Jean-Christophe Peuch

Also by Jean-Christophe Peuch

• October 22, 2004

  Azerbaijan: Opposition Leaders Receive Prison Sentences

  The marathon trial of seven Azerbaijani opposition leaders imprisoned after last year's presidential polls ended today with the defendants receiving prison terms ranging from two-and-a-half to five years. The verdict handed down by Azerbaijan's Court for Serious Crimes is unlikely to appease civil rights groups, which blame President Ilham Aliyev for attempting to muzzle dissent in the South Caucasus country. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has expressed its concern over the ruling.

• October 21, 2004

  Georgia: Open Letter Warns Ruling Party Over Political Intolerance

  Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has had uneasy relations with representatives of the country's nongovernmental sector. Civil rights activists have denounced Saakashvili's increasing authority and blamed his administration for an increase in arbitrary detentions and brutality by police. This week, a group of 14 independent personalities wrote Saakashvili an open letter in which they caution against the climate of intolerance and fear they say is settling in the country. Saakashvili is due to meet with the signatories next week.

• October 19, 2004

  Georgia: Outgoing Abkhaz President Striving To Regain Political Initiative

  Government candidate Khadjimba voting on 3 October The outgoing president of Abkhazia is apparently trying to reassert authority over the separatist republic in northwestern Georgia, more than two weeks into the political infighting triggered by the disputed 3 October presidential election. Vladislav Ardzinba yesterday asked lawmakers to dismiss the province's opposition-minded prosecutor-general. Reports also suggest authorities may be moving against Abkhazia's independent media.

• October 15, 2004

  Azerbaijan: World Food Program Slashes Food Rations To Refugees Due To Funding Woes

  The United Nations World Food Program says it has been forced to cut its aid to displaced Azerbaijanis due to scarce funding. The agency's decision is likely to make life much harder for the tens of thousands of civilians in the country who depend heavily on such foreign aid. But the WFP's assistance to displaced persons in the country is just one aspect of the problem. Thousands of others -- refugees from recent wars in the Caucasus and elsewhere -- are also living in Azerbaijan, and in even worse conditions.

• October 13, 2004

  Georgia: Candidate Says Abkhazia Being Driven To 'Civil War'

  In an exclusive interview, Sergei Bagapsh, who has emerged as the strongest challenger to the leaders of Georgia's breakaway republic of Abkhazia, shares his views on the political crisis triggered by the disputed 3 October polls.

• October 12, 2004

  Georgia: Controversial Election Ruling Spreads Further Confusion In Abkhazia

  Former Prime Minister Raul Khadjimba voting on 3 October Election officials in Georgia's separatist province of Abkhazia late yesterday declared opposition candidate Sergei Bagapsh the winner of last week's disputed presidential poll. The ruling, however, has not eased tensions in the Black Sea region. Abkhaz President Vladislav Ardzinba has condemned the decision, saying it could lead to "bloodshed." Russia, the main supporter of Abkhazia's de facto independence, has reacted cautiously to the announcement, saying the situation demanded clarification.

• October 11, 2004

  EU: Chirac Says French Will Be Consulted on Turkey's EU Accession, If Necessary

  French President Jacques Chirac attempted to allay widespread domestic criticism yesterday over Turkey's possible future entry into the European Union. In comments made from China, where he is on a state visit, Chirac said the French people will be consulted on the issue through a referendum if necessary and emphasized that France has the right to veto the negotiation process.

• October 08, 2004

  Georgia: Abkhazia Strives For Stability As Vote Controversy Continues

  The Kremlin favorite is Khajimba Raul Khajimba, the prime minister of the Georgian separatist province of Abkhazia and the government's candidate in last weekend's presidential polls, appeared to suffer two blows on 6 October. First, election officials ignored his claims of vote rigging and calls for a new countrywide vote, ordering instead a rerun in only one district. Then, President Vladislav Ardzinba relieved him of his ministerial duties. Analysts on both sides of the demarcation line that separates the breakaway region from the rest of Georgia share their differing views on these latest political developments.

• October 06, 2004

  Georgia: Abkhaz Election Officials Order New Vote In Disputed Region

  Raul Khadjimba voting on 3 October Abkhazia's Central Election Commission on today ordered a rerun in one region of the disputed 3 October presidential election. But election officials decided to validate returns from the other regions showing the main opposition candidate in the lead. That means the revote in the Gali region could decide who will be the next president of the separatist Black Sea republic.

• October 05, 2004

  Georgia: Controversy Grows Over Abkhaz Presidential Election

  The first election to pick a successor to Vladislav Ardzinba, the president of Georgia's breakaway republic of Abkhazia, remained deadlocked today as the two main contenders traded allegations of electoral fraud. Tensions are mounting as officials continue to await the results of the presidential poll in Abkhazia's southern Gali region, which is populated by many ethnic Georgians.

• October 03, 2004

  Analysis: Separatist Region Goes To The Polls In Georgia

  Georgia's separatist republic of Abkhazia held a presidential election today to replace its ailing leader, Vladislav Ardzinba. But regardless of who rises to power in Sukhum, a quick resolution of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict seems unlikely.

• September 30, 2004

  Georgia: Separatist Region Gears Up For Presidential Polls

  Georgia's separatist republic of Abkhazia holds presidential elections on 3 October to replace its ailing leader, Vladislav Ardzinba. For the first time since the Black Sea region won de facto independence, the poll is marked by a relatively broad variety of candidates. Yet, whoever rises to power in Sukhum, a quick resolution of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict seems unlikely.

• September 28, 2004

  EU/Turkey: Istanbul Ready For Accession Talks, But Is Europe?

  The Turkish parliament on September 26 voted overwhelmingly to bring the country's Penal Code in line with European Union democracy standards. Bowing to EU demands, the government had earlier withdrawn an amendment aimed at remaking adultery punishable by law.

• September 27, 2004

  Analysis: Beyond Beslan, The Caucasus's Fissures Run Deep

  Prague, 23 September 2004 (RFE/RL) -- Gunmen with links to Chechen separatists seized a school in Russia's autonomous republic of North Ossetia on 1 September. The three-day hostage crisis ended with the death of more than 330 people, nearly half of them children.

• September 23, 2004

  Turkey: EU Commissioner Says 'No More Obstacles' To Entry Talks

  The EU and Turkey today resolved differences that threatened to derail Turkey's bid for membership in the bloc. Addressing reporters after talks with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, EU Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen said there were no more conditions for Turkey to fulfill before the European Commission make its recommendation on Turkish accession, expected in early October.

• September 21, 2004

  EU/Turkey: Brussels, Ankara Cross Swords Over Legal Reform, Adultery Law

  Turkey has signaled that it has no immediate plans to amend its Penal Code after the European Commission warned that failure to do so could force it to scuttle the start of EU entry talks with Ankara. The Turkish government shelved the proposed reform last week amid a row with the EU over plans to restore adultery as a crime.

• September 08, 2004

  Russia: Beslan Hostage Crisis Rekindles Tensions Between Ossetians And Ingush

  In June 1994, the presidents of Russia's republics of Ingushetia and North Ossetia signed an agreement to resettle Ingush who had been displaced two years earlier during a short armed conflict with ethnic Ossetians. Designed as a first step toward healing the wounds of the 1992 conflict, this program was named after the city of Beslan, where the agreement was signed. But after last week's hostage crisis that claimed some 300 Ossetian lives, including scores of schoolchildren, the name of Beslan is now synonymous with renewed tensions between Muslim Ingush and their Christian Orthodox Ossetian neighbors.

• August 19, 2004

  Georgia: Russia Weighs In As Fighting Worsens In South Ossetia

  Putin called on Georgia to solve the dispute "through peaceful means." Prague, 19 August 2004 (RFE/RL) -- As the situation continues to deteriorate in Georgia's separatist republic of South Ossetia, Russia is showing signs of growing impatience.

• August 18, 2004

  Georgia: Rogue Elements Blamed For South Ossetia Violence

  Prague, 18 August 2004 (RFE/RL) -- New clashes erupted overnight in the separatist republic of South Ossetia, reportedly leaving three Georgian soldiers dead and five others wounded. The violence broke out just after Georgian and South Ossetian officials reached a new cease-fire agreement in Tbilisi.

• August 12, 2004

  Deadliest Fighting In Years Erupts In South Ossetia

  12 August 2004 (RFE/RL) -- Fresh fighting erupted overnight in Georgia's separatist republic of South Ossetia, leaving at least three people dead and several wounded. The shootout, which followed a day of heavy artillery fire around the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali, is the most serious incident reported in the area since the election of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili in January. This is also the first time in years that people are reported killed in military action in South Ossetia.

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