Taklama

When a large number of senior members of the Abkhazian military was sent into retirement late April, this caused some speculation as to whether this wasn't in reality a purge, and if so, whom this purge was directed against. One option was that Minister of Defence Mirab Kishmaria had removed …

Abkhazia's embassy in Moscow has officially been opened on May the 17th. Apart from the relevant Abkhazian and Russian officials, the ceremony was also attended by the heads of the diplomatic missions of Nicaragua, South Ossetia, and... Syria. Past experience teaches that this should probably not be seen as an …

The opposition Forum for the National Unity of Abkhazia (FNUA) has elected Raul Khajimba as its new Chairman during its annual congress on May the 12th. Khajimba's association with the FNUA dates back to its foundation in February 2005 - it was founded to unite the various movements and parties that …

On the 3rd of May, Albert Hovsepyan announced that on account of his old age (72), he was retiring as Vice Speaker of the People's Assembly of Abkhazia. This news has received very little media attention, but it is potentially significant, since Hovsepyan is probably the most important Armenian politician …

The Georgian parliament may be moving in the direction of formally recognising the Circassian genocide perpetrated by Tsarist Russia in the 19th century. This genocide took place around the year 1864, the official end of the 50 year Caucasus war that more or less concluded Russia's conquest of the Caucasus …

On the 29th of April, Abkhazian Minister of Defence Mirab Kishmaria announced during a press conference that a number of very high ranking officers of the Abkhazian army had been dismissed from active service into the reserve forces. The list includes Col. Gen. Anatoli Zaitsev, who is Chief of the …

The 12 December 2009 Abkhazian presidential election left many things as they were - Bagapsh won a second term and the composition of the cabinet is not likely to change radically. But since Alyksandr Ankvab was elected Vice President under Bagapsh, there was one vacancy: the Prime Ministership.

Today Bagapsh appointed …

On 12 December 2009, Sergei Bagapsh won a second term in the Abkhazian presidential election - Alyksandr Ankvab, the current Prime Minister, will become Vice President. Before the pair will be inaugurated on 12 February, I want to take a look back and argue that Bagapsh's re-election was probably the best …

The list of countries who recognise Abkhazia and South Ossetia has been increasing ever so slowly over the course of the last two years - at the rate of about one country every six months - so that the question arises: who's next?

Belarus was long seen to be the country that …

On 23 December the Council of Europe published the report of the Council's Anti-Torture Committee on its visit to Abkhazia from 27 April to 4 May 2009. Caucasian Knot reports that the publication is controversial, because Abkhazia claims that it had been agreed beforehand that the report would only be …