Trends and society

For the second time, the Chechen writer Kanta Imbragimov has been included in the list of official nominees for the Nobel Prize for Literature. Ibragimov has won prizes in Russia and the local government loves him. According to our correspondent Majnat Kurbanova, however, he has no talent. A tasty literary controversy

Trebinje, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Along the banks of the Trebišnjica river, in the Petrovo and Popovo Polje plains, vines grow surrounded by stony and lunar mountains. These vines give life to žilavka and vranac, two wines that have made the history and success of enology in Eastern Herzegovina. An age-old and fragile treasure of tastes, now promoted and safeguarded by the local Slow Food convivium

Aleksey Gogua is one of the most notable Abkhaz-language writers of the twenty-first century. During the Soviet era, his novels were translated into Russian and hundreds of thousands of copies were printed. Literature in Abkhazia today, relations with Russia, the situation of the Abkhaz language. An interview

The basic idea behind Go Group Media is simple: give a camera to people from all walks of life, living in isolated parts of the country, and tell them to make films about their lives or things that matter to them. The result is an amazing way to get to know the lives of people living in different parts of the Caucasus

A phenomenon that has exploded in the last 20 years. In Albania an increasing number of women undergoes surgery in order to regain virginity. For marriage. A report

International Alert, an NGO based in London working on conflict resolution, did a study on how people on opposite sides of the conflicts in the South Caucasus perceived each other. Our correspondent focused on how Armenians were depicted in online discourse in Baku. An insiders' look into the dark side of the Azerbaijani blogosphere

In his most recent televised address to the people, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said corruption in Chechnya was minimal. In reality, it is enough to spend a few days in the region to realise that corruption, like a spider web, envelops almost every sphere of life in Chechnya starting in primary school

In the age of the Russian Empire, people used to believe the tsar was good and the Boyars were the evil exploiters. In Stalin's times, many believed the leader was good and wise and that his corrupt underlings were responsible for cruelties he did not even know about. What about now? What legends circulate in Kadyrov's Chechnya?

It is very similar to the Ottoman-style quarter in Sarajevo, though many consider it more genuine, the čaršija from which Novi Pazar in south-eastern Serbia gets its name. Our feature

In Soviet Azerbaijan, most people took their holidays in sanatoriums in Azerbaijan or other parts of the Union. Nowadays, sanatoriums in Azerbaijan are often rundown while those in Russia have become much more expensive. Seaside locations in Georgia and Turkey are preferred destinations among those who can afford it, but for many Azerbaijanis, holidays are an unaffordable luxury

Mavrovo, Western Macedonia. On these mountains, the Balkans’ continental and Mediterranean climates meet, giving birth to incredibly rich and unique pastures. This is why, throughout the centuries, this region has specialised in transhumance sheep breeding and cheese production. A slow food presidium that will make its first international appearance today at the Cheese fair in Bra, Cuneo, Italy.

Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, is a divided city but it retains a 'bastard' soul. Katharina Urbanek and Milan Mijalkovic have dedicated a book to it, looking into the meaning of the deep transformations - spatial and symbolic - that the city is currently undergoing with the controversial "Skopje 2014" plan. Our interview

For some it's a monument to the strength of the human spirit, others think it was a place of torture. A journey into the tunnel of Sarajevo, a 700 metre underground track which, for the inhabitants of the Bosnian capital, meant the difference between life and death

Sexist advertisements are invading Chişinău, the capital of Moldova. The image of the woman depicted is clear: sexy and beautiful, a good servant for men, a hardworking housewife. Two companies using such advertisement have already been sued. But people still bump into billboards with sexy women all over. A feature story

After a long series of attempts, the first McDonald’s of Bosnia and Herzegovina opens in Sarajevo. What follows are the declarations from the American Ambassador, the reactions from Sarajevans and the welcome by the ćevapčići chain “Mrkva”

Chechnya recently openly celebrated Chechen Language Day, but Russian is still the country's official language and fewer and fewer Chechens are fluent in their own mother-tongue

The Azeri duo “Ell and Nikki” won the 2011 edition of Eurovision. Eurovision 2012 will thus be held in Baku. Some believe that the international attention brought by the event will push the Azeri authorities to democratic openings, while others are convinced that the tourism sector will be the only beneficiary of the event

It is a place to meet, a place for friends, for lovers. It is Vilsonovo Avenue, in Sarajevo, shaded by four rowes of age-old lime trees that survived even the 90’s war. When the lime trees are in flower, it is time to go back

On 21 June, a controversial, colossal monument to Alexander the Great was erected in Skopje’s central square. Strongly supported by Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, the bronze giant stirred heated international debate (Greece, of course, officially protested) but also split the Macedonian public opinion. A commentary

A sport’s legend is able to solve the Bosnian soccer crisis, banned from international competitions because incapable of electing just one President for its football federation rather than three. An injection full of trust that could contaminate its politics

Inspired, not by the nightmare investigator Dylan Dog, though it could seem so, but by schemes already running in cities like Paris and London, the administrators of the Romanian capital Bucharest have decided to look to their cemeteries to revive tourism in the city

The five point star has returned to European coins over twenty years after the fall of the Berlin wall. Slovenia has just issued a million coins for two euro dedicated to a legendary partisan commander, Franc Rozman

A real social and cultural barometer in the heart of Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, this is an ancient Ottoman market which, in the last 20 years, has changed from being a disreputable quarter to a trendy one. Another article in our dossier on Ottoman markets in the Balkans

In Duba-Yurt, a Chechen village hard hit by the war that devastated the region in the 1990s, there lived an old man who grew tulips. A spark of colour and hope in dark times. A true story that almost seems like a fable

The European dream is strongly rooted in the imagination of Albanian young generations. Tirana's twenty-somethings, who grew up during the identity crisis of the nineties, are sure: Albania's future is in Europe. The European Union (EU) is seen as the solution to every problem, while few question the possible impact of integration in a country that, so far, remains isolated

In Chechnya there is official support for attacks on women when they are considered to have ‘flouted’ Islamic rules by not wearing a headscarf or covering up enough. Tanya Lokshina listened to some of the women’s despairing accounts. From openDemocracy.net

Leader of the Turkish feminist movement, Fätmagül Berktay has defended the right to university even for those wearing the veil. “The Kemalist constitution let us move forward in society, but it had no effect on domestic violence, widespread in any class and ethnicity. The EU would make us stronger”. Our interview

Half of the migrants resident in Italy comes from Romania, Bulgaria, the Balkans, and non-EU Eastern Europe, not to mention those from Central Europe. But who lives where? Exclusively for Osservatorio sui Balcani e Caucaso, an analysis of the main communities by macro-region

An Ottoman-style market, a çarshija, right in the heart of Tirana, of which today only faint memories remain. Architecture, social relations and memory in an interview with the anthropologist Armanda Kodra

Last August, the youth forum “Mashuk 2010”, the first summer camp promoted by Moscow's government and solely devoted to young people from the Russian Caucasus, was held in Pyatigorsk, an old spa town in Russia’s North Caucasian Federal District. The event focused on training for cultural interaction and support to youth entrepreneurship