On January 4, the operational headquarters in Chechnya announced that the zone of the counter-terrorist operation in the Achkhoi-Martan and Urus-Martan districts, in the republic’s southwestern foothills, had been expanded. Law enforcement officials were quoted saying that they had additional information about possible terrorist suspects... MORE

The United States, Russia and France have again stepped up their efforts to broker a solution to the Karabakh conflict. Top diplomats from the three mediating powers urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to hammer out a framework peace accord “as soon as possible” after intensive Armenian-Azerbaijani... MORE

Under the protocols signed in Zurich, Switzerland on October 10, Turkey should establish full diplomatic relations with Armenia and re-open the land border between them. The United States, main driver of this initiative, insists that the protocols should be ratified and implemented “without preconditions and... MORE

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s December 7-8 visit to Washington (EDM, December 9) underscored the decline in Washington’s ability to influence Turkish foreign policy decisions. It is within this broader context, Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu turned down Washington’s demands for Turkey to... MORE

Turkey has been busy debating the recent initiative of the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi - AKP) to end the long conflict between Turkish security forces and the Kurdistan Workers Party (Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan – PKK). On November 12, Turkish Interior Minister... MORE

The dramatic rapprochement with Turkey is having profound implications for Armenia’s domestic political scene and, in particular, among its diverse and volatile opposition. The main opposition player, Levon Ter-Petrosian, has defended President Serzh Sargsyan against what he sees as unjustified nationalist criticism and essentially offered... MORE

“We are interested in exporting our resources through different routes,” Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev stated during his visit to Bulgaria on November 13 (AZTV). On the same day, he paid a short working visit to Sofia to meet his counterpart Georgi Parvanov and to sign... MORE

In February, the Turkish Parliament approved a government motion allowing Ankara to deploy Turkish naval forces (Turk Deniz Kuvvetleri) as part of Combined Task Force 151 (CTF-151), an international anti-piracy naval force operating off the coast of Somalia. The motion called for a one-year limit... MORE

Recent weeks have seen unprecedented and potentially far reaching damage to the Turkish-Azerbaijani strategic partnership. Ever since Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) announced its intension to normalize relations with Azerbaijan’s arch-rival Armenia, the relationship between Ankara and Baku has cooled. The Azerbaijani leadership... MORE