Caucasus

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.

In its seventh year, the Armenia-Turkey Cinema Platform continues to bring together filmmakers from Turkey, Armenia and the diaspora for joint projects. Recently, they opened a new call for film projects for its 14th workshop in July

Azerbaijan?s national oil company SOCAR is planning to invest $10 billion in Turkey?s petrochemical firm Petkim over the next seven to eight years, SOCAR said on May 12.

Turkish and Azeri armed forces May 12 started joint military exercises in the Azeri capital of Baku and Nakhchivan, the Azeri Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

The exercises would continue until May 17 and were being held within the framework of a military cooperation agreement between Turkey and Azerbaijan, it said.

Azerbaijan's Energy Minister Natiq Aliyev has said Azeri gas will reach Europe by 2020.

Speaking at a panel discussion at the Energy Security Conference in Berlin on May 7, Aliyev said a quarter of the construction on the Southern Gas Corridor had been completed.

'The Circassian Diaspora in Turkey: A Political History' by Zeynel Abidin Besleney (Routledge, 224 pages, £84)