News

On January 7 and tonight, the Armenian armed forces violated the ceasefire. This was reported by press service of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Azerbaijan.

For the first time, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Georgia has reported the information about military men wounded in the course of the peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan. According to the information of the Georgian MoD, starting from 2010, 93 persons were wounded.

In Azerbaijan, the public movement "Republican Alternative" (ReAl) declared its intention to nominate its candidate for the presidential election of 2013, if during the next month the opposition forces fail to work out a common pre-election platform and to nominate a single candidate.

The General Chief Prosecutor's Office of Georgia has decided to close one of the cases instituted against Irakli Okruashvili, ex-Minister of Defence.

On January 6 and 7, Armenian armed forces violated the ceasefire. This was declared by a representative of the Ministry of Defence of Azerbaijani.

On January 25, Ingushetia will open the first ski route "Armkhi". The upper station of the ski route is located on the altitude of 1550 meters above sea level, and its length is 1200 meters.

At 02:00 p.m. local time, Tbilisi began the traditional Christmas march "Alilo". The marchers carry gifts with them which later will be transferred to orphans.

In Grozny, the Zavodskoi District Court fined owners of four stores for selling the literature put on the list of extremist materials.

In Chechnya, the sharp rise in prices for bakery products occurred. Residents of the republic claim that they expect one more increase of prices in the coming days, and they believe that there are no reasons for the rise in price of bread.

During the week of December 31, 2012, to January 6, 2013, at least 11 persons suffered in the course of the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus; of them, four persons were killed and seven wounded. These are the results of the calculations made by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from other open sources.

Armenian Garnik Galustyan, a resident of the United States, returned to the church of the city of Shushi the Gospel of 1805, earlier redeemed by him. The book was stolen from the church in 1920, during the pogroms in the Armenian quarter of the city of Shushi.

Three suspected militants killed in Kabardino-Balkaria on January 6 prepared to commit terror acts on Christmas in the churches of the republic. This was reported by the Information Centre of the National Antiterrorism Committee (NAC).

Accidents on New Year night and first day of 2013 in South of Russia; decision of the "Musavat" Party to nominate its leader to presidency of Azerbaijan; end of reception of the CEC of Armenia of documents from potential presidential candidates; actions in Georgia demanding resignation of President Saakashvili; pickets of relatives of kidnapped coach and celebration of the 70th anniversary of liberation of Malgobek from fascist troops in Ingushetia, – look these and other events in the Caucasus in the review of the week of December 31, 2012, to January 6, 2013, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili in consultation with the Government has signed a decree to recall extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassadors of Georgia from several countries. This was reported by a representative of his administration. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Georgia has clarified that, at present, only five ambassadors have been recalled officially.

At night on January 1, in Armenia, at the penitentiary institution "Hospital for prisoners", Manuk Semirdjyan, who was sentenced to life imprisonment, died. This was reported by a representative of the civil initiative group dealing with the problems of prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment.

A group of Georgian citizens was refused to enter Israel. This was stated by Nana Buadze, the representative of the Department of Religious Tourism of the Patriarchate of Georgia. The Ministry of Foreign Afairs (MFA) of Georgia intends to clarify the circumstances of the refusal to issue visas to pilgrims.

In Dagestan, relatives of the citizens killed during the special operation held in the village of Chontaul claim that the perished persons were not members of illegal armed formations (IAFs) and ask to conduct the objective investigation into the circumstances of the incident.

For the second day, the Central Election Commission (CEC) is busy with the procedure of registration of candidates for the position of President. Seven persons have submitted complete packages of necessary documents; however, the election outcome has already been predetermined. This opinion was expressed by Armen Badalyan, Armenian political analyst.

Today, in Moscow, during the conflict between trainees of the GIBDD (road traffic police) and natives of Northern Caucasus, one policeman was wounded in the face from a traumatic pistol, and seven persons were detained. This was reported by a source in the law enforcement bodies.

Starting from January 1, 2013, fare in private fixed-route taxis for route "Makhachkala-Kaspiisk" has grown from 25 to 30 roubles, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.