Caucasus

Armenia said May 5 that it may consider formally recognizing the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region, in a move that would increase tensions with Azerbaijan just a month after clashes over the disputed territory claimed 110 lives.

Recently, at the very beginning of April 2016, the armed conflict between Armenian and Azerbaijani militaries was shortly renewed over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh - an autonomous province within Azerbaijan but in fact under direct military control by Armenia.

Those were very sad years. Presumably, the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh was against remaining within Azerbaijan and trying to “liberate” their enclave as a second Armenian state, if not achieving union with Armenia in one go

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for an end to the fierce fighting renewed between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, where a conflict is threatening to resurface after having remained frozen since 199s4.

Both Armenia and Azerbaijan maintain the other side began the fighting, with conflicting reports about details and casualties.

Russia's deployment last week of a new fleet of MIG-29 fighter jets and MI-8MT helicopters to the Erebuni Airbase in Armenia has raised concerns about Moscow's growing military presence in the region. This could have far-reaching consequences, beyond the strategic encirclement of Turkey, for the future of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as well as broader regional security and stability.

The historic Georgian Osvank Church in the Turkish province of Erzurum needs urgent restoration but Turkey cannot begin the work as Georgian officials have not met reciprocity principlesThe Osvank Church, which was built nearly 1,000 years ago in the eastern province of Erzurum, is ready for restoration but still waiting for steps to be taken by Georgian officials before work can begin. 

While Russian President Vladimir Putin's air campaign in Syria may have other aims, one result seems to be that it is hitting Islamists from Russia's Caucasus, say analysts.
 

Azerbaijani forces on Sept.24 shelled Armenia, killing three civilian women, officials in Yerevan said, as tensions mounted in the Caucasus neighbours' decades-long conflict over the disputed Nagorny Karabakh region.

Banks are arranging USD 1B in financing for, a key offshore gas field project in Azerbaijan seen as crucial for Europe's energy security, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has said.

The foreign ministry of Georgia issued on Wednesday a note of protest to Russia over the illegal installation of banners marking the so-called "state border" of the breakaway region of South Ossetia.