Since before the break-up of the USSR, Armenia and Azerbaijan have seen each other as mortal enemies, yet normalizing relations could be a win-win situation. Comments from both Baku and Yerevan this week suggest that moves toward this normalization might finally be on the horizon.

On 23/24 April 2023, just one year ago today, observers doubted the wisdom of Baku’s decision to install a checkpoint on the Lachin Road. Today, with the whole situation changed, Azerbaijan reflects on a crucial move in the long game of regaining full control over Karabakh.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev was in Moscow on 22 April 22, where he met with Vladimir Putin to celebrate the anniversary of the BAM Railway, the construction of which involved many Azerbaijanis, not least the president’s father, Heydar Aliyev.

Russia has started a pull-out of its troops from Azerbaijan, implying Moscow’s acceptance that their peacekeeping role in Karabakh is now irrelevant.

Russian-billionaire turned Armenian activist-politician Ruben Vardanyan has reportedly been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in a move that seems aimed at persuading the world’s media to reassess his situation: he is currently awaiting trial in Azerbaijan for “terrorism-funding” charges.

A Georgian, an Armenian, and an Azerbaijani—all three students at a German university—are allocated a shared flat in Berlin. How will they get on, ‘living with the enemy?’ This is the starting premise for the excellent mini-series Dolma Diaries screening via YouTube.

Many dozens died on Friday in an awful concert massacre in Moscow, cited by some as being terrorist retaliation for Russia’s involvement in Syria. Amongst the victims was an Azerbaijani-Armenian couple whose love had bridged an altogether different conflict.

Visitors to southeastern Iran tend to focus on the city of poets, Shiraz, and the nearby ruins of Persepolis, the ancient Persian capital destroyed by Alexander the Great in 330BC. However, around 100km further south is a lesser-known series of ancient remains.

The Safavids are often associated in Western minds with the 17th-century architectural wonders of Isfahan, Iran. But their roots were Azerbaijani and throughout their long rule, the language used by their bureaucracy was a form of Azerbaijani Turkish.

The 2024 “Engage Armenia Forum” has set off a five-country roadshow around Western Europe to drum up more active diaspora participation in Armenia’s development. A varied range of options are on offer, and such grassroots attempts to internationalize the country could be a major boost towards ensuring a more stable, peaceful Caucasus.

Few outside the Caucasus will know his name. However, for most Azerbaijanis, Mahammad Amin Rasulzade—born 140 years ago today—is one of history’s most pivotal figures, rising to prominence during the country’s first period of independence, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (‘ADR,’ 1918-1920).

Today is Jashn-e Sadeh, an Iranian winter festival celebrated each year on the 10th of Bahman in the Iranian calendar and of Mehr in the Zoroastrian, which falls on 30 January.

Azerbaijan's delegation from PACE, the Parliament Assembly of the Council of Europe, has withdrawn from the organization citing "racism, Azerbaijanophobia, and Islamophobia."

Priceless canvasses with Yoko Ono links were among many irreplaceable artworks lost in a tragic conflagration that destroyed the most important gallery of Abkhazia.

Even frequent visitors to Iran rarely think of visiting Maragheh, yet its tomb towers and historical observatory site retain distant resonances of a magnificent history.

Back in the 1960s, Moynak, Uzbekistan had been a bustling fishing port on a peninsula jutting into the Aral Sea’s southern flank. Now it is around 100km from the Aral’s nearest coast. Mark Elliott when there to find what’s left of the place.

The Gashimov Chess Tournament has concluded in Gabala, Azerbaijan. But beyond the games themselves, the event reminds the world of one of the sport’s great young players whose life was cut short in 2014.

Uzbekistan is ever more popular with tourists thanks to its trio of majestic Silk Route cities, Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva. But what about the far west of the country? Mark Elliott heads to Nukus, the capital of Karakalpakstan.

This week’s announcement in Azerbaijan of snap elections along, with new hopes for peace, were prefaced with in depth comments by President Aliyev which have helped clarify his stance on many key issues.

Khiva, Uzbekistan is the Silk Route’s most memorable city claims veteran travel writer Mark Elliott who first visited back in 1994 when he counted a mere 7 foreign visitors in town. These days it’s an understandable tourist magnet. Here are Mark’s tips for making the most of a visit.

On Friday (November 17) the ICJ delivered the latest ‘order’ in the long-running international legal battle between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The arrival of French military hardware in Armenia via Georgia highlights the complex challenge for Yerevan in negotiating a path through rapidly evolving new geopolitical realities.

An ethnic Armenian from Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region has been sentenced to 15 years in jail for crimes dating back to 1991. For Baku, it’s the first major prosecution of someone accused of wartime massacres. However, Khachatryan insists he’s innocent.

Some Armenians called it too little too late, but a UN fact-finding mission has now been to Karabakh and, while regretting the mass exodus of citizens, found no reports of violence against civilians or new damage to property.

The Armenians of Karabakh can still sign up to a “manageable” agreement on integrating into Azerbaijan, argues Gerard Libaridian, but they need to stop a sense of self-denial in failing to recognise that they won’t get everything they want.

On September 18, Unesco unveiled 27 new World Heritage features including three in the Caspian Region countries, plus the extension of another in Azerbaijan.

This weekend, artists and musicians brought a real buzz to Lachin City, culminating in a gala concert that appeared to delight Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev and his wife, Mehriban Aliyeva, for whom it doubled as a kind of birthday treat.

In 2014, when Russia proposed sending convoys of ‘humanitarian aid’ to prop up its de-facto puppet states in Eastern Ukraine, the West reacted angrily. However, this month the EU and UN backed Armenia’s attempts to send a convoy to Karabakh. Hypocrisy?

War journalist, educator, and all-round maverick Thomas Goltz died on July 29. He rose to prominence in Eurasia with his unique first-hand reports from conflicts in Georgia, Chechnya, and especially Karabakh, where he was one of the first to report the Khojali massacre.

Is the world heading for a ‘post-truth’ world as AI starts to affect journalism? This was just one of several important questions debated by a high-powered conference of international media figures over three days in Azerbaijan’s cultural capital, Shusha. Mark Elliott attended for the Caspian Post.

At last weekend’s Shusha Global Media Forum, Caspian Post correspondent Mark Elliott had a rare opportunity to join a lengthy in-person Q&A with Azerbaijan’s President, Ilham Aliyev. Here he shares his impressions of the event.

Azerbaijan celebrated its National Press Day on July 22, a day that is tied to the publication of an Azerbaijani language newspaper 148 years ago.

While Aliyev and Pashinyan’s latest Brussels meeting marked a fairly unremarkable continuation of their slow, steady progress towards an eventual peace treaty, Moscow’s reaction was an unexpected change of posture regarding their on-the-ground peacekeepers.

This week Azerbaijan hosted the latest summit meeting of the Non Aligned Movement. President Ilham Aliyev, the organsation’s current chairman welcomed numerous heads of state to Baku but the press focused particularly on his criticisms of French President Emmanuel Macron.

Three days of high level talks aimed at finding a peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan concluded as planned on Thursday despite more deaths on the ground in Karabakh at the start of the week.

On 28 May, the first group of IDPs returned to Lachin, over 30 years since they were forced to leave.

An Azerbaijani production, Hadis, was chosen from over 3200 others to be shown at the Annecy Festival. The animation is a homage to Hadis Najafi, who was shot dead during the 2022 protests in Iran.

Today marks 100 years since the birth of Heydar Aliyev, who is referred to as Azerbaijan’s 'national leader.'

Music teacher, Habil Mammadov, hopes to organize a concert where his students can perform in his newly liberated hometown of Aghdam, where he was forced to flee from occupation.

Good news about malaria in the Caspian Region: there isn’t any!

One of North Ossetia’s potentially attractive tourist destinations, the Digorsky Gorge, is to be ‘saved’ from mineral extraction and offered stronger protection according to the republic’s political chief.

Xinaliq, one of Caucasus's highest settlements, is a magical place with its own language and timeless traditions.

Learn more about Richard Sorge, widely celebrated as "the spy to end all spies." Born in Azerbaijan to Russian and German parents, he went on to influence the course of WW2.

A triple tweet from Azerbaijan opens up the possibility of a new, higher-level round of talks between Baku and the Karabakh Armenian community. Will it lead anywhere?

Shootout at Karabakh - Five Dead, What Are the Implications?

For an unusual side glimpse at the short-lived Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (1918-1920), take a look at the state’s small and appealingly basic series of postage stamps.

Ani: an Ancient Ghost City with 21st-Century Implications

Molla Nasreddin magazine highlighted the hypocrisy of the Muslim clergy, the inequality of women, the imposed backwardness of the poor due to inadequate education and the unreasonable disdain of the Russified intelligentsia towards all things Azerbaijani.

It’s an understatement to call Armenia-Turkiye relations ‘frosty.’ However, with the dispatch of Armenian aid workers, there are encouraging signs of a reopening of dialogue.

After losing his partner, Arzu, in 2008, Omid has flown the 5000km migration alone. Read the background story on the last Siberian crane to fly the Western Route.

Nightingales are not just birds in Azerbaijan. They’re also celebrated singers - a member of the Karabakh Nightingale Ensemble producing one of the most celebrated recordings of 20th century Mugham music.

Legendary Georgian singer and film actor, Vakhtang Kikabidze, has died at the age of 84. He was famed for his Soviet-era performances but also for his vocal political support of Georgia and against Moscow’s post-2008 aggression.

Today is Christmas Day for Georgians, Ukrainians, Russians and some other Eastern Orthodox Christians. But why do they celebrate on January 7? Well, it all has to do with ignoring a 16th-century pope.

December 31 is the World Solidarity Day of Azerbaijanis, a day commemorating the tearing down of border fences between Nakhchivan and Iran in 1989. What’s happened to Nakhchivan since then, and why has its leader recently resigned?

You might not associate leopards with the Caspian countries, but in fact there are two distinct sub-species in the region. Both are very rare, but naturalists and photographers have been gathering ever more evidence of their survival.

Italy is the latest to criticise Iran’s crackdown on protesters. But although Iran might be using softer language recently, it seems that Tehran still sees its heavy-handed policy as successful. Are there any winners in this situation?

Mark Elliott explored the cafe culture of Ganja during his visit to Azerbaijan last month. Turns out it's much more than tea.

One of Eurasia's great flyways funnels migratory birds between the Azerbaijani shore of the Caspian Sea and the steep crag of Besh Barmag. This year an international team of ornithologists spent three months counting them.

The Tashkent International Tourism Fair is the biggest showcase for new ideas in tourism in the Central Asia region. Uzbekistan's Samarkand is set to be the World Tourism Capital in 2023.

This past weekend thousands of Caspian Seals were found dead on the beaches of Dagestan in Russia. Learn a bit more about the endangered species and what might have happened here.

November 8 is "Victory Day" in Azerbaijan, commemorating the day Azerbaijani forces retook the city of Shusha during the 2nd Karabakh War. In this article, Mark Elliott takes us with him to see what's along the road to Shusha.

London’s World Travel Market is a window into the heart of the global tourism industry. This year, the Caspian Region was better represented than ever before.

If both sides step back from semantic arguments, a solution for opening Armenia-Azerbaijan borders could be within reach.

Hackers again hit Iranian state TV this weekend, posting an image of the Supreme Leader in rifle crosshairs. Who is behind the hacks and what is the Albanian connection in this latest round of an undeclared cyber-war?

September’s re-ignition of conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia has set forth a flurry of international diplomacy. What’s going on and why?

A young musician arrives in an Azerbaijani mountain village in a prize-winning short film called "Leila's Violin," written with a dreamlike magic and stylistic elements reminiscent of the great director Sergei Parajanov.

The Nobel Prize is just one of many legacies of a Swedish family whose investments and remarkable new innovations helped transform Azerbaijan’s oil production from the 1870s, helping Baku to be one of the world’s main petro-cities by 1905.

Vostok 2022, a week of military exercises in far eastern Russia, apparently saw 50,000 men from 14 countries on manoeuvres. Were there really contingents from both Yerevan and Baku?

A group of ancient Christian hemit caves known as Davit Gareja in Georgia and Keshikchidag in Azerbaijan straddles the border on a semi-desert scarp. Could the site’s management offer an opportunity for cultural cooperation?

No, they aren’t assassins, despite what the world was once told by a careless headline writer. A full decade later the non-story of Iran’s lady ninjas continues to reverberate.

‘Welcome home’ to ten Azerbaijani families who on July 19 became the first returnees to move into the high-tech “smart village” of Aghali in the de-occupied Zangilan Region of Karabakh.

Crimean Tatars (2)

Simon Stylites was a 5th century Christian mystic, later celebrated by Tennyson for having spent decades meditating on the top of a pillar. In Katskhi, Georgia, you’ll find a chapel in the sky, refashioned for latter-day Stylites.

Russia's war in Ukraine is just the latest conflict to afflict one of Europe's least know ethnic groups - the Crimean Tatars.

What’s a modern-day gift fit for a king – or queen? Azerbaijan thinks it knows the answer, at least when it comes to Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee.

Last weekend experimental techno music fans in Uzbekistan became champions for publicizing one of the world’s most dire ecological catastrophes. How? Simply by attending the ultra-remote Stiha Festival.

Sergei Paradjanov's The Colour of Pomegranates (1968) is a beautifully stylized examination of the 18th-century minstrel poet who went by the pen name 'Sayat Nova.' He composed songs in Azerbaijani, Armenian, Georgian and other languages.

Chess legend Garry Kasparov, who later became a prominent opposition figure in Russian politics, spent his childhood and formative years in the multi-cultural melting-pot that was Soviet Baku. Recently, he has talked more about the assistance he received in his youth from both his devoted mother and the Azerbaijani authorities that provided key facilities he needed to focus on becoming world champion.

The mournful sound of a twin-reed traditional oboe brings a mysterious atmosphere to many a movie sound track and was one of the recordings that NASA included on its 'Hello Aliens This is Earth' gold disc that was sent into space with the Voyager probes. The instrument’s name might be Balaban, Duduk or Mey according to your language but its wistful music could be seen as a potential bridge to transcend national divisions between nations.

Call it Novruz, Nowruz, Nooruz, Nauryz or Navruz, the spring equinox festival is the most significant holiday period for Iran, Azerbaijan and many people in Central Asia. However, the associated customs vary considerably between countries and regions.

If you have female colleagues based in the Caspian Region, don’t forget flowers or gifts for them on March 8 – International Women’s Day. Mark Elliott tells the story of one ex-pat in Azerbaijan who made that mistake once, and never made it again.

Among the many ethnolinguistic communities in Azerbaijan, we find the Udi people of Nij. Considered to be the descendants of the ancient Caucasian Albanians, they speak a language indigenous to the Caucasus. What can we know for sure of the group's history?

A surreal 1976 film about a deaf ‘prophet’ creating an absurdist ‘Stone Garden’ in the middle of Iran’s semi-desert turns out to be loosely based on truth. Its star was the creator of just such a ‘garden’ where lifeless trees produce heavy stone fruit. The Caspian Post’s Mark Elliott went to have a look at the lonely site, which remains mesmerizingly intact.

Care for some cow foot soup? Khash is a popular Caucasian stew, often eaten early in the morning or as a hangover cure. It might not look very appetizing but it's great with company and vodka, especially in the cold season.

Hair flies wildly as dervishes perform trance-like ‘dances’ on the rooftops of a spectacular Kurdish stepped village. Welcome to Howraman Takht’s Pir Shalyar Festival in far western Iran.

Christoph Baumer's latest book from I.B. Tauris publishers sets a new bar for scholarship when it comes to the Caucasus.

Mark Elliott remembers his first visit to the Caspian and ponders the apparent contradictions of seaside resorts where attractions include rain and the chance to swim fully dressed.

London’s musical "Voices of Peace" event stands out amid a flurry of celebrations one year after Azerbaijan’s reclaiming of its once-occupied lands through the Second Karabakh War.

These are some of the most under-publicized and unforgettable sights in Europe. Join us as we explore the Towerhouses of the Caucasus.

Read our review of the brilliant, brick-thick novel 'The Eighth Life.' Nino Haratischvili tells the gripping if harrowing story of 20th-century Georgia through an intensely personal series of fictional life stories.

A prize-winning Caspian park design brings new attention to the wannabe port town, home to Europe’s biggest Buddhist statue. Welcome to Lagan – a little place with big dreams.

Parkour, skateboarding and desert raves in a land “out of time?” Join Mark Elliott as he celebrates alternative athletes, artists, and culture throughout the region and, like the break-dancers of Kazakhstan, turns misconceptions on their head. Tell us what we missed - what are your alternative top spots? Who are your heroes on the margins?

Made with technology a “good thirty years ahead of its time,” the Soviet MD-160 was a marvel in engineering and aeronautics. Maybe it was too ambitious: the last of its kind is beached as a tourist attraction on Dagestan’s Caspian sea shore.

Remembering the short but inspiring life of Samad Behrangi

Rediscovering the folk song whose melody bridges cultures in a divided region.

Azerbaijan's "Republic Day": the most powerfully symbolic date in the national calendar?

Danger lurks when states try to delineate complex borders that had never been envisaged as international frontiers.

Following the geopolitical upheaval of the 2020 Second Karabakh War, new avenues might be opening for exploring a previously utopian idea.

This is truly a region where home-grown culinary traditions remain paramount.