"I AM almost full for next summer", boasts Mike Aghjayan, an Armenian from Lebanon who is managing a new hotel in the town Azeris call Shusha and Armenians Shushi.
Without explanation, Russia closed its border to Azeri trucks, threatening the livelihood of the many Azeris who sell fruit and vegetables in Russia.
Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, was once a brassy, cosmopolitan city where notionally Shia Muslim Azeris rubbed shoulders with Jews as well as Armenians and ethnic Russians of loosely Christian heritage.
Until then, the commodity Azeris need most is patience.
The prison door Reds at the ready Jörg Haider, Austria's (and Europe's) border guard Wretchedly oil-rich Azeris Odd couple Funny weather over France ReprintsThe economy all but collapsed after the Soviet Union broke up in 1991.
The prison door Reds at the ready Jörg Haider, Austria's (and Europe's) border guard Wretchedly oil-rich Azeris Odd couple Funny weather over France ReprintsExpect more union trouble after the unveiling, on July 7th, of the second stage of a five-year plan, also inherited from the right, to turn France's army into a volunteer, professional force, cutting numbers by a third within four years.
In March Israelis and Azeris, in a joint venture, began to produce drones.Azerbaijan's leaders fear Islamist influence from Iran, where a quarter of the people are ethnic Azeris, whereas Iran's ayatollahs fear the influence of secular Azerbaijan.
To be precise, the Armenians offer constructive engagement on small issues such as sharing water over the ceasefire line, but the Azeris reject these gestures, worrying that this is "doing business with the enemy".
This month President Vladimir Putin is expected to pay a goodwill visit to Baku, Azerbaijan's capital.But the nature of Azerbaijan's government worries many people, Azeris and foreigners alike.
They have not held up any exploration contracts, and the Azeris have started pumping oil from their fields.
For most people outside the Caucasus, it is more of a forgotten one.No Azeris remain in Nagorno-Karabakh.
