By Benyamin POGHOSYAN, PhD, Chairman, Center for Political and Economic Strategic Studies

On October 6, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Prague on the sidelines of the European Political Community summit. This was the first meeting between Armenian and Turkish leaders since the failure of “football diplomacy” in 2008-2009. This meeting may play a positive role in fostering Armenia-Turkey normalization. Meanwhile, Armenia needs a better understanding of Turkey’s regional strategy in the South Caucasus and of the role that Turkey attaches to its relations with Armenia in that framework.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Turkey’s strategic goal in the South Caucasus has been to dominate the region. Turkish regional dominance is only possible at the expense of Russia’s leading position, which puts Turkey and Russia at strategic loggerheads in the region. Neither the recent warming of relations between Ankara and Moscow, nor initiatives like the establishment of the Astana format for Syria or the 3+2 format for the South Caucasus, have changed the fundamental parameters of the Russia-Turkey rivalry in the South Caucasus. READ MORE

• November 29, 2022

Russian President Vladimir Putin is now trying to use the “winter as a weapon of war against Ukraine”, NATO’s chief says as he warns of more attacks on the nation’s power grid.

• November 28, 2022

New Delhi’s unique position on the world stage could see PM Narendra Modi become a key peacemaker, say experts.

• November 28, 2022

Officials from the two countries were due to meet in the Egyptian capital of Cairo from November 29 to December 6.

• November 28, 2022

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) condemns shelling attacks around the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, calling reports from its team on the ground “disturbing”.

• November 21, 2022

And this power imbalance at the heart of the executive may have important consequences.

• November 21, 2022

A donor conference aims to help Moldova deal with the impact of the Ukraine war and rising food and energy prices.

• November 21, 2022

By Fuad SHAHBAZOV, Baku-based independent regional security and defence analyst

On November 11, a summit of the leaders of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) convened in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. This major gathering came amid the OTS’s re-emerging significance as a key regional organization and a critical platform for rapprochement between the Central Asia and Caucasus regions. The official Samarkand Declaration, which was signed as a final accord by the attendees, paves the way for a comprehensive partnership format among the OTS member states. The Samarkand meeting represented the major political gathering for the Turkic nations in 2022, and it will further facilitate dialogue and regional interconnectivity between the OTS member states—independent of Russian and Western influence. READ MORE

• November 19, 2022