South Caucasus

Trump Tower Tbilisi project kicks off in Georgia, backed by Archi Group, other partners

The cost of the extravagant launch, which culminated in fireworks and dozens of drones forming the US flag and the Statue of Liberty over the Tbilisi skyline, was estimated at $1 million.

|ByYOAV ETIEL
Performers entertain the audience during the official presentation of Trump Tower Tbilisi, a proposed 70-story skyscraper earlier announced by The Trump Organization and international developers that is expected to become the tallest building in the country, in Tbilisi, Georgia, September 15, 2026.
One of the two active Mountain Jews synagogue in the Red Village – known as the world’s last shtetl outside of Israel. (@MarkDavidPod)

The only all-Jewish town outside Israel hides in Azerbaijan’s mountains

Unlike many Jewish communities across the Soviet Union, the Jews of the Caucasus managed to preserve their identity. Shabbat was kept quietly, Judaism lived on discreetly.

|ByJACOB MAOR
RUSSIAN PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin meets Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Tianjin, China, earlier this month. There’s a deepening Russian-Iranian political alignment, says the writer.

Baku's leverage: The Azerbaijani gas corridor and the Russian-Iranian connection - opinion

Azerbaijan’s role in the Russia-Iran gas corridor will be decisive. This initiative is not just an energy project but a strategic choice capable of reshaping the South Caucasus.

|ByMORDECHAI KEDAR
FILE PHOTO: Azeri men living in Turkey wave flags of Turkey and Azerbaijan during a protest following clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia, in Istanbul, Turkey, July 19, 2020

Turkey breaks ground on rail line to Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan

The railway will be part of the Southern Caucasus transit corridor, to which the US gained exclusive development rights.

|ByREUTERS

TRIPP in the Caucasus: Strategic realignment at Iran’s northern frontier - opinion

A new transit corridor linking Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave through Armenian territory, that will operate under Armenian sovereignty and be developed and managed by an American-led consortium

AUGUST 13, 2025ByAIDIN PANAHI
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump is joined by Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev (left) and Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at a trilateral signing event at the White House last Friday.