By Yeghia TASHJIAN, Beirut-based regional analyst and researcher, columnist, "The Armenian Weekly”

On August 7, 2024, Elchin Amirbayov, President Ilham Aliyev’s senior envoy for special assignments, told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that Baku had agreed to withdraw the issue of the “Zangezur Corridor” from Armenia-Azerbaijan negotiations and “refer it to a later stage.” This statement put Russia in a difficult position, as it had aimed to control the transit routes between Armenia and Azerbaijan, according to the November 10, 2020 trilateral statement signed by the heads of state of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia. As such, Russia attempted to revive the issue but met Iranian opposition. This article will highlight U.S. involvement in containing Russia’s influence in the South Caucasus, Russia’s objective behind bringing back the corridor issue and Tehran’s harsh stance against Moscow. READ MORE

Agriculture is one of the leading sectors of Uzbekistan’s economy.
This sector accounts for more than 24% of the republic's gross domestic product and employs about a quarter of the total workforce. Thus, sustainable development and modernization of agriculture is a key priority of state policy and macroeconomic development strategy of the republic to ensure overall economic growth and improve the population’s welfare. READ MORE

On the invitation of President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Olaf Scholz arrived in Uzbekistan for an official visit on September 15.

In recent years, labor migration has emerged as a promising area of cooperation with Germany. At the same time, multifaceted and mutually beneficial relations in the field of healthcare are also developing consistently. READ MORE

Umida Tukhtasheva,
Deputy Director of the Anti-Corruption Agency of the Republic of Uzbekistan, LL.D., Professor

Over the years of independence, the role of civil society in Uzbekistan has become increasingly important. The representatives of civil society are not only involved, but also actively take the initiative in the life of society and the state. This role has manifested itself more and more clearly in the fight against corruption. There is no doubt that corruption and society are incompatible. The prerequisite for a prosperous society is a life free of corruption. And all the necessary foundations must be laid for this, which is primarily the task of the state. READ MORE

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

The relationship between Armenia and Turkiye has a significant influence on the geopolitical landscape of the South Caucasus. The Turkish blockade of Armenia and refusal to establish diplomatic relations, coupled with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, have restricted Armenia’s ability to pursue a more flexible foreign policy, effectively binding it to an alliance with Russia. Normalizing relations with Azerbaijan and Turkiye would allow Yerevan to explore foreign and defence policy alternatives beyond its reliance on Russia. The United States has persistently advocated for Armenia–Turkiye normalization, viewing this as an essential step in untangling the post-1994 status quo in the South Caucasus, which is marked by Russian dominance through its military and economic presence in Armenia. Washington has actively engaged in many efforts, including track 1, track 1.5, and track 2 diplomacy, with initiatives such as the Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation Commission and the 2008–2009 “football diplomacy” serving as notable examples. READ MORE

Akilov Alimjon Rakhimovich,
Chief Researcher of Department of analyzing the effectiveness of constitutional construction and public administration of Institute of Legislation and Legal Policy under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, doctor of legal sciences, professor

The year 2016 for Uzbekistan was marked by the beginning of a fundamentally new in essence and content stage of state and social construction, in which the main strategic goal was proclaimed - the construction of a New Uzbekistan, based on the values that served the greatest flourishing of our statehood in the 9th-10th centuries (known in world history as First Eastern Renaissance) and XIV-XV centuries (Second Eastern Renaissance). As in previous periods, the basis and priorities of the Third Renaissance of our statehood are the development of science and modern technologies, which are intended to become drivers of dramatic development of the country’s economy, a radical improvement in the well-being of the people and the prosperity of the nation. READ MORE

By Vasif HUSEYNOV, PhD, Head of Department, AIR Center, Adjunct Lecturer, ADA and Khazar Universities, Baku

On July 11 and 12, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev paid a state visit to Pakistan to bolster bilateral ties with Islamabad. The visit came less than two weeks after Aliyev’s meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for their first-ever trilateral summit. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit on July 3 in Astana and was a significant milestone in elevating their tripartite cooperation from parliamentary and ministerial levels to state leadership. Both Aliyev’s visit to Islamabad and the trilateral summit of Azerbaijan, Pakistan, and Türkiye highlight the three countries’ commitment to expanding their trilateral trade and transit cooperation, as well as better integrating their military capabilities and defence production. READ MORE

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

Since the end of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War in 2020, Armenia and Azerbaijan have been engaged in negotiations to sign a peace agreement. The process seems like a roller coaster of extreme ups and downs, reflecting the volatile and unpredictable nature of the discussions. Several times, the sides have seemed close to reaching a deal only for an unexpected circumstance to arise, causing a significant reversal during the peace talks. In late 2022, after intensive negotiations in Washington and Prague, Azerbaijan refused to appear in Brussels and instead launched a blockade of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Azerbaijan did the same at the end of 2023, when despite mounting hopes for an imminent agreement President Aliyev refused to attend the European Political Community (EPC) summit in October 2023 in Granada and the trilateral Armenia–Azerbaijan–European Union summit in Brussels. READ MORE

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

Recently, Azerbaijan–Pakistan ties have grown significantly through economic and military-technical cooperation. Pakistan threw its full support behind Azerbaijan during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, supplying weapons and providing training for Azerbaijani special forces. When Azerbaijan claimed victory in November 2020, the streets of Baku were full of Pakistani flags. Relations grew closer still after 2020, with intensive negotiations to buy Pakistani-made military jets and supply Azerbaijani gas to Pakistan. They discussed a series of joint projects worth $2 billion, setting up a bilateral committee to develop the projects. Most importantly, President Aliyev expressed his full support for Pakistan on the issue of Kashmir, claiming that international law and justice are on the side of Pakistan. READ MORE

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

Following the military takeover of Nagorno-Karabakh by Azerbaijan in September 2023 and the forced displacement of Armenians, Azerbaijan has pursued a double-pronged strategy in negotiations with Armenia. Its first approach has been to undermine Western-led Brussels and Washington negotiation formats while showing an interest in resuming negotiations on the Moscow or regional platform. President Ilham Aliyev cancelled participation in the Granada summit of the European Policy Community in October and the scheduled tripartite meeting in Brussels facilitated by the European Council president, Charles Michel. In November, Azerbaijan rejected the United States’ offer to resume negotiations with foreign ministers in Washington. Baku explained its decision by claiming that the European Union, France, and the US have a pro-Armenian or anti-Azerbaijani stance. Simultaneously, Azerbaijan has several times expressed its readiness to resume negotiations in Russia or on regional platforms. READ MORE

Anvarjon Mirkomilov, Head of Department
Development Strategy Center

Today, civil society institutions, particularly non-governmental non-profit organizations (NGOs), play an active role in Uzbekistan's development and the implementation of the “Uzbekistan – 2030” strategy. It is impossible to build a new Uzbekistan without organizing the activities of NGOs, the most important institution of civil society, according to democratic principles. On this basis, effective work is being done to support NGOs and civil society institutions, strengthen social partnerships with state bodies, implement effective public oversight, and improve the legal framework governing this area. READ MORE

Qudratilla Rafikov, Political scientist

In the speech of our President at a recent meeting with activists of Jizzakh region, one point caught the attention of most of the people. In it, the head of state said the following: "If God gives me health and life, the days will come when we will not have poverty and unemployment. I have devoted seven years of my life to this, created a system for this, created laws, opened the world. I came to this position, so that my people would live well, so that their dreams would come true, so that their children would live in prosperity and be happy, so that their grandchildren would be born healthy, so that medicine would work, schools would work, roads would be smooth...". READ MORE

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

Armenia is still absorbing the implications of the protests that overwhelmed Yerevan on May 9. On April 19, 2024, the Armenian and Azerbaijani border delimitation and demarcation commissions signed the protocol on the delimitation and demarcation process in the Tavush region of Armenia. That agreement granted Azerbaijan control over a patch of territory along that border that had been officially part of Soviet Azerbaijan but controlled by Armenia since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The movement “Tavush for the Motherland” started with the closure of the Armenia-Georgia interstate highway near the village of Kirants in the Tavush region, one of the villages that was going to be affected by the process. Later, it transformed into a march towards Yerevan. Protestors led by Tavush Archbishop Bagrat reached Yerevan on May 9, 2024, and at a rally asked for Prime Minister Pashinyan's resignation. The rally was followed by several rallies in Yerevan in the last two weeks, sometimes accompanied by clashes with police. READ MORE

By Vasif HUSEYNOV, PhD, Head of Department, AIR Center, Adjunct Lecturer, ADA and Khazar Universities, Baku

There is a growing consensus among some analysts that Western policies towards Russia and China have been a big disaster. Instead of preventing the creation of the Sino-Russo alliance, the West has virtually pushed Russia into the arms of China. The opposite was expected from the United States by many scholars and veteran diplomats, including Henry Kissinger. The United States will have to reach an understanding with China on a new global order to ensure stability, or the world will face a dangerous period like the one which preceded World War One, he said in 2021, two years before he passed away. Against the backdrop of the latest visit of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to China, which is reported to be the 40th meeting between the leaders of the two countries over the past 10 years, there is enough ground to argue that Washington failed to “reach an understanding with Beijing on a new global order. READ MORE

Roxila Mardonkulovna Usmanova, Doctoral Student, Institute of Family and Gender Research, Republic of Uzbekistan

Special attention is being paid to further enhancing the status of women in the new Uzbek society and ensuring their rights as a priority value. Gender equality is recognized as a social phenomenon that permeates all aspects of the life and activities of society, encompassing politics, economics, law, ideology, culture, education, and science, shaping the dynamics between women and men. In the words of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoev, "The stereotype formed in the minds of our people makes me think about many things. Traditionally, we perceive a woman first and foremost as a mother, a keeper of the family hearth. This is undoubtedly true. However, today not every woman should not be just an observer, she should be an active and proactive participant in the democratic changes taking place in the country." Therefore, it can be asserted without exaggeration that in recent years, increasing the political, social, and economic engagement of women in Uzbek society has emerged as a top priority of state policy, driven by the political will of the Uzbekistani leadership. READ MORE

The ongoing reform to enhance the democratic state governance system in New Uzbekistan is being implemented under the principle of "The state serves the people, not vice versa."

Indeed, today, social advancement is inseparable from the consolidation of the state, fostering active societal engagement, shaping positive attitudes of the state servant towards society, serving the people, ensuring individual satisfaction, promoting honesty, and establishing justice, all of which are essential in modernizing social progress. The enactment of the Law "On Public Service" represents another example of the people-oriented policy pursued by our President. READ MORE

By Yeghia TASHJIAN, Beirut-based regional analyst and researcher, columnist, "The Armenian Weekly”

On April 17, 2024, Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, at a meeting with the residents of Kirants village in the Tavush region, said that for the past 30 years, the residents have lived “in the conditions of lawlessness, and the time has come to put an end to this, to establish a rule of law” in the region. The PM added: “Our idea is for you not to say Azerbaijan is 50 meters away, but to say, wow, it is good that Azerbaijan is 50 meters away. We will trade there. We will build the economy there. Maybe we will build another checkpoint. Cars will come and go and pay the Republic of Armenia.” He later continued: “Now you can say to me: Do you 100-percent guarantee that you will do this? I will answer, I don’t guarantee 100-percent, but I know that by taking step by step, we will reach 90-percent or even more.” Azerbaijan insists that there are four bordering villages near Armenia’s Tavush and Azerbaijan’s Qazax region that must be ceded to Azerbaijan. Baku argues that these villages were taken by Armenian forces in the early 1990s.” READ MORE

By Vasif HUSEYNOV, PhD, Head of Department, AIR Center, Adjunct Lecturer, ADA and Khazar Universities, Baku

On April 5, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed support for the “Crossroads for Peace” project of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during a press conference before their meeting in Brussels. The project, which was presented to the public during the Armenian premier’s address at the Fourth Silk Road Forum in Tbilisi on October 26, 2023, envisions opening new transportation routes across Armenia with the hopes of transforming the country into a regional transit hub. The project calls for the opening of connections between Azerbaijan and Türkiye via Armenian territory and aims to incorporate these links into east-west trade along the Middle Corridor. Neither Baku nor Ankara, however, has been consulted or declared any support for the initiative. Thus, Pashinyan’s project remains “on paper,” and failure to work directly with the Azerbaijan and Turkish governments may mean the idea never comes to fruition. READ MORE

Tashkent/New York/Vienna, May 10, 2024.
On May 14 this year, the first meeting of Central Asia Regional Expert Council in Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Returnees from armed conflict zones will be held in Tashkent.


The Regional Expert Council is being established on the initiative of the President of Uzbekistan, Mr. Shavkat Mirziyoyev, put forward in March 2022 in Tashkent at the high-level conference “Regional cooperation of the countries of Central Asia under the Joint Action Plan for the implementation UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy” and supported by international partners. READ MORE

Dear participants of the forum!
Ladies and gentlemen!
At the outset, let me sincerely welcome you at the third Tashkent International Investment Forum.

I would like to note with pleasure that within the framework of this format, which is becoming a great annual tradition, new and reliable partners from all continents of the world are gathering in our country. Over the past three years, this Forum has provided a broad platform for enhancing collaboration, discussing pressing issues, and generating fruitful ideas and solutions to tackle the most urgent challenges. READ MORE

Uzbekistan, and Tashkent in particular, is becoming the venue for an important international forum that should give a practical vector to a new format of interregional cooperation based on the traditions of centuries-old exchanges between the peoples of Central Asia and the Arab States of the Gulf and today's huge potential for mutually beneficial co-operation.

The first ministerial meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council-Central Asia Strategic Dialogue was held on 7 September 2022 in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. READ MORE

By Vasif HUSEYNOV, PhD, Head of Department, AIR Center, Adjunct Lecturer, ADA and Khazar Universities, Baku

Following the recent presidential elections, Azerbaijan turned its focus to the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) and its role in connecting the Turkic world, indicating that Baku does not intend to align with the West or Russia. The expansion of defence cooperation within the OTS signifies a pivotal shift in regional dynamics, with member states increasingly prioritizing mutual security and strategic alignment as well as shaping a common foreign policy agenda. The integration of Turkish defence industry companies in other member states’ defence infrastructure underscores the benefits of OTS cooperation and how the organization is emerging as a formidable force in Eurasia.
On February 14, during his inauguration speech at parliament, the re-elected President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, outlined the country’s foreign policy priorities within the framework of regional integration projects (See EDM, February 22). He designated the Organization of the Turkic States (OTS) as the primary focus for his new term, dismissing alternative organizations without explicitly naming them (Azertag, February 14). “This is the main international organization for us because it is our family. We have no other family. Our family is the Turkic world”, he stated about the OTS. READ MORE

Karakalpakstan has a unique and rich cultural heritage. It includes ancient architectural and archaeological monuments, unique folklore, performing arts, ceremonies and customs, as well as traditional handicrafts.

The territory of Karakalpakstan is rich with architectural and archaeological monuments, most of which are defensive constructions, including a number of impressive fortresses along the borders of settlements. The majority of the earliest constructions date back to the IV century B.C., when Ancient Khorezm freed itself from the Achaemenid Empire. READ MORE

In the heart of Central Asia, Uzbekistan, a country known for its dazzling architecture and rich history, is emerging as a promising eco-tourism destination.

Eco-tourism in Uzbekistan presents an opportunity to explore the country’s natural beauty while contributing to its sustainable development. As more travelers seek out eco-friendly travel options, Uzbekistan stands as a testament to the power of eco-tourism to transform not just the landscape, but also the lives of the people who call it home. READ MORE

By Yeghia TASHJIAN, Beirut-based regional analyst and researcher, columnist, "The Armenian Weekly”

On January 10, 2024, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev gave a 2.5-hour interview with local TV channels. In his interview, Aliyev not only repeated false remarks and justified the ethnic cleansing of the Armenians of Artsakh but also threatened Armenia. When it comes to delimiting and demarcating the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, he rejected the old Soviet maps proposed by Armenia, arguing, “In the 20th century, the lands of Azerbaijan were given to Armenia in parts. One day after the establishment of the Azerbaijan People’s Republic in 1918, the ancient Azerbaijani city of Erevan was handed over to Armenia. After the Sovietization in April 1920, in November, the Soviet government took the bigger part of Western Zangezur from Azerbaijan and handed it over to Armenia. By May 1969, Azerbaijani lands were given to Armenia in parts, and from an area of about 100,000 square kilometres, it dropped to 86,600 square kilometres.” READ MORE