Russia says it is outraged by an interview with Chechen guerilla leader Shamil Basayev broadcast by the ABC TV network, and the foreign ministry summoned a senior US diplomat in Moscow to express its “strong indignation” over the show. In… Read moreShamil Basayev: “OK, so I’m a terrorist”
Is the Russian province of Dagestan going the way of neighboring Chechnya? This July 2 AFP account (online at Qatar’s The Peninsula) makes a disturbingly good case: On Makhachkala’s streets a motorist can get away with speeding, running lights and… Read moreDagestan: next Caucasian domino?
What ironic timing. An official visit by the US Energy Secretary to Azerbaijan to mark the opening of the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline was immediately preceeded by violent repression of pro-democracy protests there. From the May 29 New York Times: Washington –… Read moreAzerbaijan: pipeline opens, political space closes
A conference questioning Turkey’s official position on the World War I-era Armenian genocide has been cancelled following pressure from the government. The conference, entitled “Ottoman Armenians at the Decline of the Empire: Academic Responsibility and Issues of Democracy,” was to… Read moreTurkish government threats halt conference on Armenian genocide
A group of prominent businessmen in Turkey have issued a call for Arnold Schwarzenegger’s movies to be banned from Turkish TV after the California governor endorsed a call by Armenian-Americans (a sizeable constituency in his state) for April 24 to… Read moreTurks protest Schwarzenegger for bad reason
