As Azerbaijan is regaining control over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, with Armenia refusing to engage in another war with its neighbor, and Russia limiting itself to the role of a bystander, many questions arise regarding the future patterns of relations among the countries of the South Caucasus as well as external power players. It is hard to predict yet, but it is obvious that the end of the multi-decade dispute over Karabakh significantly strengthens Azerbaijan’s and Turkey’s positions in the region and on the contrary, weakens Russia’s influence. One should not forget about Iran. While the Islamic Republic of Iran’s leadership reconfirmed that Karabakh is Azerbaijan, it is of great interest how Iran adapts its strategy towards the South Caucasus region to new realities. Naturally, there is an expectation that the relationship between Armenia and Turkey could normalize in the foreseeable future. Armenian Officials have put the blame on Russia claiming that it did not fulfil its obligations to protect Armenia. The latest steps and statements by Armenia give us ground to speculate, whether Armenia changes its foreign policy orientation and ends its alliance with Russia and membership in the CSTO. Last but definitely not least, a lot depends on whether Pashinyan’s government survives popular protests or not.
These are the issues to be addressed during the webinar by experts from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Iran, and Turkey.
Speakers:
Sine Ozkarasahin, Lead Security Analyst of EDAM’s Defense Research team (Centre for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies) – Turkey
Benyamin Poghosyan, Senior Fellow on Foreign Policy at APRI Armenia, Chairman at the Center for Political and Economic Strategic Studies – Armenia
Farid Shafiyev, Chairman at Center of Analysis of International Relations – Azerbaijan
Kayhan Barzegar, Director of the Center for Middle East Strategic Studies (CMESS) – Iran
Arkady Dubnov, Political Analyst and Expert on Central Asia, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace – Russia
Moderator: Alex Petriashvili, Senior Fellow at GFSIS – Georgia
Working Language: English
