principles agreed on in Prague? That may only become clear when Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian meet again next month in St. Petersburg. http://www.rferl.org/content/Is_The_Karabakh_Peace_Process_In_Jeopardy/1732576.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Is_The_Karabakh_Peace_Process_In_Jeopardy/1732576.html Fri, 15 May 2009 13:48:33 +0000 Features http://www.rferl.org/content/Is_The_Karabakh_Peace_Process_In_Jeopardy/1732576.html#relatedInfoContainer Since the beginning of this month, a new and apparently unanticipated challenge has emerged to Azerbaijan's political status quo in the form of peaceful student protests. The catalyst was a bloodbath perpetrated by a young Azeri from Georgia whom the authorities have written off as an unhinged loner. http://www.rferl.org/content/Bakus_Flower_Children/1731847.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Bakus_Flower_Children/1731847.html Thu, 14 May 2009 15:14:54 +0000 Commentary http://www.rferl.org/content/Bakus_Flower_Children/1731847.html#relatedInfoContainer There would be a most pleasing symmetry in Prague serving as the venue for at least a preliminary agreement on resolving the Karabakh conflict, given that it was in Prague five years ago that the OSCE-mediated talks that yielded the Basic Principles got under way. http://www.rferl.org/content/EU_Prague_Summit_Could_Yield_Progress_On_Resolving_Karabakh_Conflict_/1622962.html http://www.rferl.org/content/EU_Prague_Summit_Could_Yield_Progress_On_Resolving_Karabakh_Conflict_/1622962.html Wed, 06 May 2009 17:00:01 +0000 Features http://www.rferl.org/content/EU_Prague_Summit_Could_Yield_Progress_On_Resolving_Karabakh_Conflict_/1622962.html#relatedInfoContainer Despite having made a seemingly arbitrary decision to call an end to the Chechnya counterterrorism operation, the Kremlin could equally arbitrarily launch a new one, either throughout the republic or -- as it does on a regular basis in Daghestan and Ingushetia -- in a particular village or region, just to remind Ramzan Kadyrov which side his bread is buttered on. http://www.rferl.org/content/Chechnya_Remains_Bound_To_Moscow_By_Economic_Weakness/1613723.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Chechnya_Remains_Bound_To_Moscow_By_Economic_Weakness/1613723.html Wed, 22 Apr 2009 12:08:03 +0000 Commentary http://www.rferl.org/content/Chechnya_Remains_Bound_To_Moscow_By_Economic_Weakness/1613723.html#relatedInfoContainer Just two years since his inauguration as Chechen Republic head, the chances that Ramzan Kadyrov will still occupy that post one year from now appear to be dwindling fast. Informed observers believe the Russian leadership has finally realized that Kadyrov constitutes both an embarrassment and a potential threat. http://www.rferl.org/content/Is_Chechen_Leader_Losing_Moscows_Trust/1604006.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Is_Chechen_Leader_Losing_Moscows_Trust/1604006.html Tue, 07 Apr 2009 13:57:46 +0000 Commentary http://www.rferl.org/content/Is_Chechen_Leader_Losing_Moscows_Trust/1604006.html#relatedInfoContainer Recent media reports in Georgia and the West have fueled speculation that a second round of military conflict between Moscow and Tbilisi could resume as early as the spring. But Georgian officials point to one main reason why this is unlikely: the U.S.-Georgia Charter on Strategic Partnership signed early this year. http://www.rferl.org/content/Does_US_Charter_Protect_Georgia_Against_Renewed_Conflict_With_Russia/1508110.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Does_US_Charter_Protect_Georgia_Against_Renewed_Conflict_With_Russia/1508110.html Wed, 11 Mar 2009 13:12:44 +0000 Commentary http://www.rferl.org/content/Does_US_Charter_Protect_Georgia_Against_Renewed_Conflict_With_Russia/1508110.html#relatedInfoContainer Visits to Yerevan by EU special envoy Ambassador Peter Semneby over the past week suggest that the EU is aware of the potential for new bloodshed and seeks at all costs not only to prevent it, but to bring about a rapprochement between Ter-Petrossian and the authorities. http://www.rferl.org/content/On_Anniversary_Of_Postelection_Violence_In_Armenia_EU_Pushes_For_Dialogue/1500408.html http://www.rferl.org/content/On_Anniversary_Of_Postelection_Violence_In_Armenia_EU_Pushes_For_Dialogue/1500408.html Fri, 27 Feb 2009 11:52:26 +0000 Features http://www.rferl.org/content/On_Anniversary_Of_Postelection_Violence_In_Armenia_EU_Pushes_For_Dialogue/1500408.html#relatedInfoContainer In recent weeks, the opposition to Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has aligned in two main camps. Both are demanding new presidential elections, but they differ on timing and tactics, with one demanding gradual and the other more immediate political change. http://www.rferl.org/content/Pressure_On_Georgian_President_Intensifies/1499891.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Pressure_On_Georgian_President_Intensifies/1499891.html Thu, 26 Feb 2009 14:06:59 +0000 Features http://www.rferl.org/content/Pressure_On_Georgian_President_Intensifies/1499891.html#relatedInfoContainer The global financial crisis has already caused the downfall of any number of successful and influential bankers. But the dismissal of Mukhtar Abliyazov, until recently chairman of Bank Turan-Alem (BTA), Kazakhstan's largest privately owned bank, is unique in that it raises the possibility of a new round of political infighting within the upper echelons of the country's leadership. http://www.rferl.org/content/What_Caused_The_Second_Downfall_Of_Mukhtar_Abliyazov/1499164.html http://www.rferl.org/content/What_Caused_The_Second_Downfall_Of_Mukhtar_Abliyazov/1499164.html Wed, 25 Feb 2009 12:37:14 +0000 Features http://www.rferl.org/content/What_Caused_The_Second_Downfall_Of_Mukhtar_Abliyazov/1499164.html#relatedInfoContainer It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that PACE has become the hostage of a paradigm it adopted in good faith in 2000-01, when the South Caucasus states were accepted as Council of Europe members on the assumption that the respective governments were sincere in their commitments to democratization. http://www.rferl.org/content/Is_The_PACE_A_Paper_Tiger/1490645.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Is_The_PACE_A_Paper_Tiger/1490645.html Tue, 10 Feb 2009 10:59:39 +0000 Commentary http://www.rferl.org/content/Is_The_PACE_A_Paper_Tiger/1490645.html#relatedInfoContainer Republic of Ingushetia President Yunus-Bek Yevkurov is already facing a serious challenge to his authority from many Ingush who expressed approval and optimism at his appointment just three months ago. http://www.rferl.org/content/Ingushetia_Prepares_For_Landmark_Public_Forum/1376900.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Ingushetia_Prepares_For_Landmark_Public_Forum/1376900.html Fri, 30 Jan 2009 12:21:02 +0000 Features http://www.rferl.org/content/Ingushetia_Prepares_For_Landmark_Public_Forum/1376900.html#relatedInfoContainer In late December, 47 Russian State Duma deputies added their signatures to an appeal by their fellow deputy, Mikhail Zalikhanov, to the Constitutional Court and the Prosecutor-General's Office arguing that recent legislation on land enacted by the Kabardino-Balkaria Republic parliament is unconstitutional and violates the rights of the Balkar people. But most of them have since withdrawn their support, and a number of organizations from the KBR have demanded Zalikhanov be ejected from the ... http://www.rferl.org/content/Duma_Deputies_Withdraw_Support_For_Embattled_Balkar_Colleague/1376446.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Duma_Deputies_Withdraw_Support_For_Embattled_Balkar_Colleague/1376446.html Thu, 29 Jan 2009 12:39:44 +0000 Features http://www.rferl.org/content/Duma_Deputies_Withdraw_Support_For_Embattled_Balkar_Colleague/1376446.html#relatedInfoContainer If Putin was counting on Daghestan's president to quash the Islamic resistance, which staged more than 70 separate attacks in 2005 that killed dozens of police and military personnel, he miscalculated: despite the deaths of successive leaders and dozens of rank-and-file fighters, Daghestan's Shariat jamaat not only still exists, but continues to target with deadly regularity those it considers infidels and traitors. http://www.rferl.org/content/Daghestans_Leadership_Seeks_To_Contain_ReligiousPolitical_Extremism/1375397.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Daghestans_Leadership_Seeks_To_Contain_ReligiousPolitical_Extremism/1375397.html Tue, 27 Jan 2009 14:14:01 +0000 Features http://www.rferl.org/content/Daghestans_Leadership_Seeks_To_Contain_ReligiousPolitical_Extremism/1375397.html#relatedInfoContainer The oldest Islamic resistance group in Daghestan claims that its propaganda campaign is proving successful, and more people now believe the Caucasus can survive without Russia. http://www.rferl.org/content/Daghestan_Islamic_Fighters_Hone_Military_PR_Skills/1375350.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Daghestan_Islamic_Fighters_Hone_Military_PR_Skills/1375350.html Tue, 27 Jan 2009 13:26:16 +0000 Features http://www.rferl.org/content/Daghestan_Islamic_Fighters_Hone_Military_PR_Skills/1375350.html#relatedInfoContainer Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on January 20 paid an unannounced visit to Ingushetia. The Russian leader described the security situation in the republic as "difficult," and pledged nearly 30 billion rubles in economic aid. http://www.rferl.org/content/Russian_President_Calls_For_Emergency_Measures_In_Ingushetia/1372965.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Russian_President_Calls_For_Emergency_Measures_In_Ingushetia/1372965.html Wed, 21 Jan 2009 14:59:26 +0000 Features http://www.rferl.org/content/Russian_President_Calls_For_Emergency_Measures_In_Ingushetia/1372965.html#relatedInfoContainer A year ago, Mikheil Saakashvili was reelected as Georgian president in a controversial early election, just two months after a peaceful demonstration in Tbilisi against his increasingly authoritarian policies was forcibly dispersed. Since then, a disastrous war with Russia has raised questions about Saakashvili's political judgment and mental stability, demolished Georgia's NATO hopes, and impelled several of Saakashvili's former closest allies into opposition. http://www.rferl.org/content/Georgian_President_Faces_Multiple_Challenges/1366270.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Georgian_President_Faces_Multiple_Challenges/1366270.html Sun, 04 Jan 2009 12:46:37 +0000 Commentary http://www.rferl.org/content/Georgian_President_Faces_Multiple_Challenges/1366270.html#relatedInfoContainer Following the passage of a federal law on self-government in Chechnya and Ingushetia, Chechen human rights organizations have demanded that the border between the two republics be formally delineated to return to Chechen jurisdiction some districts that have been part of Ingushetia since 1934. But the Ingush are reluctant to cede that territory. http://www.rferl.org/content/Chechnya_Ingushetia_At_Odds_Over_Border_Delimitation/1361549.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Chechnya_Ingushetia_At_Odds_Over_Border_Delimitation/1361549.html Fri, 19 Dec 2008 10:40:32 +0000 Commentary http://www.rferl.org/content/Chechnya_Ingushetia_At_Odds_Over_Border_Delimitation/1361549.html#relatedInfoContainer Seven prominent opposition figures are set to go on trial in Yerevan on charges of seeking to overthrow the government. The men were taken into custody in the wake of violent clashes between security forces and supporters of former President and opposition presidential candidate Levon Ter-Pertrossian in March. http://www.rferl.org/content/Seven_Prominent_Armenian_Oppositionists_On_Trial_/1361523.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Seven_Prominent_Armenian_Oppositionists_On_Trial_/1361523.html Fri, 19 Dec 2008 10:07:42 +0000 Commentary http://www.rferl.org/content/Seven_Prominent_Armenian_Oppositionists_On_Trial_/1361523.html#relatedInfoContainer In the 100 days since his inauguration as Karachayevo-Cherkessia's president, Boris Ebzeyev has angered the Circassian minority by violating an unwritten agreement on the distribution of top posts among various ethnic groups. That anger contributed to the decision last month to ask Moscow to create a separate Circassian republic comprising those districts of the North Caucasus where Circassians are a majority. http://www.rferl.org/content/Personnel_Appointments_Fuel_Circassian_Demands_For_Own_Republic/1358227.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Personnel_Appointments_Fuel_Circassian_Demands_For_Own_Republic/1358227.html Wed, 10 Dec 2008 13:10:36 +0000 Commentary http://www.rferl.org/content/Personnel_Appointments_Fuel_Circassian_Demands_For_Own_Republic/1358227.html#relatedInfoContainer Meeting in Moscow a month ago, the presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia signed a joint declaration reaffirming their shared commitment to resolving the long-standing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict exclusively by diplomatic means, through political negotiations mediated by the OSCE's Minsk Group, and taking as the basis for further discussion the principles presented to the conflict sides in November 2007 in Madrid at the annual OSCE foreign ministers meeting. http://www.rferl.org/content/Azerbaijan_Floats_Principles_For_Karabakh_Peace_Settlement_/1357686.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Azerbaijan_Floats_Principles_For_Karabakh_Peace_Settlement_/1357686.html Tue, 09 Dec 2008 10:41:08 +0000 Commentary http://www.rferl.org/content/Azerbaijan_Floats_Principles_For_Karabakh_Peace_Settlement_/1357686.html#relatedInfoContainer Georgia's third prime minister in a year, Grigol Mgaloblishvili, has announced the dismissal of the ministers of defense, foreign affairs, and education -- the fifth cabinet reshuffle in a little over a year. http://www.rferl.org/content/No_Clear_Reasons_For_Dismissal_of_Key_Georgian_Ministers/1357304.html http://www.rferl.org/content/No_Clear_Reasons_For_Dismissal_of_Key_Georgian_Ministers/1357304.html Mon, 08 Dec 2008 11:42:40 +0000 Commentary http://www.rferl.org/content/No_Clear_Reasons_For_Dismissal_of_Key_Georgian_Ministers/1357304.html#relatedInfoContainer The NATO foreign ministers' decision not to offer Membership Action Plans to Georgia and Ukraine should not have surprised anyone. Nor should their reaffirmation of the provision enshrined in the final document of the April 2008 NATO summit in Bucharest that those two countries will at some unspecified future date join the alliance. But the fact remains that both Georgia and Ukraine still fall short of basic NATO standards in terms of both political reform and military readiness. http://www.rferl.org/content/Georgia_Ukraine_Told_They_Do_Not_Meet_Standards_For_NATO_Membership/1355925.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Georgia_Ukraine_Told_They_Do_Not_Meet_Standards_For_NATO_Membership/1355925.html Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:32:37 +0000 Commentary http://www.rferl.org/content/Georgia_Ukraine_Told_They_Do_Not_Meet_Standards_For_NATO_Membership/1355925.html#relatedInfoContainer More than last month's utterly predictable presidential ballot, more even than the November 2 meeting in Moscow between the presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia, a recent interview by the acclaimed Moscow-based Azerbaijani writer and film director Rustam Ibragimbekov has galvanized and polarized Azerbaijan's political elite and intelligentsia. http://www.rferl.org/content/Azerbaijani_Director_Demonized_For_Comments_On_National_Elite/1350358.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Azerbaijani_Director_Demonized_For_Comments_On_National_Elite/1350358.html Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:38:27 +0000 Commentary http://www.rferl.org/content/Azerbaijani_Director_Demonized_For_Comments_On_National_Elite/1350358.html#relatedInfoContainer Two recent developments in Chechnya reflect the extent to which republic head Ramzan Kadyrov can still impose his will on Moscow to rid himself of any figure whom he perceives as a potential threat to his authority. http://www.rferl.org/content/Chechen_Leader_Further_Strengthens_His_Position/1349311.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Chechen_Leader_Further_Strengthens_His_Position/1349311.html Fri, 14 Nov 2008 15:58:32 +0000 Commentary http://www.rferl.org/content/Chechen_Leader_Further_Strengthens_His_Position/1349311.html#relatedInfoContainer The Ingush opposition reacted with jubilation to the dismissal on October 30 of the republic's ineffective and discredited president, Murat Zyazikov. And they have expressed their approval of and support for Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, the career military-intelligence officer selected by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev as Zyazikov's successor. But there has been no noticeable decline since Yevkurov's appointment in the number of attacks by the armed resistance on police and security forces in ... http://www.rferl.org/content/Ingushetia_Killings_Continue_Despite_New_President/1348370.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Ingushetia_Killings_Continue_Despite_New_President/1348370.html Wed, 12 Nov 2008 13:22:47 +0000 Commentary http://www.rferl.org/content/Ingushetia_Killings_Continue_Despite_New_President/1348370.html#relatedInfoContainer The brutal intervention by Georgian police on November 7, 2007, to disperse peaceful opposition demonstrators in Tbilisi served to focus international attention on the extent to which the initial wave of democratization that followed the Rose Revolution four years earlier had been rolled back. http://www.rferl.org/content/One_Year_After_Crackdown_Georgian_Opposition_Remains_Angry__But_Weak/1339405.html http://www.rferl.org/content/One_Year_After_Crackdown_Georgian_Opposition_Remains_Angry__But_Weak/1339405.html Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:36:06 +0000 Commentary http://www.rferl.org/content/One_Year_After_Crackdown_Georgian_Opposition_Remains_Angry__But_Weak/1339405.html#relatedInfoContainer The Declaration On Regulating the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict signed by the presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia following their talks in Moscow on November 2 can be regarded as a victory for Armenia in three key respects. http://www.rferl.org/content/Moscow_Declaration_A_Victory_For_Armenia/1337592.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Moscow_Declaration_A_Victory_For_Armenia/1337592.html Mon, 03 Nov 2008 07:46:24 +0000 Commentary http://www.rferl.org/content/Moscow_Declaration_A_Victory_For_Armenia/1337592.html#relatedInfoContainer The announcement that the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan will meet in Moscow at the invitation of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to discuss ways to resolve the Karabakh conflict has fueled speculation about an imminent breakthrough in the peace process. Russia's foreign minister has said the two sides have reached agreement on all but two or three key points and that there is "a very real chance" of resolving the conflict. Lavrov added that the main obstacle is lack of ... http://www.rferl.org/content/Russia_To_Host_Talks_Between_Armenian_Azerbaijani_Presidents/1337251.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Russia_To_Host_Talks_Between_Armenian_Azerbaijani_Presidents/1337251.html Sat, 01 Nov 2008 14:25:20 +0000 Commentary http://www.rferl.org/content/Russia_To_Host_Talks_Between_Armenian_Azerbaijani_Presidents/1337251.html#relatedInfoContainer On October 30, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev accepted the allegedly voluntary resignation of Murat Zyazikov from the post of president of the Republic of Ingushetia, who turned a blind eye to egregious corruption among his subordinates that has further impoverished a region already heavily dependent on federal subsidies that has an unemployment rate of 67 percent. http://www.rferl.org/content/Moscow_Finally_Replaces_Discredited_Ingushetian_President/1337069.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Moscow_Finally_Replaces_Discredited_Ingushetian_President/1337069.html Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:17:15 +0000 Commentary http://www.rferl.org/content/Moscow_Finally_Replaces_Discredited_Ingushetian_President/1337069.html#relatedInfoContainer The brief August war between Georgia and Russia served to highlight the destabilizing potential of unresolved conflicts in the Caucasus and thus lent a new urgency to ongoing efforts to find a solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. http://www.rferl.org/content/Russia_Proposes_Hosting_Karabakh_Summit_/1331879.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Russia_Proposes_Hosting_Karabakh_Summit_/1331879.html Wed, 22 Oct 2008 11:41:57 +0000 Commentary The internationally sponsored talks on the aftermath of the August war between Georgia and Russia broke down at the opening session in Geneva as the result of disagreements over procedural issues. http://www.rferl.org/content/Geneva_Talks_On_Georgia_Get_Off_To_Rocky_Start/1330658.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Geneva_Talks_On_Georgia_Get_Off_To_Rocky_Start/1330658.html Fri, 17 Oct 2008 10:57:47 +0000 Commentary http://www.rferl.org/content/Geneva_Talks_On_Georgia_Get_Off_To_Rocky_Start/1330658.html#relatedInfoContainer Under pressure from the international community, the Armenian parliament set up an ad hoc commission in June to investigate the March clashes in Yerevan between supporters of the defeated opposition presidential candidate and security forces that resulted in 10 deaths. As the commission prepared to issue its results, however, it has pushed back the deadline to incorporate the findings of yet another commission. http://www.rferl.org/content/New_Probe_Announced_Into_Armenian_Postelection_Violence_/1330097.html http://www.rferl.org/content/New_Probe_Announced_Into_Armenian_Postelection_Violence_/1330097.html Wed, 15 Oct 2008 13:41:15 +0000 Commentary http://www.rferl.org/content/New_Probe_Announced_Into_Armenian_Postelection_Violence_/1330097.html#relatedInfoContainer The president of the Kabardino-Balkaria Republic recently met for the first time in his three years in office with representatives of the Balkar minority, who have long alleged discrimination at the hands of the Kabardian majority, to which Kanokov belongs. Though the president denies the Balkars are discriminated against, ethnic tensions are mounting in the republic. http://www.rferl.org/content/Balkars_In_North_Caucasus_Air_Grievances/1330033.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Balkars_In_North_Caucasus_Air_Grievances/1330033.html Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:32:28 +0000 Commentary http://www.rferl.org/content/Balkars_In_North_Caucasus_Air_Grievances/1330033.html#relatedInfoContainer On October 13, 2005, some 150-200 young local Muslims launched multiple attacks on police and security facilities in Nalchik, capital of the Kabardino-Balkaria Republic. The attackers killed 35 police and security personnel and 14 civilians, but lost 92 of their own. Many of the survivors were apprehended and are currently on trial. Nevertheless, the Islamic resistance across the North Caucasus is today stronger, more organized, more ideologically cohesive, and more deadly than it was three ... http://www.rferl.org/content/Three_Years_After_Nalchik_North_Caucasus_Resistance_Remains_Potent_Deadly_Force/1329090.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Three_Years_After_Nalchik_North_Caucasus_Resistance_Remains_Potent_Deadly_Force/1329090.html Sun, 12 Oct 2008 10:15:14 +0000 Commentary On October 12, Chechens will go to the polls to elect a new one-chamber parliament. There is little doubt that the pro-Kremlin Unified Russia party will win a majority, if not all, of the 41 mandates, primarily because many voters are afraid to register opposition to republic head Ramzan Kadyrov, who heads the Unified Russia party list of 61 candidates. http://www.rferl.org/content/Chechnya_Prepares_For_PreTerm_And_PreDetermined_Parliamentary_Elections/1328987.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Chechnya_Prepares_For_PreTerm_And_PreDetermined_Parliamentary_Elections/1328987.html Sat, 11 Oct 2008 12:00:48 +0000 Commentary http://www.rferl.org/content/Chechnya_Prepares_For_PreTerm_And_PreDetermined_Parliamentary_Elections/1328987.html#relatedInfoContainer Shortly after Mikheil Saakashvili's reelection in January for a second presidential term, Georgia's human rights ombudsman, Sozar Subari, released an open letter to him warning that failure to combat elite corruption, police violence, and human rights abuses would inevitably lead Georgia to another crisis similar to the November 2007 crackdown on peaceful demonstrators in Tbilisi. http://www.rferl.org/content/Human_Rights_Ombudsman_Slams_Authoritarian_Rule/1293020.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Human_Rights_Ombudsman_Slams_Authoritarian_Rule/1293020.html Wed, 01 Oct 2008 08:28:58 +0000 Commentary http://www.rferl.org/content/Human_Rights_Ombudsman_Slams_Authoritarian_Rule/1293020.html#relatedInfoContainer Azerbaijan and Belarus are both authoritarian regimes in which opposition political parties, while guaranteed freedom to function by the constitution, are routinely harassed, sidelined, and deprived of access to the media. http://www.rferl.org/content/Opposition_In_Belarus_Azerbaijan_Differ_Over_Election_Boycotts/1292046.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Opposition_In_Belarus_Azerbaijan_Differ_Over_Election_Boycotts/1292046.html Sat, 27 Sep 2008 13:00:22 +0000 Commentary http://www.rferl.org/content/Opposition_In_Belarus_Azerbaijan_Differ_Over_Election_Boycotts/1292046.html#relatedInfoContainer Two events over the past three weeks -- the landmark visit to Yerevan on September 6 by Turkish President Abdullah Gul and the resignation on September 19 under pressure of parliament speaker Tigran Torosian -- have again focused attention on possible fissures within Armenia's coalition government. http://www.rferl.org/content/How_Cohesive_Is_The_Armenian_Leadership/1270701.html http://www.rferl.org/content/How_Cohesive_Is_The_Armenian_Leadership/1270701.html Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:11:42 +0000 Commentary http://www.rferl.org/content/How_Cohesive_Is_The_Armenian_Leadership/1270701.html#relatedInfoContainer The shooting death of Magomed Yevloyev, the owner of the website ingushetiya.ru, has served to focus attention both within Russia and abroad on the catastrophic breakdown in law and order in Ingushetia since the election in 2002 of Murat Zyazikov as president. Whether popular anger at Yevloyev's killing will serve as the catalyst for the emergence of a structured and effective opposition movement remains unclear, however. http://www.rferl.org/content/Website_Owners_Killing_Could_Compound_Instability_In_Ingushetia/1201339.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Website_Owners_Killing_Could_Compound_Instability_In_Ingushetia/1201339.html Fri, 19 Sep 2008 10:13:04 +0000 Commentary http://www.rferl.org/content/Website_Owners_Killing_Could_Compound_Instability_In_Ingushetia/1201339.html#relatedInfoContainer