http://www.rferl.org/archive/Caucasus_Report/latest/963/963.html Written and edited by analyst Liz Fuller, "The Caucasus" blog aims, to borrow a metaphor from Tom de Waal, to act as a smoke-detector, focusing attention on potential conflict situations and crises throughout the region.Written and edited by analyst Liz http://www.rferl.org/img/rssLogo_RFERL.gif http://www.rferl.org/archive/Caucasus_Report/latest/963/963.html en-US Copyright 2010 - RFE/RL, Inc. 60 Thu, 20 Jun 2013 07:35:46 +0000 Pangea CMS – RFE/RL It is almost a year since the first reports surfaced that some Chechens, together with fighters from elsewhere in the Russian Federation, had joined the ranks of the armed opposition to Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad. While their numbers remain unclear, it seems that by no means all of them traveled to Syria directly from Chechnya. http://www.rferl.org/content/chechen-syria-fighting-kadyrov/25022321.html http://www.rferl.org/content/chechen-syria-fighting-kadyrov/25022321.html Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:27:32 +0000 Caucasus Report http://www.rferl.org/content/chechen-syria-fighting-kadyrov/25022321.html#relatedInfoContainer Makhachkala's mayor denied media reports that he was hospitalized after slashing his veins in an apparent suicide attempt. http://www.rferl.org/content/daghestan-mayor-suicide-/25018721.html http://www.rferl.org/content/daghestan-mayor-suicide-/25018721.html Sun, 16 Jun 2013 13:49:26 +0000 Caucasus Report http://www.rferl.org/content/daghestan-mayor-suicide-/25018721.html#relatedInfoContainer Police have intervened to prevent a protest by Derbent residents against the renaming of a street in honor of deceased Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev, even though the municipal authorities had raised no objection to holding the demonstration. http://www.rferl.org/content/daghestan-street-protests-azerbaijan/25015974.html http://www.rferl.org/content/daghestan-street-protests-azerbaijan/25015974.html Thu, 13 Jun 2013 11:45:34 +0000 Caucasus Report http://www.rferl.org/content/daghestan-street-protests-azerbaijan/25015974.html#relatedInfoContainer Over the past two months, republic of Ingushetia head Yunus-Bek Yevkurov has set in motion a sequence of events that virtually guarantees his reelection for a second term, against the wishes of most of the republic’s population. Public figures, disparate opposition groups, and disillusioned local officials have now joined forces in a bid to avert that scenario. http://www.rferl.org/content/caucasus-report-ingush-congress-call-yevkurov-resign/25013966.html http://www.rferl.org/content/caucasus-report-ingush-congress-call-yevkurov-resign/25013966.html Tue, 11 Jun 2013 15:39:49 +0000 Caucasus Report http://www.rferl.org/content/caucasus-report-ingush-congress-call-yevkurov-resign/25013966.html#relatedInfoContainer Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed Major-General Zhaudat Akhmetkhanov as Karachayevo-Cherkessia Republic interior minister and named Akhmetkhanov’s first deputy, career investigator Colonel Mukhammed Bzhunayev, as acting head of the ministry. http://www.rferl.org/content/karachayevo-cherkessia-interior-minister-fired-putin/25009050.html http://www.rferl.org/content/karachayevo-cherkessia-interior-minister-fired-putin/25009050.html Thu, 06 Jun 2013 12:04:18 +0000 Caucasus Report http://www.rferl.org/content/karachayevo-cherkessia-interior-minister-fired-putin/25009050.html#relatedInfoContainer Three days after the spectacular detention of Makhachkala Mayor Said Amirov, the precise reason for it remains unclear. Federal and local officials have given diverging explanations. http://www.rferl.org/content/makhachkala-mayor-allegations-emerge/25007224.html http://www.rferl.org/content/makhachkala-mayor-allegations-emerge/25007224.html Tue, 04 Jun 2013 19:59:25 +0000 Caucasus Report http://www.rferl.org/content/makhachkala-mayor-allegations-emerge/25007224.html#relatedInfoContainer In the eight months since Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili’s United National Movement ceded power in the wake of the October 1 parliamentary elections, at least a dozen senior Interior Ministry personnel have been arrested and charged with abuse of office. http://www.rferl.org/content/georgia-interior-ministry-achilles-heel/25005620.html http://www.rferl.org/content/georgia-interior-ministry-achilles-heel/25005620.html Mon, 03 Jun 2013 14:29:35 +0000 Caucasus Report http://www.rferl.org/content/georgia-interior-ministry-achilles-heel/25005620.html#relatedInfoContainer Makhachkala mayor Said Amirov, whom a recent opinion poll showed would have beaten acting Republic of Daghestan President Ramazan Abdulatipov in a direct election for republic head, has been arrested at his home. http://www.rferl.org/content/caucasus-report-daghestan-makhachkala-mayor-arrested/25004594.html http://www.rferl.org/content/caucasus-report-daghestan-makhachkala-mayor-arrested/25004594.html Sun, 02 Jun 2013 09:49:30 +0000 Caucasus Report http://www.rferl.org/content/caucasus-report-daghestan-makhachkala-mayor-arrested/25004594.html#relatedInfoContainer Chechen Republic head Ramzan Kadyrov is in high dudgeon following the screening by a Russian TV channel of footage showing employees of the Grozny municipal department responsible for parks carrying mown grass wrapped in the Russian national flag. http://www.rferl.org/content/chechnya-kadyrov/25003357.html http://www.rferl.org/content/chechnya-kadyrov/25003357.html Fri, 31 May 2013 13:16:28 +0000 Caucasus Report http://www.rferl.org/content/chechnya-kadyrov/25003357.html#relatedInfoContainer Chechen Republic head Ramzan Kadyrov is not a man to do things by halves, as his lavish reception in Grozny on May 27 for the editors of Russia’s most prestigious newspapers demonstrated yet again. http://www.rferl.org/content/chechen-leader-kadyrov-surkov/25002340.html http://www.rferl.org/content/chechen-leader-kadyrov-surkov/25002340.html Thu, 30 May 2013 15:01:28 +0000 Caucasus Report http://www.rferl.org/content/chechen-leader-kadyrov-surkov/25002340.html#relatedInfoContainer Yet notwithstanding the perception that "achieving regime change by means of elections is impossible in Armenia," the political landscape is very different now from early 2012 and is likely to continue to change. One major political party has strengthened its position, while support for two opposition parliamentary parties has dwindled. http://www.rferl.org/content/armenia-opposition-takes-stock/24998864.html http://www.rferl.org/content/armenia-opposition-takes-stock/24998864.html Mon, 27 May 2013 15:04:04 +0000 Caucasus Report http://www.rferl.org/content/armenia-opposition-takes-stock/24998864.html#relatedInfoContainer Ramazan Abdulatipov, whom Russian President Vladimir Putin named acting president of Daghestan in late January, has wasted no time in identifying his priorities. http://www.rferl.org/content/daghestan-president-abdulatipov-politics/24993562.html http://www.rferl.org/content/daghestan-president-abdulatipov-politics/24993562.html Wed, 22 May 2013 08:26:52 +0000 Caucasus Report http://www.rferl.org/content/daghestan-president-abdulatipov-politics/24993562.html#relatedInfoContainer