Top stories in Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia from 20-24 January, 2025

● Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to express condolences following the tragic loss of lives in a fire at a hotel in the Kartalkaya ski resort in Bolu Province, Turkey.

●  Azerbaijan has proposed increasing the minimum age for acquiring civilian firearms from 18 to 21 years.

● In Georgia, the Azerbaijani dance “Basgaly” was presented as the Armenian “Somkhuri Shalakho”, and the Azerbaijani folk song “Bu Gala, Dashly Gala” was used without proper attribution on Georgian TV channels 1TV, Imedi, and Rustavi. The Intellectual Property Agency of Azerbaijan has sent a formal letter to Georgian authorities, requesting an investigation and appropriate measures. Georgian officials have promised to address the matter.

● A police officer in the Baku Handball Palace found 10,000 manats (around $6,000), which were later claimed by Zaur Pashayev, a playing coach of the basketball team “Guba.” He explained that the funds, meant as player salaries, were misplaced during the Champions League basketball match hosted in Azerbaijan. The match featured Turkey’s Aliaga Petkim and Israel’s Hapoel Holon, relocated to Azerbaijan due to strained relations between Turkey and Israel.

●  “We are moving to action!” Tbilisi’s New Theatre held a rally on Thursday demanding the release of political prisoners. “We will travel to the provinces, be everywhere, talk to everyone, and let them [the authorities] try to catch us,” David Doiashvili, artistic director of the New Theatre said, addressing thousands gathered in front of the theatre in central Tbilisi. The New Theatre has suspended performances for almost two months now, in solidarity with actor Andro Chichinadze, who was arrested over alleged involvement in riots during pro-European protests. The event featured emotional speeches, stories about Chichinadze from colleagues and friends, and musical performances from plays he starred in.

●   Solidarity marches for detained protesters are planned in Tbilisi today. More than 50 individuals, considered by the opposition to be “prisoners of the regime,” face criminal charges and severe sentences.

●   A rally will also be held in support of Mzia Amaglobeli, editor of Netgazeti and Batumelebi, who faces up to seven years in prison for slapping a police chief Irakli Dgebuadze during a Batumi protest. Amaglobeli began a hunger strike after her detention on January 12 and refuses to end it despite health concerns raised by colleagues. “If I stop the hunger strike, I will become complicit in today’s injustice,” she told her lawyers.

●  The International Press Institute (IPI) and 13 other global organizations have called on Georgian Dream to “immediately and unconditionally release Mzia Amaglobeli”, “investigate allegations of her having been mistreatment”, and “end the persecution of media”.

●   Temur Katamadze, detained during Batumi protests, accused police chief Irakli Dgebuadze and ten officers of physical abuse in a letter to Batumelebi.

●  Doctor Giorgi Akhobadze will remain in custody after the court has rejected a request for bail. Akhobadze, a critic of Georgian Dream and pro-European activist, faces 8 to 20 years in prison or life imprisonment for alleged possession of large quantities of drugs. He claims the drugs were planted. Detained on December 7, Akhobadze missed his bedridden mother’s final days. She passed away on January 14. “You didn’t let me care for the most important patient of my life – my mother,” he told the court.

●   Journalist Nika Katsiia was similarly denied bail. Like Akhobadze, he faces drug possession charges, which he claims are fabricated in retaliation for his participation in protests.

●   U.S. Congressman Joe Wilson, Chair of the Helsinki Commission, wrote on X about his meeting with Czech advisor Tomas Pojar: “We discussed how we can work together to defeat War Criminal Putin & the tyrannical Ivanishvili regime. Czech moral and strategic clarity is needed now more than ever!”

●   At a joint briefing, Eka Gigauri (Transparency International – Georgia) and Nino Lomjaria (NGO European Orbit of Georgia) accused the ruling Georgian Dream party of “using coordinated measures to suppress protests and restrict free speech”. “The intensity and arbitrariness of fines aim to intimidate protest participants and weaken dissent”, they said. Hundreds of protesters have been fined, with some penalties reaching as high as approximately 5,000 GEL (appr. $1,850 USD).

●   Armenia’s Foreign Intelligence Service has assessed that “the likelihood of a large-scale military offensive by Azerbaijan in 2025 is low. However, the risk of localized escalations remains higher. These risks could potentially be reduced through the processes of border delimitation and demarcation.”

●   “Yerevan is closely monitoring regional activities, including cargo flights likely transporting weapons to Baku,” said Armen Grigoryan, Secretary of the Security Council.

●   “Dialogue with Turkey is active and intensive, but unfortunately, there are no significant or tangible outcomes on the ground yet,” stated Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan.

●   The film “Anora”, featuring Armenian actors Karen Karagulyan and Vache Tovmasyan, has been nominated for six Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Picture, Best Screenplay, and Best Editing.

●  Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is scheduled to visit the United States in early February. He will attend the 5th annual International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington, as well as the National Prayer Breakfast.

● “When the lights go out in the country, the stage lights up. Tomorrow, you’ll see it for yourself,” David Doiashvili, Artistic Director of Tbilisi’s New Theater, said on Wednesday. Tonight, actors, directors, artists, and other cultural figures will gather outside the theater to present their “protest manifesto” and action plan to the public. “The deadline for our ultimatum has passed — a new wave of large-scale protests against the regime begins now,” Doiashvili declared.

On January 11, the New Theater demanded the release of its actor Andro Chichinadze and other detained participants of pro-European protests by January 20. They warned that “if this demand is ignored, we will move from passive resistance to action. You will witness the true power of art in reality.” Chichinadze, 28, faces charges of participating in riots and could receive a six-year prison sentence. His colleagues insist that “the regime is unlawfully detaining him without evidence.” In solidarity, the New Theater has been on strike for nearly 50 days.

● “Freedom for prisoners of conscience!” On January 24, solidarity marches will take place across various Georgian cities, gathering relatives, friends, neighbors, colleagues, and supporters of protesters who remain in custody. The initiative comes from the Facebook group “Daitove”, created last spring during protests against the “foreign agents” law. It has since become one of the most active platforms for discussions and organizing resistance. The group has pledged to hold marches every Friday.

●  Since the beginning of the year, three alerts have been registered on the Council of Europe’s journalist safety platform regarding Georgia. The highest alert level, reserved for the most severe violations of press freedom, including state intimidation, has been applied to the case of Mzia Amaglobeli, the director of critical outlets Netgazeti and Batumelebi. She faces up to seven years in prison for slapping a police officer during a protest in Batumi. Additionally, the platform has issued alerts concerning an attack on journalist Zviad Koridze and the arrest of Batumelebi cameraman Guram Murvanidze during a protest.

●  The opposition TV channel Formula reports having identified the eight Georgian law enforcement officials banned from entering Germany as of December 31. Among them are Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri, Patrol Police Chief Vaja Siradze, Special Forces Head Zviad Kharazishvili, his deputy Mirza Kezevadze, and others.

●  The Estonian Parliament has called for new parliamentary elections in Georgia. According to a statement passed by the Riigikogu, “this is necessary to resolve the constitutional crisis and restore democracy in the country”.

● Giorgi Gakharia, leader of the For Georgia party, has accused Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgia’s de facto ruler, of orchestrating a recent attack on him. “This was premeditated political revenge. Ivanishvili has been threatening me and my family for a long time — through various means, including publicly. I am not concerned with the perpetrators of this attack. My issue is with the person who ordered it and continues to use violence against citizens,” said the former prime minister. Gakharia was assaulted on January 15 in the lobby of the Sheraton Hotel in Batumi. He sustained facial fractures and a concussion. Eyewitnesses claim the attackers included Georgian Dream MP Dimitri Samkharadze and Adjara Deputy Minister of Economy Giorgi Manvelidze.

● “Aleksi Mamuliya and Ivane Djapiashvili, unlawfully detained by Russian occupation forces near the village of Kvemo Nikozi in Gori municipality, have been freed and are now on territory controlled by the central government,” the state security service announced.

● Georgian Dream MPs involved in a brawl in the UAE have returned to Tbilisi after being fined $80,000 by the local court, opposition channel Mtavari reported. Ruling party members Irakli Zarkua and Viktor Sanikidze attacked Lasha Gabitashvili, a Georgian citizen critical of the government, at a hotel restaurant in Abu Dhabi on January 13. A day earlier, Gabitashvili had called them “Russian slaves” and “traitors.”

●  Fifth President Salome Zourabichvili has urged the new U.S. administration to “immediately address what is happening in Georgia.” She told the Georgian service of Voice of America: “There is no longer a single independent institution in Georgia.”

●  Republican Congressman Joe Wilson has once again taken to Twitter to criticize Georgia’s political leadership. This time, his target is Imedi TV owner Irakli Rukhadze. «Irakli Rukhadze is the Chief Propagandist of the Ivanishvili regime and holds numerous corrupt assets for his boss, who is selling Georgia to the CCP, War Criminal Putin & the Iranian regime. His propaganda outfit, Imedi TV, broadcasts 24/7 hate of America. Sanctions are coming», Wilson wrote. Earlier, speaking to the Georgian service of Radio Liberty, Rukhadze expressed confidence that, as a U.S. citizen, he is not at risk of sanctions.

● Will a section of the Armenia-Georgia road near Kiran-Voskepar be handed over to Azerbaijani control as part of the delimitation process? In response to this question from opposition MP Garnik Danielyan, Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan gave an evasive answer, stating that all recent agreements are outlined in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ statement following the meeting of the Armenia-Azerbaijan commissions on delimitation. Here are the main points known from the outcome of the meeting.

●  PM Nikol Pashinyan is leaving to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev is already there.

● Armenia has increased fees for renouncing citizenship by six times and for acquiring citizenship by 50 times. Since the 1990s, the fee for obtaining citizenship was 1,000 drams (about $2.50), and for renouncing it, 25,000 drams ($63). These fees have now been raised to 50,000 drams (slightly over $120) and 150,000 drams (about $360), respectively.

● The Armenian National Assembly has decided to remove the word “national” from the names of 11 cultural institutions, including the National Opera and Ballet Theater, the National Library, the National Gallery, and others. These institutions will now be referred to as “state” rather than “national.”

●  Sale of energy drinks to minors has been banned in Armenia. Under new regulations, advertising energy drinks will also be restricted, and fines will be introduced for violating the rules.

● The home of ruling party’s MP Hrachya Hakobyan, brother-in-law of Prime Minister Pashinyan, has been robbed. The damage is estimated at 7-8 million drams ($17,500–$19,000). Hakobyan told reporters that the burglars took cash, gold, and watches.

●  All transactions over 300,000 drams ($750) will now be subject to mandatory declaration in Armenia, according to Eduard Hakobyan, head of the State Revenue Committee.

●”During the Biden-Blinken administration, the U.S. displayed a biased attitude toward Azerbaijan, leading to a crisis in bilateral relations,” President Ilham Aliyev stated during a meeting in Davos with Johnny Moore, head of the U.S. Congress of Christian Leaders.

● The construction of a road bridge over the Araz River on the Iran-Azerbaijan border is expected to be completed this spring, according to Iran’s Minister of Roads and Urban Development, Farzaneh Sadig. The bridge is part of a transport corridor linking mainland Azerbaijan with Nakhchivan through Iran, bypassing Armenia.

●  In Davos, Azerbaijan and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development signed a “Loan Agreement for the Reconstruction of Ganja City’s Water Supply and Sewerage System.”

● A 10-year-old girl injured in a high-profile road accident in the southern Imishli district passed away in a Baku clinic, bringing the death toll from the crash to three. Read more here

●  ENT surgeon Sanan Mehdiyev was sentenced to three months of pre-trial detention following the death of 30-year-old Nazrin Mansurli after a rhinoplasty. Mansurli underwent surgery and fell into a coma at home after being discharged, eventually passing away.

●  Iran’s Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence for the perpetrator of the armed attack on Azerbaijan’s embassy in Tehran, judiciary representative Asker Jahangir announced at a press conference. The attack occurred in January 2023, and the diplomatic mission only resumed operations in the summer of 2024.

●  Former participant of the TV quiz show What? Where? When? Rovshan Askerov has been added to Russia’s extremist and terrorist list. Askerov left Russia for Azerbaijan in 2022 after a criminal case was opened against him, allegedly for insulting Soviet Marshal Georgy Zhukov in a social media post.

● No new monkeypox cases have been reported in Azerbaijan, the Ministry of Health confirmed. “Azerbaijan is not part of the endemic risk group for this virus,” the ministry stated. The country’s first case was identified in a 22-year-old man who contracted the virus during a trip abroad.

Photo: A retro car at a ski resort in the Gusar district of Azerbaijan.

● The Appeals Court in Kutaisi has upheld the Batumi Court’s decision to keep Batumelebi and Netgazeti director Mzia Amaglobeli (pictured) in pretrial detention, rejecting the defense’s appeal. Solidarity protests in support of Amaglobeli, who has declared a hunger strike, have continued in Tbilisi for several days. Protesters, including her colleagues, vow to persist until their demands are met:

• The Prosecutor’s Office must drop the case against Amaglobeli, which they say is based on false accusations, and release her from detention.

• Batumi Police Chief Irakli Dgebuadze must be dismissed from his position.

• The Special Investigation Service must urgently probe the alleged mistreatment of Amaglobeli.

Amaglobeli was arrested on January 12 in Batumi during a protest. The court denied her bail, and she now faces up to seven years in prison for allegedly slapping the Batumi police chief, who, according to reports, had insulted her verbally and physically. She is charged with “assaulting a police officer.”

●  Former President Salome Zourabichvili has reiterated her support for Amaglobeli. On the platform X, Zourabichvili wrote: “Mzia Amaglobeli, you are not alone in this historic fight for Georgia’s freedom.”

● The Sheraton Batumi Hotel, where Georgian Dream representatives allegedly attacked Giorgi Gakharia, leader of the For Georgia party, has refused to provide CCTV footage of the incident despite repeated requests from his lawyers. In the meantime, according to Gakharia’s party, prosecutors have seized all video recordings, servers, and hard drives, leaving the hotel with no copies. “The sole purpose of this is to destroy or falsify the evidence, making Sheraton complicit in the regime,” stated Natia Mezvrishvili, deputy leader of the party.

● “Georgia’s growing democratic backsliding is deeply concerning,” said EU Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner during a European Parliament debate on Georgia. “Recent legislative amendments have restricted fundamental rights and undermined democratic governance. Violence and hate speech against peaceful protesters, politicians, and journalists, politically motivated dismissals of civil servants, and threats against [fifth president of Georgia] Salome Zourabichvili are unacceptable. Many detainees remain imprisoned and face prosecution, while no law enforcement officials have been held accountable, despite allegations of brutal crackdowns and torture of detained protesters reported by the ombudsman.”

●  European Parliament member Sergey Lagodinsky addressed comparisons between the ongoing protests in Tbilisi and Ukraine’s Euromaidan. “We’ve discussed disinformation and lies here—lies that have even reached this tribune,” Lagodinsky said at the European Parliament. “Some spoke of a bloody Maidan and street violence. We were in Tbilisi’s streets, where you should have been, but you stayed here. We marched alongside these people on cold nights. Thousands are fighting for their future, for their children, for a European future”. He called on his colleagues to distinguish “Georgia’s dream of a European future” from “the ruling party, Georgian Dream, which uses violence against its own citizens”.

●  Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan finally met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow after delaying his visit for nearly three months, citing “technical reasons.” Mirzoyan emphasized Armenia’s commitment to continuing dialogue with Moscow and expressed hope that Russia would consider Armenia’s interests on international platforms. He also extended an invitation for Lavrov to visit Yerevan.

●   Following their discussions, Lavrov stated: “We had a productive conversation today. I hope it helps address recent issues that have sometimes sparked overly emotional media reactions.” He reiterated that “Russia does not take sides in the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict and is focused on fostering normalization between the two nations”.

●   Armenia’s Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Narek Mkrtchyan, attended a reception in Washington celebrating Donald Trump’s inauguration. He was photographed with future U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump allies Patrick Orlando and Christopher Ruddy.

●  The Armenian Foreign Ministry extended condolences to Turkey following a tragic fire at a Bolu resort, which claimed nearly 80 lives.

●  Protests against rising public transport fares continued in Yerevan. Former mayor Hayk Marutyan declared at the rally: “From February 1, we will boycott the fare hikes. We will fight back.”

Photo: During his visit to Moscow, Foreign Minister Mirzoyan toured the Tretyakov Gallery.

● Ilham Aliyev held several bilateral meetings in Davos, including with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Israeli President Isaac Herzog. The Azerbaijani president also met with leaders of prominent companies.

● Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian received Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev. They discussed the current state and prospects of Azerbaijan-Iran relations. Mustafayev is in Iran for the 16th session of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission on Economic, Trade, and Humanitarian Cooperation.

● The court proceedings against former leaders of the separatist regime in Karabakh resumed. Media reports suggest that defense attorneys for some of the accused requested a change in detention measures to house arrest. Former president of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Arayik Harutyunyan, told the court that neither he nor his lawyer petitioned for house arrest, and he reported no health complaints. “Overall, I have not heard any health-related complaints from other defendants either,” Harutyunyan stated during the hearing.

● The director of Batumelebi and Netgazeti, Mzia Amaglobeli, has declared a hunger strike while in detention.

“The charges against me are the result of repressive, treacherous, and violent actions targeting individuals, freedom of speech, and self-expression. Over the past year, these have taken root in our daily lives as a form of dictatorship. I refuse to submit to the regime’s agenda. I am on hunger strike. Freedom is more valuable than life,” she wrote in a letter to the Batumelebi editorial office.

Amaglobeli was arrested on January 12 in Batumi during a pro-European protest. The court denied her release on bail pending investigation. She faces up to seven years in prison for slapping the head of the Batumi police in the face.

● Omar Okribelashvili, 20,and Saba Meparishvili, 23, charged with damaging metal barriers outside the Georgian Parliament during last year’s protests against the government’s controversial “foreign agents” law, have signed plea agreements. The court sentenced them to 18 months in prison and an additional 14 months on probation. As they have already served eight months, their remaining detention will last another 10 months.

Georgian human rights groups have called their case “an example of intimidating punishment and political revenge by the authorities.”

● Another protester, 20-year-old Fridon Bubuteishvili, was denied a plea agreement. The court sentenced him to five years in prison for throwing a stone at a Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs officer and damaging Parliament’s gates, with damages amounting to 500 GEL (approx. $190 USD).

●Georgia’s fifth president, Salome Zourabichvili, attended Donald Trump’s inauguration. No representatives from the Georgian Dream were invited, including the party’s PM and president.

● Republican Congressman Joe Wilson, who invited Zourabichvili to the inauguration, posted a new tweet mentioning Georgia’s shadow leader, Bidzina Ivanishvili. “Sanctions are coming,” he wrote, playing on the iconic phrase “Winter is coming” from Game of Thrones. Wilson listed those who should “get ready” for sanctions under the new U.S. administration: ”

1. Ivanishvili
2. Maduro
3. Khamenei
4. War Criminal Putin
5. Kim Jong Un
6. Xi Jinping
7. Badr terrorists”

Notably, Ivanishvili topped the list.

● Meanwhile, Ivanishvili, under US sanctions since late December, has filed a lawsuit against Swiss bank Julius Baer. His lawyer claims the bank has extended the sanctions to his family members and businesses. “This is political blackmail,” the billionaire is cited as complaining.

● The Armenian national anthem was performed by a cappella at the first session of the 2025 parliament in a new version. The revised text of the anthem includes references to the national flag. However, the new version has not yet been approved at the legislative level, a point highlighted by the opposition. Gegham Manukyan, a deputy from the “Hayastan” (Armenia) faction, stated that the authorities are violating the law by presenting the edited version.

● The Armenian ambassador to the United States attended Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony.

● The word “national” is set to be removed from the names of the Opera Theater, Art Gallery, State Library, and other cultural institutions in Armenia. A draft law was discussed in parliament. It is proposed to use the term “statewide” for institutions with a significant contribution to culture. Currently, there are 11 cultural institutions in the country with the status of “national.”

● The Armenian Foreign Minister will travel to Moscow today on a working visit. A meeting between Ararat Mirzoyan and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov is planned, followed by a joint press conference.

● The 2027 European Artistic Gymnastics Championship will be held in Yerevan from April 27 to May 2.

● Lebanese President Joseph Aoun emphasized the importance of the Armenian community’s involvement in the country’s recovery efforts. He made this statement during a meeting with Catholicos Aram I of the Great House of Cilicia, as reported by the Catholicosate’s press service.

● Armenia is witnessing increased activity of acute respiratory viral infections (ARVI), with cases of swine flu and the Omicron variant also identified. The majority of ARVI cases have been recorded among children and adolescents under the age of 18. Among 826 hospitalized ARVI patients, 92% are children. Of the 551 patients hospitalized with pneumonia, 61.1% are under 18 years old.

Armenian Ambassador to the United States Lilit Makunts at Donald Trump’s Inauguration

● “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