Kavkaz

Ever-closer cooperation with Baku has the potential to relieve the Balkan states’ worryingly high levels of energy dependence on Moscow. Azerbaijan’s President, Ilham Aliyev, visited two Balkan countries one week apart in November this year. During the first trip, to Albania, it was decided to establish an Azerbaijani diplomatic mission. …

Last week, Azerbaijani President Ilham Alliyev told the ‘Along the Middle Corridor’ Conference that “we will do everything possible to defend our way our life as well as the secular direction of the development of Azerbaijan and of Azerbaijanis, including Azerbaijanis living in Iran. They are part of our nation” …

Iran is increasingly worried over Azerbaijani and Turkish geopolitical gains in the region as calls for “Greater Azerbaijan” push a hot button in Tehran. Tensions are rising between Iran and Azerbaijan over Baku’s plans for a land connection to its exclave of Nakhchivan via Armenian territory, threatening to undermine Turkish-Iranian …

Following Azerbaijan’s victory over Armenia in the Second Karabakh War in late 2020, Iran has doubled down on its long-standing diplomatic provocations, economic warfare, and threats of military aggression against Azerbaijan. The qualitative increase in its support for Armenia against Azerbaijan manifests in each of these areas.

In the southernmost part of the Caucasus, Iran shares a 750-kilometer (km) border with Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan region, of which about 138 km (Zangilan, Jabrayil and Fuzuli) had been controlled by Armenian forces after the end of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War (1991–1994). After the Second Karabakh War in 2020, …

By linking Turkey’s normalization with Armenia to a peace settlement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Erdogan could encourage intransigence on Baku’s part. The recent meeting between the leaders of Turkey and Armenia — the first in 13 years — has rekindled the prospect of normalization between the two estranged neighbors, with …

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz traveled this week to Azerbaijan on the backdrop of growing tensions with Iran and Jerusalem’s desire to deepen strategic, security and economic ties with Baku. Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz traveled this week to Azerbaijan, where he met with President Ilham Aliyev and Defense Minister …

Since Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his partial mobilization program on September 21, officials across Russia have sought to carry out his order. This has sparked protests in more than 50 cities and fire bombings of official buildings in more than 20. Outside the two capitals (Moscow and St. Petersburg), …

As the EU talks of ‘freedom’ from Russian gas for central and eastern Europe and the Balkans, brought by increased imports from Azerbaijan, sceptics warn it comes at a cost: increased reliance on a country engaged in a conflict and with a recent history of bribery and corruption in Europe. …

Kyrgyzstan’s use of Turkish drones in a border dispute with Tajikistan leaves Turkey in a tight spot on how to balance its ties in Central Asia, a region where it has long sought to expand its influence. Turkey’s efforts to add strategic depth to its ties with Central Asia appear …