NEWS: 3 Sep 09 | Caucasus Reporting Service 509 (iwpr.net)

Progress by Protocol
Armenia and Turkey move towards peace via “football diplomacy”. By Tatul Hakobian in Yerevan (CRS No. 509, 03-Sep-09)
Inching Forward in Armenian-Turkish Ties
Football diplomacy: where are we now? By Tevan Poghosyan (CRS No. 509, 03-Sep-09)
Armenian Border Doubts
Armenian border villagers distrust moves to open up to Turkey. By Davit Muradian in Bagaran (CRS No. 509, 03-Sep-09)
Survivors Wary of Rapprochement
Armenians, recalling killings, oppose peace talks with Turkey. By Gayane Mkrtchian (CRS No. 509, 03-Sep-09)
Thaw Praised in Enclave
Armenians in Karabakh welcome move on Turkey-Armenia ties. By Karine Ohanian in Stepanakert (CRS No. 509, 04-Sep-09)

NEWS: 14 Aug 09 | Caucasus Reporting Service 506 (iwpr.net)

Azeris Baffled by Turkmen Legal Threat
Court action over maritime boundary could harm mutually beneficial gas pipeline project. By Kenan Guluzade in Baku (CRS No. 506, 14-Aug-09)
Abkhazia: Furore Over Gal Georgians’ Status
Opposition politicians angry at plans to offer full rights to members of marginalised community. By Anaid Gogorian in Sukhum (CRS No. 506, 14-Aug-09)
Karabakh Artist Overcomes Suffering
Refugee tells IWPR how she survived war and tragedy to sing of love. By Karine Ohanian in Stepanarkert (CRS No. 506, 14-Aug-09)

NEWS: 12 Jun 09 | Caucasus Reporting Service 497 (iwpr.net)

Special Report: Karabakh Refugees
Editor's Note
By Oliver Bullough, Caucasus Editor (CRS No. 497, 12-June-09)

Lives Frozen by Conflict
With no sign of Karabakh stand-off being resolved, refugees will remain in legal and economic limbo, their lives frozen by the frozen conflict. By Karine Ohanian in Stepanakert, Seymur Kyazimov in Baku and Gegham Vardanian in Yerevan (CRS No. 497, 12-June-09)

UNHCR Warns of Jobless Despair
Senior aid official says international community needs to improve skills of those displaced by war to improve their employment prospects. By IWPR staff (CRS No. 497, 12-June-09)

Baku Exile Speaks of Fears and Loss
Armenian refugee describes dangers that prompted her to flee – but says she yearns to see her old home again. By Karine Ohanian in Stepanakert (CRS No. 497, 12-June-09)

Grim Prospects for Refugee Children
Azeri refugee in Baku worries about her boys’ future, saying even if they were to return home they wouldn’t fit in. By Seymur Kyazimov in Baku (CRS No. 497, 12-June-09)

Homeless in Yerevan
A decade and a half after the fighting ceased, many refugees are still waiting for proper housing. By Gegham Vardanian in Yerevan (CRS No. 497, 12-June-09)

SPECIAL REPORT: Karabakh Refugees. Lives Frozen by Conflict. (iwpr.net)

With no sign of Karabakh stand-off being resolved, refugees will remain in legal and economic limbo, their lives frozen by the frozen conflict.

By Karine Ohanian in Stepanakert, Seymur Kyazimov in Baku and Gegham Vardanian in Yerevan (CRS No. 497, 12-June-09)

Some 15 years have passed since a ceasefire was signed in the Nagorny Karabakh conflict, yet the people forced out of their homes by the fighting have still not found peace. They still suffer from homesickness, poverty, discomfort and legal difficulties.
Refugees in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Karabakh – a majority-Armenian territory that broke free of Azeri control with the collapse of the Soviet Union, and unilaterally declared independence – have told IWPR how they feel abandoned in the student hostels, old hotels, schools and offices they now call home.“
Refugees today would like to forget that they are refugees, but this does not happen. What we lived through is unforgettable,” Sarasar Sarian, an Armenian from Baku now living in Karabakh, told IWPR.

full article >>>

NEWS: 1 May 09 | Caucasus Reporting Service 491 (iwpr.net)

Karabakh Eyes Armenia-Turkey Thaw With Suspicion

The recent warming in the relations of the two estranged neighbours provokes ambiguous reactions in Nagorny Karabakh. By Karine Ohanian in Stepanakert (CRS No. 491, 1-May-09)

Border Turks Want Door to Armenia Kept Shut

Plan to reopen frontier between Armenia and Turkey wins few friends in towns and villages on Turkish side. By Sabuhi Mammadli in Igdir, Turkey (CRS No. 491, 1-May-09)

Russia’s Gift of Recognition Hurts Abkhaz Traders

Exports nosedive as an unintended consequence of Moscow’s diplomatic gesture of friendship.
By Anaid Gogorian in Sukhum (CRS No. 491, 1-May-09)

NEWS: 26 Mar 09 | Caucasus Reporting Service 486 (iwpr.net)

Karabakh Braces for Impact of Global Crisis
As unrecognised republic prepares for downturn, government promises measures to ease credit and increase national self-sufficiency. By Karine Ohanian in Stepanakert (CRS No. 486, 26-Mar-09)
Georgians on Abkhaz Border Feel Abandoned
In the bullet-holed village of Khurcha, victims of August war say central government has forgotten them. By Irakli Lagvilava in Khurcha (CRS No. 486, 26-Mar-09)

NEWS:

20 Sep 07 Caucasus Reporting Service 411

Agonising Scenes at Razed Baku Cemetery
Relatives distraught as bodies exhumed to make way for new highway. By Leila Amirova in Baku (CRS No. 411, 20-Sept-07)

Armenia: Sad Fate of Azeri Graves
Government won’t fund restoration of Azerbaijani cemeteries, saying they do not have any intrinsic cultural value. By Naira Bulghadarian in Saral (CRS No. 411, 20-Sept-07)

Karabakh Mosques Restored
Officials want to refute Baku’s claims that Muslim monuments are being systematically destroyed. By Karine Ohanian in Nagorny Karabakh (CRS No. 411, 20-Sept-07)

Kabardino-Balkaria Leader Offers Way Out in Land Dispute
President proposes a major rethink on laws that ethnic Balkars say will deprive them of their lands. By Aishat Osmanova in Nalchik (CRS No. 411, 20-Sept-07)