IWPR Caucasus Latest Stories

Azerbaijan: IWPR Journalist "Abducted"

Thu, 01 Jun 2017 09:24:01 +0100

Investigative reporter forcibly returned to unknown fate at hands of security services.

Concerns are mounting over the fate of IWPR contributor Afgan Mukhtarli after the dissident Azeri journalist was seized in Georgia and taken across the border to custody in Baku.

He now faces charges there of smuggling, crossing the border illegally and violently resisting arrest. A Baku court has committed him to three months of pre-trial detention.

Mukhtarli and his wife Leyla Mustafayeva, also an investigative journalist, had fled Azerbaijan in 2015 amid fears for their safety and were living in Tbilisi.

A protester in front of government buildings in Tbilisi, imitating the abduction of Afgan Mukhtarli, reportedly pushed into a car by unknown persons and a bag placed over his head. (Photo: Lib Center)
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Karabakh's April War, One Year Later

Wed, 12 Apr 2017 09:53:50 +0100

Diplomatic efforts have stalled with little progress in sight.

A year after the worst clashes between Azerbaijani forces and the Armenian-backed Karabakh army since the 1994 ceasefire, regional experts warn that any future outbreak of violence is likely to be even deadlier.

More than a dozen civilians living on the frontline were killed and many more injured after fighting broke out between in the early hours of April 2, 2016.

March 29, 2017 event held by IWPR, the Public Journalism Club (PJC) and the Media Centre. (Photo: IWPR)
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Women Building Peace in the South Caucasus

Wed, 08 Mar 2017 16:39:03 +0000

Platform helps activists and writers from conflict regions come together.

An online forum for women in conflict-divided regions of the South Caucasus is providing a vital space for female participation in peace-building, political and economic processes.

IWPR’s South Caucasus programme launched the independent Russian-language site Women-peace.net in 2012 as a part of the project Women Connecting for Peace – The Voice of Change, which promotes activism and confidence building.

In the five years since, Women-peace.net has built up a strong network of contributors and readers in Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

A workshop with Georgian, Ossetian and Abkhaz activists and journalists in Istanbul. (Photo: IWPR Caucasus)
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Georgia's Best Journalists Revealed

Thu, 16 Feb 2017 00:00:00 +0000

In its fourth year, competition identifies outstanding submissions on conflict-related issues.

Georgian journalist Gvantsa Doluashvili is to spend a month-long fellowship at IWPR’s London office after winning the 2016 EU Prize for Journalism.

Her submission, Non-Stop Communication, followed families split by the chain-and-wire fencing that now demarcates the de-facto boundary between Georgia and the breakaway region of South Ossetia.

Doluashvili comes from Gori, a town in the Shida Kartli region adjacent to South Ossetia, and said that she drew on her own experience in her writing.

Gvantsa Doluashvili, Winner of 2016 EUMM Prize for Peace Journalism. (Photo: IWPR Georgia)
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Georgia: FGM Criminalised Following IWPR Investigation

Thu, 02 Feb 2017 13:42:02 +0000

State takes immediate action to outlaw practice and raise public awareness.

Female genital mutilation (FGM) has been criminalised in Georgia following an IWPR investigation that revealed the practice was ongoing in an area in the east of the country.

The Georgian government and human rights groups said that they had all been previously unaware that ethnic Avars living in three villages of the Kvareli district, which borders Russia’s Dagestan republic, routinely carried out the procedure.

(See FGM Uncovered in Georgia).

IWPR’s November 2016 report sparked a rapid response from the state institutions, with the office of Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili taking immediate action.

FGM is practised in three villages of the Kvareli district of Georgia – Tivi, Saruso and Chantliskure. (Photo: Aida Mirmaksumova)
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Armenia's CSTO Disappointment

Mon, 07 Nov 2016 17:24:58 +0000

Member states failed to appoint an Armenian as the bloc’s new general secretary.

Armenia has been left frustrated by the outcome of the most recent summit of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), with analysts warning that the country’s position has been seriously weakened.

The grouping of Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan adopted a collective nine-year security strategy when it met in the Armenian capital Yerevan on October 14.

It also decided to set up a joint crisis response centre for the exchange of information on common threats, including terrorism. Details on both have yet to be forthcoming.

CSTO session in Yerevan, Armenia, October 14, 2016. (Photo: Photolure)
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FGM Uncovered in Georgia

Fri, 04 Nov 2016 13:24:27 +0000

Authorities say they were unaware that minority group was carrying out the procedure.

An IWPR investigation has discovered that hundreds of girls from the ethnic Avar community in eastern Georgia are being forced to undergo female genital mutilation (FGM).

The Georgian government has pledged to investigate following the revelation that girls in the villages of Tivi, Saruso and Chantliskure in the Kvareli district, which has a large Avar population, are being cut in childhood.

“We are Muslims. We fast during Ramadan. We observe our Islamic customs. Circumcision is also our custom. We cannot do without it,” said Naida, a woman from Saruso village. Her name, like the other villagers in this story, has been changed.

Georgia´s constitution guarantees every person freedom of religion and belief, but it also enshrines the right to a healthy life.

A woman from Tivi village praying. (Photo: Aida Mirmaksumova)
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It's Hard To Be Gay in Armenia

Mon, 24 Oct 2016 10:28:03 +0100

Widespread prejudice in Armenia leaves few LGBT-friendly public spaces.

Life for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people in Armenia, a socially conservative society where homophobia remains entrenched, is not easy.

The difficulties are multiplied for those living outside the capital, where society is even less tolerant towards LGBT people. Socialising is particularly difficult, with no LGBT-friendly venues and few public places where gay people can be sure they will not be subject to abuse.

Arthur (not his real name), 25, said that there were no public entertainment spaces in Gyumri or Vanadzor, the country´s second and third largest cities respectively, where LGBT people could feel safe.

Activists of the PINK Armenia NGO raised the LGBT flag in the centre of Yerevan on the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. May, 2015. (Photo: Pink Armenia NGO)
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