· January, 2009

Stories about Central Asia & Caucasus from January, 2009

Georgia: Opposition Unites, Kind Of…

  31 January 2009

Dateline Tbilisi comments on news that twelve opposition parties have agreed to unite to call for Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili's resignation. The blog says the party believes Saakashvili will be forced to resign by the end of 2009 but points out some of the many factors which will determine if...

Azerbaijan: Carbon Neutral Resort

  31 January 2009

otto details the development of a carbon neutral resort and residential development on the Zira Island located off the coast of Azerbaijan. The blog posts mockups of the project and says it will be the first carbon neutral development in the Caucasus and Central Asia.

Armenia: Diaspora Politics

  31 January 2009

tzitzernak2 comments on the role of the Diaspora in local politics in Armenia and raises concerns with the date of a conference to be held by one of the largest lobbying groups in the U.S., the Armenian Assembly of America. The blog says the timing of the event on the...

Azerbaijan: Mammed Amin Rasul-zadeh

  31 January 2009

In Mutatione Fortitudo marks the 125th anniversary of the birth of Mammed Amin Rasul-zadeh by introducing its readers to one of the founding fathers of the short-lived Azerbaijani Democratic Republic in the early 20th Century.

Georgia: Armenian Activists Detained

  31 January 2009

Blogian comments on the arrest of two ethnic Armenians in the Georgian region of Samtskhe-Javakheti allegedly for espionage and the formation of an armed gang. The blog says calls for autonomy or independence from Georgia are once again being heard.

Kyrgyzstan: What Did the President Mean?

  30 January 2009

On January, 27th the President Kurmanbek Bakiev addressed to citizens of Kyrgyzstan. In his speech the President declared that created strategic documents must be realizing more actively. He also identified national interests and told about creation of two new structures (Secretary and Institute of the Strategic Analysis). In addition Bakiev...

Kazakhstan: Livejournal Unblocked. And Blocked Again

  30 January 2009

On Junuary 28, the Kazakhstani Internet users were suddenly granted access to LiveJournal – the most popular blog platform in the post-Soviet Russian-speaking blogosphere. It was blocked by the national ISP on October 7 last year under unknown reasons – “Kazakhtelecom” has never acknowledged the fact of filtering. We used...

Tajikistan: Terrible Tajik-Uzbek relations

  30 January 2009

Vadim says that Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have chronically had bad relations since early history of the two countries, and the most recent actions of Uzbekistan made these relations even worse.

Azerbaijan: Democratization Under Siege

  29 January 2009

Flying Carpets and Broken Pipelines comments on the state of democracy in Azerbaijan and wonders about the country's future now that foreign radio broadcasts have effectively been banned and a referendum to remove the two-term restriction on the presidency is scheduled for March.

Armenia: Army Day

  29 January 2009

517 Design [RU] posts photographs of a youth procession to the Yerablur military cemetery in Yerevan to mark yesterday's Army Day in Armenia. The national holiday also gave the blog the opportunity to reflect on the 17th anniversary of formation of the Armenian army.

Kazakhstan: Journalist Arrested for Alleged State Secret Disclosure

  29 January 2009

Ramazan Yessergepov, chief editor of the “Alma-Ata Info” newspaper, was arrested early January this year by the National Security Committee officers from the provincial branch office of the country's main special service. They had come all the way down from Taraz (southern town in Kazakhstan) to his apartment in Almaty...

Russia: Conscript Seeks Asylum in Georgia

  29 January 2009

Aleksandr Glukhov, a 21-year-old Russian conscript, has asked for asylum in the Republic of Georgia to escape the "unbearable conditions" in the Russian army. One of Glukhov's media appearances took place as he was dining at a McDonald's restaurant in Tbilisi. Russian officials claim that Glukhov was captured by Georgian armed forces in South Ossetia, where he was performing his compulsory military service, and taken to the Georgian capital. Quite a few people in Russia seem to consider Glukhov "a traitor." Below are some of the reactions from the Russophone blogosphere.

Armenia: Open Letter Against Intolerance

  28 January 2009

Queering Yerevan posts an open letter in Armenian and English for its readers to sign in protest at growing intolerance and homophobia in the pro-government and pro-opposition media as well as from some representatives of civil society in the country. Meanwhile, Unzipped: Gay Armenia links to previous posts detailing the...

Armenia: No PACE Sanctions

  28 January 2009

Life in the Armenian Diaspora comments on yesterday's decision by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe not to suspend Armenia's voting rights in the influential body. The blog says that promises to amend two articles of the Criminal Code remind it of moves to change legislation in Turkey...

About our Central Asia & Caucasus coverage

Nurbek Bekmurzaev
Nurbek Bekmurzaev is the Central Asia editor. Email him story ideas or volunteer to write.

Arzu Geybullayeva
Arzu Geybullayeva is the South Caucasus editor. Email her story ideas or volunteer to write.