Perpetuating landmines has become one of the devastating non-state security threats to South Caucasus Region (SCR) especially most recently liberated Karabakh Region (KR). Unfortunately, “conspiratorial” hang-over of Armenia has “inflicted” its unmatched natural beauty with widespread network of deadly landmines, the “killing machine” for human beings.
Landmines (both antipersonnel and anti-tank mines) can be considered one of the most effective weapons. It is a known fact that mines lodged in the ground remained active even 50 years after the end of World War II and exploded when accidentally stepped on years later, causing casualties. According to UNICEF, landmines have exploded under more than 1 million people since 1975 and are currently thought to be killing 800 people a month.
Azerbaijan and Turkey intend to step up military cooperation. The government plans large increases in defence spending over the next decade, actively investing in new military technologies and advancements in order to boost the capabilities of the Armed Forces.
Baku is preparing to open a transit corridor that will link Azerbaijani territory with its Nakhichevan exclave through southern Armenia. President Ilham Aliyev recently announced the construction of a railway that will link Azerbaijan proper with Nakhichevan and ramped up the rhetoric against Armenia, which remains reluctant towards the project. Most of the Armenian public and experts consider the transit corridor to be a geopolitical threat rather than a new opportunity for enhanced connectivity. This standoff recently turned into full-fledged security crisis as Azerbaijan’s army advanced into the territory of southern Armenia in mid-May.
The understanding of the South Caucasus as a region is a relatively disputable concept. Despite their geographic proximity and common historical and cultural background, the three states of the region (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia) do not perceive themselves in the context of a regional “South Caucasian” identity and do not make any attempts to pursue regional solutions to common problems or develop any economic cooperation on a regional, rather than a bilateral level of relations.
Germany is deemed as one of Europe’s strongest democracies and the economic powerhouse, most certainly strengthened by the rule of law and respect to years of law-making and law-abiding traditions.
Yerevan said there was no point in discussing new transportation routes with Azerbaijan while there was so much tension along their border. Baku’s response was curiously muted.
Baku and Yerevan are far apart on what should be the starting point for discussions designed to lead to the delimitation and demarcation of borders between their two countries not only in the Syunik/Qarabagh sector but more generally. Baku favors using Soviet military maps while Armenia backs Russian topographic ones.
All the above-mentioned transport projects promise to speed up the economic development of Karabakh and aim to transform this war-torn area into an important regional transport hub.
France's support for Armenia suggests a bias incompatible with the former's position as a Co-Chair of the OSCE's Minsk Group says Vasif Huseynov in this opinion piece for KarabakhSpace.eu. This damages the prospect for peace and security in the South Caucasus, to the detriment of everyone, including the Armenian people.
Diplomatic arm-wrestling still continues between the sides after a 44-day war that ended with the decisive victory of Azerbaijan in the South Caucasus. After Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev’s statement that “we are ready to talk about the terms of the final peace agreement,” the parties, having mostly completed the first two stages, are discussing the terms of the third stage of post-conflict reconciliation.
The flurry of statements emanating from Yerevan and Baku in recent days shows that Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders have very different understandings of what is contained in the November and January declarations some have described as peace agreements and that the danger of renewed military conflict has not passed.
In March of 2021 Azerbaijan’s company Neqsol Holding become 100% owner of the Georgian internet provider, Caucasus Online, after the former owner of the company, Khvicha Makatsaria, transferred his 51% of shares to Nasib Hasanov.
Russia opted not to discourage the escalation of Nagorno-Karabakh smoldering conflict into a full-fledged war. There are strong signs that this was a choice of strategy. As Dumitru Minzarari explains, Moscow was seeking a major improvement in its regional standing.
It’s been more than half a year since Azerbaijan won a decisive military victory over Armenia by re-taking Azerbaijani districts occupied since the early 1990s.
During the latest round of fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which came to an end in November following a Russian-brokered ceasefire, Azerbaijan enjoyed support
Transforming Soviet administrative borders into formal international state borders is no easy task, but it is being made more difficult in the case of the Armenian-Azerbaijani one because Armenian politicians are seeking to exploit the issue to increase Russian involvement in the hopes that will allow Armenia to recover more territory.
In the beginning of this month, the Armenian National Assembly failed to elect the ruling bloc’s prime ministerial candidate. As dictated by the constitution, the parliament was dissolved. The rejected candidate, Nikol Pashinyan, deliberately resigned as prime minster to trigger the dissolution of parliament and clear the way for a snap election.
How far is President Joe Biden’s administration willing to go in a dispute in a remote, mountainous ethnic enclave? Will it become something like Barack Obama’s adventures in Syria? The American people are about to find out.
Six months have passed since Azerbaijan abruptly ended an almost 30-year war with Armenia. The final 44-day blow, dealt in an overwhelming display of pyrotechnic proportions, restored Baku’s control over seven districts occupied by Armenia since 1993-1994.
The victory of Azerbaijan in the 2020 Second Karabakh War revealed a new triangular axis in the Greater Middle East. Turkey, Israel and Azerbaijan have developed strategic partnerships over the last two decades.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, making his second visit to Baku and Yerevan this year, says that Tehran supports the territorial integrity of both Armenia and Azerbaijan and does not want to see any border changes in the region, especially along its own northern frontier.
After the tragic experience of the Second World War and Nazism, modern civilized society, realizing the seriousness and the ultimate consequences of the abovementioned approach, now avoids “humiliation and superiority” and adheres to a tolerant attitude towards so-called “others.”
Territorial disputes and border issues in the South Caucasus are the major threat to stability and security in the region. All the international borders became problematic after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It is worth especially noting the border issue between Azerbaijan and Armenia, as two states could not start the process of the delimitation and demarcation of the state border because of the Karabakh conflict.
