Iran: Tehran’s View of the Georgia-South Ossetia conflict in the Caucasus

With its ongoing military action in Georgia, Russia is sending a loud message to the West that it is back and capable of acting effectively in its periphery. That message is also being heard in Iran. Russia’s show of strength is making Tehran weigh its options — both in how it deals with the United [...]

Armenia leans on Iran.

Iran does not have too many friends these days, but in a far corner of the Caucasus, on the edge of Europe, it is forming a special relationship.
Deep in the cellar of the Noy Brandy factory in Yerevan, Armenia, there is a pungent, but not unpleasant smell of ageing, fortified wine. On an upturned wooden [...]

Turkey destroys armenian heritage

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Jointly with the Armenian community of Crimea, Secretary of the Union of Armenian Writers and Union of Armenian Artists Sassoun Baryan called on the international community to prevent destruction of Armenian cultural heritage in Turkey, reported Yerkramas, the newspaper of Armenians of Russia.

Armenian monasteries in Iran added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List

The Armenian Monastic Ensembles in Iran, in the north-west of the country, consists of three monastic ensembles of the Armenian Christian faith: St Thaddeus and St Stepanos and the Chapel of Dzordzor. These edifices – the oldest of which, St Thaddeus, dates back to the 7th century – are examples of outstanding universal value of [...]

Armenians in Tukey-”Cryptoarmenians”.

The issue of crypto and Islamized Armenians from time to time appears in the agenda of Turkish press, political and scientific circles and becomes reason of various speculations. Even superficial observations let us suppose that speculative policy has a tendency to grow up to the extreme form.

Iran strives to become the regional power-holder competing against Turkey.

 
Iran’s intention, or to be more exact, her wish to participate in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict regulation must be viewed from the point of view of its striving to become the regional power-holder.
 
Lately Iran has started to attract the attention of the world community more and more often. And the thing is not only in the permanent [...]

Analysis: Do Azerbaijan’s Ethnic Minorities Face Forced Assimilation?

By RFE/RL analyst Liz Fuller
Over the past 10 days, representatives of ethnic minorities in Azerbaijan have issued two separate public statements affirming their fear of assimilation and soliciting international support. Azerbaijani commentators have dismissed those appeals as unfounded and orchestrated by Moscow.

The ethnic groups in question are the Avars, Tsakhurs, and Lezgins, and according to [...]

ISLAMIC PROCESSES IN AZERBAIJAN

Religious processes in post-Soviet Islamic secular republics, including Azerbaijan, have their specificity. They considerably differ from analogical processes occurring in other regions where Islam is traditionally spread and where Islamic institutionalism has deep historical roots.
In the Soviet period, being deprived of social-political role, Islam in Azerbaijan was reduced to traditional and everyday functions. After [...]