ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN The state border between Armenia and Azerbaijan witnessed multiple exchanges of fire and reported ceasefire violations in recent weeks. Skirmishes since late June have killed one Armenian serviceman, injured five other Armenians (including one civilian), and killed one and wounded three Azerbaijani servicemen. Crisis Group expert Zaur Shiriyev says …
Read More »Iran and South Caucasus Railway Connections after the Nagorno-Karabakh War
After the Second Karabakh War, the tripartite ceasefire agreement on November 10, 2020, opens a possibility for Iran to become connected to the southern railway network in the South Caucasus. As a result of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, an important part of the South Caucasus Railway, which passed through the …
Read More »Russian Expert Plotnikov: Russia No Longer Is The Only Player In The Trans Caucasus, Turkey’s Influence Is Comparable
Dmitry Plotnikov, an expert on “soft power” and the post-Soviet space authored an analysis titled “Turkey Is Building a New Ottoman Empire”, where he analyzed the growing ties between Ankara and Baku and concluded that Russia has lost its formerly dominant position in Azerbaijan. This is most evident in military …
Read More »Lavrov Dismisses Talk Of Possible Turkish Military Base In Azerbaijan As ‘Rumors’
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has dismissed speculation that Turkey could build a military base in Azerbaijan as “rumors.” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during a visit to Baku this week that he hasn’t ruled out the possibility Ankara could build a military base in Azerbaijan under an agreement …
Read More »Is Baku Buying Off Russian Media To Promote Pro-Azerbaijani Positions? – OpEd
Last fall, the Nezygar telegram channel reported that Baku via its SOCAR company and embassy in Moscow was investing in Russian media outlets to ensure that they would promote pro-Azerbaijani positions, a violation of Moscow’s understanding of the rules of the game (eadaily.com/ru/news/2020/10/08/smi-v-kremle-razdrazheny-usilivayushchimsya-vliyaniem-baku-v-rossiyskih-media). That was during the latest round of …
Read More »Biden’s recognition of Armenian Genocide shows Turkey’s fading influence
Previous US presidents have avoided using the term ‘genocide’ out of fear of angering key NATO ally US President Joe Biden’s expected recognition of the Ottoman Empire’s mass killings of Armenians as genocide is a sign of Turkey’s waning influence over Washington, analysts told The Media Line. Biden is expected …
Read More »Azerbaijan, Turkey Hold Two Days Of Joint Military Exercises
zerbaijan has launched two days of joint military exercises with Turkish forces, saying the drills were aimed at “improving interaction” between the two countries’ armed forces. The exercises, announced on April 8, came almost five months after Azerbaijan fought a brief, but successful, war with Armenian forces over the breakaway …
Read More »Post–Revolution and War, Armenia Must Find a Geopolitical Balance
The shattering events Armenia has undergone in the last two years—the 2018 Velvet Revolution, the defeat in the 2020 Karabakh war, and the resulting crisis—couldn’t fail to impact on the country’s foreign policy. The regime change sparked hopes that Armenia’s democratization would guarantee international support and protect it from external …
Read More »Rosneft, Gazprom And Russia’s Failure To Adopt Green Policies – Analysis
The Russian Federation is on a collision course with climate change. In 2019, it ranked fourth in annual carbon emissions, and the country’s largest gas producer, Gazprom, was the world’s third largest emitter of industrial greenhouse gases between 1988-2015, behind Saudi Aramco and Chinese coal. Meanwhile, roads, pipelines, and railways …
Read More »Putin Discusses Karabakh With Armenia’s Pashinyan, Aliyev In Phone Call
Russian President Vladimir Putin held telephone talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on March 11 and 12, the Kremlin said in a statement. The practical implementation of the agreements on Nagorno-Karabakh, reached in the trilateral statements of November 9, 2020 and January 11, 2021, …
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