Freedom House map of the Caucasus and adjacent areas. Courtesy image.
Freedom House map of the Caucasus and adjacent areas. Courtesy image.

The annual Freedom in the World survey by the Washington-based Freedom House think tank, published on January 16, once again listed Nagorno Karabakh as “partly free,” but also noted the worsening state of democracy there with its score declining from 33 to 30 points.

Freedom House rates both the recognized states and unrecognized self-governing entities such as Abkhazia (also “partly free” but with 41 points), South Ossetia (“not free” with 11 points) and Northern Cyprus (ranked “free” with 80 points). The ranking also put Turkey in the “not free” category, grouped together with Azerbaijan, Russia, Iran and most of the Middle East.

Armenia and Georgia, along with Kyrgyzstan, Moldova and Ukraine, remained in the “partly free” category.

Nagorno Karabakh previously slipped into “not free” category in 2011 and 2012 surveys before recovering in 2013, largely thanks to a competitive presidential election held in July 2012.