In less than a fortnight after Russia signed a deal with Armenia Russian president Dmitry Medvedev heads to Baku to discuss the urgent issues with the Azerbaijani government. Some experts believe that this highest level visit is aimed at soothing the effect of Russian-Armenian military agreement. Political analyst Viktor Nadein-Rayevsky, a senior fellow of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of World Economy and International Relations, shared his views on the situation in the South Caucasus. READ MORE

On Friday, September 10, President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė goes for a one-day working visit to Riga to attend a meeting of the Presidents of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia and to make an address at an annual security conference in the capital of Latvia. This time, the traditional meeting of the heads of the three Baltic States will also be attended by the new President of Poland, Bronislaw Komorowski. READ MORE

Turkey’s politicians usually take a break from their routine in August and enjoy a vacation. But in a departure from tradition, they are on the campaign trail these days, speaking at several rallies a day under the harsh summer sun. READ MORE

Karabakh issue dominated the internatal political agenda during the past week. READ MORE

Global warming will make cities in northern countries like Canada and Scandinavia the next big global economic powers, a senior academic has predicted. READ MORE

The Black Sea is a cradle of civilization, trade and cultures, but today it is also a region of unresolved conflicts, porous borders and rivalries. READ MORE

Tensions between Azerbaijan and neighboring Armenia on the fate of the Nagorno-Karabakh region are reaching dangerous levels. In the past year, the Azeri enclave in the South Caucasus, which Armenia has occupied since 1992, has been the focus of increased violence. Just last month, six people were killed in an exchange of fire across the temporary line that separates the two sides. READ MORE

There are Common Issues of Interests and Lines of Russia and West within South Caucasus READ MORE

Turkish politicians are already eyeing the post-referendum period set to follow Sunday’s much-contested vote, a new era in which controversial issues such as terrorism and the Kurdish question are likely to top the agenda. READ MORE

Although the air outside is hot and dry—part of a heat wave scorching Russia and neighboring Ukraine—it is cool, dark, and slightly damp in the sandstone caverns beneath Milestii Mici, Moldova’s largest winery. Along seemingly endless underground boulevards, Soviet-era lighting and updated signs point the way to underground galleries housing millions of liters of meticulously produced and preserved wine in bottles and oak barrels—just part of the winery’s two-million-bottle collection, acknowledged by Guinness as the world’s largest. READ MORE