Ali Karimli, Chairman of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), offered a critical assessment of the current economic situation in Azerbaijan. Citing official data, he stated that in the first quarter of 2026, economic growth in Georgia was 8.4%, while in Armenia it was 7.4%. In contrast, Azerbaijan's economy showed negative dynamics, contracting by 0.3%.
After the overthrow of the monarchy in Russia in 1917, the autonomy of the mountaineers of the Caucasus was formed, which a year later - on May 11, 1918 - declared independence and was called the Mountain Republic. This was due to the civil war and the desire of the North Caucasian peoples to ensure their security.
The Mountainous Republic included seven independent "states", singled out on a national basis and united on a confederal basis in the territories of Dagestan, Ingushetia, Chechnya, Ossetia, Karachay-Balkaria, Kabardino-Cherkessia and Adygea, Nogai steppes and, for some period, Abkhazia.
In January 1921, the territory of the Mountain Republic was completely occupied by the Red Army of Bolshevik Russia, which forced the government to leave the Caucasus. In January 1921, the Soviet Mountain Republic of the Russian SFSR was formed.