Latest news in Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, summary. Live

● “The whole world was against me, I wasn’t considered the favorite, but I don’t care, I believe in myself” – Georgian fighter Merab Dvalishvili (pictured) successfully defended his UFC bantamweight title by defeating Russian Umar Nurmagomedov on January 19 in Los Angeles. After the fight, Dvalishvili said: “Umar is a tough fighter, he’s good. He called me old, yes, I am old, but I work hard every day. I come from a village, I worked in construction, while Umar trained his entire life. I could retire today, I could die, and I would die happy. I love my country, Georgia, and thank you, America!”

Georgian social media users criticized the restrained reaction from the ruling Georgian Dream party to Dvalishvili’s victory, viewing it as further evidence of the party’s “pro-Russian” stance. Critics noted that the party’s top brass, including its prime minister, president, and chairman, as well as the Tbilisi mayor, only posted identical short statements on Facebook, such as “Merab Dvalishvili retained the UFC champion’s belt.” Commentators observed: “They didn’t even use emojis.”

●  “The Georgian Dream government has discredited itself; the new U.S. administration understands this, which is why there will be no representatives of Georgian Dream at President Trump’s inauguration,” according to American diplomat and director of the Eurasia Center at the Atlantic Council, John Herbst. “Aside from increasing repression in Georgia, the Georgian Dream government has made clearly unfriendly statements towards the West, and especially America. We see a kind of submission to the demands and positions of Moscow. It is surprising and very sad. Our relations are likely at their lowest point in history, at least since the early 1990s,” Herbst said in an interview with the Georgian service of Voice of America.

●  Salome Zourabichvili, the fifth president of Georgia, is due to attend Trump’s inauguration later today. “I am in Washington to represent the voice of the people who are seeing their rights and future being stolen,” she wrote on X. Zourabichvili will be there at the invitation of Republican Congressman Joe Wilson, the co-author of the the bipartisan MEGOBARI Act proposing sanctions against Georgian Dream officials for “undermining democracy in Georgia.”

● Wilson also commented on the detention of two pro-European protesters in Tbilisi on Saturday, describing the arrests as: “The tyrannical Ivanishvili regime is not only physically attacking but now kidnapping brave Georgians who are demanding free and fair elections. This brutal regime cannot intimidate the Georgian people and will soon be consigned to the ash heap of history.” According to opposition media, the detention resembled an abduction: the police officers were not in uniform, and one of the vehicles involved bore foreign license plates.

●  Georgian Dream’s president Mikheil Kavelashvili pardoned over 600 prisoners less than a month after the party appointed him. A statement posted on his Facebook page claimed: “This decision was driven by principles of humanity and state interests.” Details about the specific individuals pardoned have not been disclosed. Opposition figures, however, argued: “Such a large-scale pardon in a country where the regime reigns unchecked, and where informal masked groups roam the streets, has only one goal: to increase the workforce needed for repression.”

● On December 31, just four days after the U.S. imposed sanctions on the informal ruler of Georgia, Bidzina Ivanishvili, his son, Uta Ivanishvili, registered a new company in Georgia — a joint-stock company called “ATU Holding.” Uta, who owns 100% of the company’s shares, registered it remotely from Japan via a power of attorney. The director of the company is Kakha Kobiashvili, a nephew of Bidzina Ivanishvili. Read more here

● TV Pirveli reports on a new episode in the purported conflict between the US-sanctioned odious chief of the Georgian Special Forces, Zviad Kharazishvili (known as Khareba), and the deputy governor of Kvemo Kartli, Giorgi Shindzikashvili. According to the opposition channel, on January 17, a shooting occurred at a fitness club in Tbilisi, leaving a member of Shindzikashvili’s entourage severely injured. TV Pirveli journalists suggest that the incident may be revenge by Khareba, who himself was recently hospitalized after being “physically assaulted by members of Shindzikashvili’s group.” The reason behind this months-long conflict remains unclear.

● Armenia has extradited two individuals involved in organized crime to Turkey in response to an Interpol request, according to the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Reports indicate that one of the extradited individuals, Erkan Yılmaz, had been wanted in Turkey for 15 years on 43 arrest warrants and had been on international wanted lists for the past 14 years. His accomplice, Ibrahim Kaymak, had been sought for six years on 10 arrest warrants and was added to Interpol’s database a year ago.

● “Armenia will present new evidence and claims to the European Court of Human Rights regarding the Armenian prisoners held in Azerbaijan,” the Office of the Representative for International Legal Affairs reported.

● A prayer service was held at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin for the Armenian prisoners detained in Baku. Clergy and parishioners prayed for the release of leaders from the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, as well as for the return of military personnel and civilians held captive by Azerbaijan.

• View from Yerevan: ‘Dictatorship can’t deliver justice’: Former Karabakh officials on trial in Baku

• View from Baku: Trials begin in Baku for former Karabakh separatist leaders

● Today marks the 35th anniversary of the tragic events of January 20, 1990, when Soviet troops invaded Baku and other Azerbaijani cities. The attack resulted in 131 fatalities, four people missing, and 744 injured.

● In Baku, Ayaz Iskenderov was arrested for stealing money from the bank card of the late flight attendant Khokuma Aliyeva’s father. Aliyeva died in the crash of the Baku-Grozny passenger plane in Aktau on December 25, 2024. According to Aliyeva’s father, he received a call from a “bank employee” who advised transferring the funds to a “safe account.” As a result, 80,000 manats (approximately $47,000), paid as insurance compensation, were stolen. Authorities have established connections between Iskenderov and foreign nationals, all of whom are now wanted, the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported.

●  A mass disturbance erupted last Saturday in the Imishli district of southern Azerbaijan after a road police vehicle, involved in an accident at high speed, struck five children returning from school. Two girls were reported dead. Following the tragedy, residents organized a spontaneous protest, damaging the car that hit the children. About 10 people have been arrested in connection with the riots.

●  Azerbaijan has confirmed its first case of monkeypox. A 22-year-old Azerbaijani citizen, who was abroad from January 2 to 11, has been hospitalized. No symptoms have been found in his relatives, who are currently under quarantine.

● Foreign ambassadors accredited in Azerbaijan visited the Alley of Martyrs in Baku yesterday to lay flowers at the graves of those who lost their lives during the January 20, 1990 events.

Top stories in Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia from 13-17 January, 2025