Armenian officials and activists reportedly targeted with Pegasus spyware
UN staff, journalists, and government officials were reportedly targeted with the spyware during and after the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War.
No new agreements after Pashinyan and Aliyev argue in Moscow
The Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders argued at a public meeting led by Russian president Vladimir Putin.
No new agreements after Pashinyan and Aliyev argue in Moscow
The Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders argued at a public meeting led by Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Podcast | North Caucasians fighting in Ukraine and remembering the Circassian Genocide
The impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on the North Caucasus, and the current state of Circassian activism.
Podcast | North Caucasians fighting in Ukraine and remembering the Circassian Genocide
The impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on the North Caucasus, and the current state of Circassian activism.
Azerbaijani activists reportedly detained after protesting detention of transgender women
Two activists were reportedly sentenced to 15 days of detention, while two others received fines on charges of petty hooliganism.
Azerbaijani activists reportedly detained after protesting detention of transgender women
Two activists were reportedly sentenced to 15 days of detention, while two others received fines on charges of petty hooliganism.
Chechen faces extradition to Russia from Armenia
Salman Mukayev is reportedly eligible for political asylum in Europe, but risks being extradited to Russia.
Chechen faces extradition to Russia from Armenia
Salman Mukayev is reportedly eligible for political asylum in Europe, but risks being extradited to Russia.
Achondroplasia added to diseases eligible for state support in Georgia following 19-day protest
Parents of children with achondroplasia were demanding the import and funding of a drug to treat the rare genetic condition.
Achondroplasia added to diseases eligible for state support in Georgia following 19-day protest
Parents of children with achondroplasia were demanding the import and funding of a drug to treat the rare genetic condition.
Activists commemorate Circassian Genocide in Nalchik despite event ban
The authorities in Kabardino-Balkaria had banned the annual Circassian Genocide memorial day march for the second year in a row.
Quran-burning case transferred from Volgograd to Chechnya
A resident of Volgograd claims to have been instructed to burn the Islamic holy book by the Ukrainian Secret Services.
Features & Analysis
Datablog | What makes people feel insecure in Georgia?
Of the third of Georgians who feel insecure in Georgia, most attribute this to economic insecurity, but also express concern about a wider array of security issues.
Coffins from Ukraine in the North Caucasus
Whether mobilised, voluntary recruits, or deployed from prison, news of fighters from the North Caucasus often comes only once their coffins return home.
Coffins from Ukraine in the North Caucasus
By Elizaveta ChukharovaWhether mobilised, voluntary recruits, or deployed from prison, news of fighters from the North Caucasus often comes only once their coffins return home.
What an opposition win in Turkey could mean for the Caucasus
A change in Turkey’s political trajectory could have aftershocks across the South Caucasus.
What an opposition win in Turkey could mean for the Caucasus
By Ismi AghayevA change in Turkey’s political trajectory could have aftershocks across the South Caucasus.
The Russians fighting Putin from Armenia and Georgia
Russian activists in Georgia and Armenia have been working to fight against Putin’s regime from abroad.
The Russians fighting Putin from Armenia and Georgia
By Anya EganyanRussian activists in Georgia and Armenia have been working to fight against Putin’s regime from abroad.
Activists rally against ‘monster’ building on Sukhumi seafront
The construction of a multi-storey building in a historic quarter of Abkhazia’s capital has prompted pushback from activists and architects.
Activists rally against ‘monster’ building on Sukhumi seafront
By OC MediaThe construction of a multi-storey building in a historic quarter of Abkhazia’s capital has prompted pushback from activists and architects.
Poisoned, soaked, but still dancing: Georgia’s Zoomers come of political age
Sassy posters, raving to sirens, and dancing with water jets have become symbols of the protests that defeated Georgia’s foreign agent bills.
Poisoned, soaked, but still dancing: Georgia’s Zoomers come of political age
By Tata ShoshiashviliSassy posters, raving to sirens, and dancing with water jets have become symbols of the protests that defeated Georgia’s foreign agent bills.
Opinion
Opinion | First they came for the Muslims, and we did not speak out…
The silence among Azerbaijani activists and the international community over the mass arrest of religious Muslims in Azerbaijan is a disgrace.
Opinion | Azerbaijan cannot be allowed to normalise its Lachin checkpoint
As long as a checkpoint remains on the Lachin Corridor, the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh can not safely travel in and out of the region.
Opinion | Azerbaijan needs an alternative to nationalist militarism
Civil society must step up and propose a progressive alternative to Baku’s rule — one that challenges the nationalist militarism at its core.
Voices
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![Voice | Three months in a Georgian Dream troll factory]()
Voice | Three months in a Georgian Dream troll factory
Nino, 17, found that working for the ruling party meant fake social media flashmobs, no contracts, and broken promises.
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![Voice | They slapped me and called me a faggot: my experience with the Tbilisi police]()
Voice | They slapped me and called me a faggot: my experience with the Tbilisi police
Giorgi Mzhavanadze, director of the Shame Movement, recounts his experience in the Ninth Police Department in Tbilisi.
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![Voice | ‘Why I burnt my Russian internal passport’]()
Voice | ‘Why I burnt my Russian internal passport’
At a demonstration in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, on 25 February, Anton Mikhalchuk, a citizen of Russia, set alight his Russian internal passport.
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![Voice | ‘I dreamt of freedom’]()
Voice | ‘I dreamt of freedom’
An Armenian-Lebanese repatriate tells the story of her capture by Azerbaijani forces following the end of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War.
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![Voice | ‘They love each other very much’]()
Voice | ‘They love each other very much’
Fifty-six-year old Inga Sindeeva told OC Media about the joys and the challenges of being a foster parent in Georgia.
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![Voice | Life with hands of metal]()
Voice | Life with hands of metal
Artyom Arakelyan lost his hands at 12 years old, but this has not stopped him from becoming a linguist, football coach, and amateur pianist.
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![Voice | ‘They did nothing to help, they abandoned us’]()
Voice | ‘They did nothing to help, they abandoned us’
He was promised a decent job and a good salary in Germany, but instead he found lies, squalor, and backbreaking labour.
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![Voice | ‘Women must put an end to the war’]()
Voice | ‘Women must put an end to the war’
Araksia Martirosyan, participated in the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, fought during the four day clashes in 2016, and returned to the front in 2020.
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![Voice | ‘I was shot twice in the head and abducted, but I survived’]()
Voice | ‘I was shot twice in the head and abducted, but I survived’
Sufyan had a promising life and career ahead of him until he reported his superiors for a massive fraudulent scheme.
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![Voice | I'm looking for my child]()
Voice | I'm looking for my child
In the wake of the revelations about the trafficking of newborns in Armenia, Haykuhi Khachatryan began to believe that her late newborn was still alive.
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![Voice | ‘I knew from age 6 that I was born in the wrong body’]()
Voice | ‘I knew from age 6 that I was born in the wrong body’
A 42-year-old transgender man shares his story of discovering his real gender identity and the struggle of living in Georgia as a trans person.
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![Voice | ‘I went to war at 17’]()
Voice | ‘I went to war at 17’
Sent to war aged just 17, WWII veteran Vardanush Zakaryan tells how her love for her husband survived both war and death.
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![Voice | ‘In my hands, a weapon has become a work of art’]()
Voice | ‘In my hands, a weapon has become a work of art’
Artak Tadevosyan from Gyumri gives new life to used bullets and casings.
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![Voice | ‘I was kidnapped by my family’]()
Voice | ‘I was kidnapped by my family’
Devran Ibrahimsoy, 25, did not receive his family’s support when he discovered his gender identity; after he fled to Baku, they even kidnapped him.
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![Voice | ‘I’ve been homeless since 2000’]()
Voice | ‘I’ve been homeless since 2000’
The trials, tribulations, and occasional moments of grace in twenty years of living on Tbilisi’s streets.
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![Voice | ‘We are all tired, but we shouldn’t give up’]()
Voice | ‘We are all tired, but we shouldn’t give up’
Georgian doctor Nino Kvirtia talks about fighting both the coronavirus and the accompanying disinformation.
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![Vitali Safarov’s mother: I must know why they killed my son]()
Vitali Safarov’s mother: I must know why they killed my son
The mother is appealing the court’s verdict which said the murder wasn’t a hate crime.
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![Voice | ‘Whether I have a disability or not, I am still me’]()
Voice | ‘Whether I have a disability or not, I am still me’
Jamila Mammadli, 26, talks about love, her passion for the theatre, and the preconceptions about disability that are pervasive in Azerbaijan.
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![Voice | ‘They say Georgia is a tolerant and diverse country; these are just words’]()
Voice | ‘They say Georgia is a tolerant and diverse country; these are just words’
Gulgun Mamadli, 22, talks about experiencing xenophobia and hate speech during the pandemic.
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![Voice | The bitterness of the Kvankhidatli salt — the women salt miners of Daghestan]()
Voice | The bitterness of the Kvankhidatli salt — the women salt miners of Daghestan
In the mountain village of Kvankhidatli, women recall ‘going to the salt’ since the beginning of the 20th century.
In Pictures
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![In pictures | Georgians defeat the foreign agent law]()
In pictures | Georgians defeat the foreign agent law
The Georgian Government made a U-turn on the bill after a second night of huge protests in Tbilisi.
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![In pictures | Tear gas and water cannons: Georgia’s foreign agent protests]()
In pictures | Tear gas and water cannons: Georgia’s foreign agent protests
Riot police used force to disperse tens of thousands of protestors against the foreign agent law after it was passed by parliament.
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![In Pictures | Life in limbo at the Hotel Goris]()
In Pictures | Life in limbo at the Hotel Goris
Unable to return home, residents of Nagorno-Karabakh caught on the Armenian side of the Lachin blockade have temporarily settled near the border.
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![In Pictures | Georgia’s shrinking train lines]()
In Pictures | Georgia’s shrinking train lines
Trains were once among the most reliable methods of transport in Georgia, but closures under the guise of the pandemic have left many cut off.
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![In Pictures | Armenia’s not-so-velvet counter-revolution]()
In Pictures | Armenia’s not-so-velvet counter-revolution
Armenia’s opposition protesters remain steadfast in their demand for Pashinyan’s resignation, though they have few specifics on what happens next.
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![In pictures | Georgians killed in Ukraine receive hero’s welcome in Tbilisi]()
In pictures | Georgians killed in Ukraine receive hero’s welcome in Tbilisi
Gia Beriashvili and Davit Ratiani were killed on the Irpin front, northwest of Kyiv, on 18 March.
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![In Pictures | Fighting to save the art of Borchalo carpet weaving in Georgia]()
In Pictures | Fighting to save the art of Borchalo carpet weaving in Georgia
There are only a few dozen women who still weave the carpets, a unique art practised mostly by Georgia’s ethnic Azerbaijani community
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![In pictures | Education in the shadow of early marriage]()
In pictures | Education in the shadow of early marriage
A few brave Yazidi women in Armenia have bucked tradition and sought a university education, to uplift not only themselves but their whole community.
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![In pictures | Lips sewn shut in Chiatura’s sinking village]()
In pictures | Lips sewn shut in Chiatura’s sinking village
Residents of Shukruti say their houses continue to collapse due to mining underneath, and neither the mining company nor the government is listening.
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![In Pictures | Forgotten by the highway]()
In Pictures | Forgotten by the highway
From hammocks to nazuki sweet bread, the roadside wares that make travel in Georgia such a delight are in danger of disappearing.
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![In Pictures | Bakuriani’s corona freeze]()
In Pictures | Bakuriani’s corona freeze
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought life in Georgia’s most popular ski resort town to a painful standstill.
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![In pictures | Tbilisi’s ‘jarti’ collectors]()
In pictures | Tbilisi’s ‘jarti’ collectors
A look at Georgia’s uneasy scrap industry shows how Georgia’s present situation reflects in the piles of tin, copper, and brass.
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![In pictures | Struggle in the open-air: Tbilisi’s Navtlughi Bazaar]()
In pictures | Struggle in the open-air: Tbilisi’s Navtlughi Bazaar
The open-air bazaars of Tbilisi began with the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s; they remain a vital lifeline for many.
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![In pictures | Borjomi’s year-long winter]()
In pictures | Borjomi’s year-long winter
Residents of the legendary spa town have banded together to try to survive the disappearance of the summer tourism boom.
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![In Pictures | Women’s voices in forestry]()
In Pictures | Women’s voices in forestry
The women who live off Georgia’s forests, and the women who tend to them tell their stories.
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![In pictures | Strategic object: Baku’s years of transformation]()
In pictures | Strategic object: Baku’s years of transformation
In a four year project, Chloe Borkett captured images of Baku’s metamorphosis in the 2010s from a different angle.
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![In pictures | Rustavi: The city of factories]()
In pictures | Rustavi: The city of factories
Rustavi’s factories have led to ‘alarming’ levels of air pollution in the city — local activists, backed by the city council, are getting fed up.
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![In pictures | Black Lives Matter protest in Tbilisi]()
In pictures | Black Lives Matter protest in Tbilisi
Several dozen protestors gathered in central Tbilisi in support of the ongoing demonstrations in the United States.
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![In pictures | Tbilisi’s night bus — a shelter on wheels]()
In pictures | Tbilisi’s night bus — a shelter on wheels
Tbilisi introduced a night bus two years ago between the city centre and the airport. Now, it serves as overnight accommodation for the homeless.
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![In pictures | Life under quarantine in Gyumri]()
In pictures | Life under quarantine in Gyumri
Hopes for a bumper tourist season in Armenia’s second-largest city have been put on hold by the coronavirus pandemic.
