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The Caucasus - An Ever Changing Region
"Azerbaijan: With a population of seven million, Azerbaijan is the largest country of the South Caucasus. More than half a million displaced people from the conflict in Nagorno Karabakh are a major burden on the economy and a pressing social problem. Azerbaijan gave discreet support to Chechnya during the 1994-96 conflict. Azeris speak a Turkic language, and Turkey serves as a political model. Some Azeris want 24 million Azeris in northern Iran to join them in an enlarged independent state.
Chechnya: Chechen fighters drove the Russian army from Chechnya between 1994 and 1996, becoming de facto independent. Hugely outnumbered and outgunned, Chechen fighters nonetheless outfought badly led and unmotivated Russian conscripts. Peace accords signed in 1996 allow five years for the two sides to reach a political settlement. Moscow promised, but never provided, aid for reconstruction. Chechnya is the largest republic in the North Caucasus, with a population of roughly one million, and aspires to a leading role."
http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~jc/PRIVATE/EUROPE/XXthCentury/Others.html
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