Promoting peace and stability in the Caucasus and Central Asia is an "important item" on Turkey's foreign policy agenda, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said in an address in Washington, DC. Gul's visit to the United States was devoted largely to heralding the return of a solid US-Turkish strategic partnership.
Musicians in Central Asia and the Caucasus are putting new twists on traditional forms of music. These innovations were on display during an 11-city tour of the United States by performers from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.
Barely a decade ago, the city of Kars had to fight hard to ensure it was connected to a new improved railway line stretching east across Turkey from Ankara. Now it is set to be a transit hub connecting southern Europe to China, via the Caspian.
Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia are commonly grouped together under a common label -- the "South Caucasus." But evidence of such unity is hard to find on the streets of the nations' capitals.
In Tbilisi, one man, asked whether he considered Georgia part of a regional bloc, said simply, "No, I don't. Georgia is Georgia."
Moscow has taken as a direct threat a recent statement by a senior United States Pentagon official that the Caucasus could prove an attractive location for an anti-missile defense station. The discussion of likely responses to such a move has served to highlight Moscow's own uneasy relations with the former Soviet republics in the region.
In recent months, relations between Georgia and Russia have deteriorated. The clash between these two states is only a symptom of the broader strategic positioning of the West and Russia in and around the South Caucasus. In this scenario, at regional and global levels, countries and organizations are involved in a struggle for power and energy security.
Yet while cynics may question the concept of a distinctly Georgian hip hop, the motivation driving the phenomenon is simple: A person doesn't need much money or resources to rhyme.
Over the past 12 months, the three co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group that seeks to mediate a solution to the Karabakh conflict have warned repeatedly that upcoming elections in Armenia and Azerbaijan could scupper chances of reaching a peace settlement.
rmenia is due to hold parliamentary elections in 2007. Both Armenia and Azerbaijan will hold presidential elections in 2008.
A recent economic conference held in the Georgian capital Tbilisi sought to lay the groundwork for closer regional cooperation among the three South Caucaus states of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.
