Zaur Shiriyev
Zaur Shiriyev is an Academy Associate at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) in London. He was a senior research fellow at ADA University, Baku, where he worked until May 2015. Prior to joining ADA, he worked as leading research fellow at the Center for Strategic Studies (2009-14), the Turkish Asian Center for Strategic Studies, in Istanbul, and the International Strategic Research Organization, based in Ankara. He is currently a contributing analyst for The Jamestown Foundation’s Eurasia Daily Monitor and has previous editorial and journalistic experience in Azerbaijan and Turkey. Zaur has published numerous articles and commentaries and co-edited The Geopolitical Scene of the Caucasus: A Decade of Perspectives (Istanbul, 2013) and Azerbaijan and the New Energy Geopolitics of Southeastern Europe (Washington, DC, 2015).
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Articles by Zaur Shiriyev
Will the North–South Transport Corridor Overshadow the Baku–Tbilisi–Kars Railway?
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s official visit to Iran in early March 2017—his third in three years—was scheduled to include the testing of a section of a new railway along the
Strategic Assessment: Security Concerns Dominate South Caucasus, While Regional Governments Consolidate Power
The following political landscape piece is a part of Eurasia Daily Monitor’s special quarterly series of strategic assessments of developments across Eurasia. These pieces examine recent important developments and trends
Azerbaijan’s Possible Reactions to Armenia’s Iskanders: Defense Versus Offense
In recent weeks, Armenia has been showing off the sophisticated new weapons it acquired via a $200 million credit line extended by Russia. And most notably, on September 21, during
Turkey’s Failed Coup: Motivations and Implications
The attempted coup by factions of the Turkish military calling themselves the “Turkish Peace Council” backfired and failed in less than 24 hours. Friday’s abortive takeover bid was led by
A Change in Turkish-Russian Relations: What Sort of Rapprochement?
The end of the six-year diplomatic stalemate between Israel and Turkey, announced on June 27 (Hurriyet Daily News, June 28), also heralded a shift on another front. Seven months after
Azerbaijan’s War of Attrition: A New Strategy to Resolve the Karabakh Conflict?
The escalation of tensions between Armenian and Azerbaijani armed forces along the line of contact (LOC) saw the outbreak of a five-day exchange of fire, the bloodiest since the 1994
The Economic and Geopolitical Implications of Iran and Azerbaijan’s Recent Engagement
On February 23, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev visited Tehran, where he met with his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani. Notably, the two presidents signed 11 memoranda of understanding (MoU) across several
Protests in Azerbaijan: A Political and Economic Watershed
Following the devaluation of Azerbaijan’s national currency, the manat, in December 2015—the second in a year—the public has struggled to understand how this policy will affect their daily lives. The
Azerbaijan: Trapped Between Two Fault Lines
The deterioration of Turkey-Russia ties on the one hand and Iran–Saudi Arabia relations on the other have been a major source of worry for the Azerbaijani authorities over the past
Russia’s Syria Intervention and the Implications for the South Caucasus
The wider South Caucasus region is conspicuously located between the battlefields of Syria and the Caspian Sea. Therefore, Russia’s use of cruise missiles, launched (on October 7) by ships belonging
Russia’s Syrian Intervention and the Implications for Turkey
Russia’s military intervention in Syria, which on several occasions violated Turkish airspace during airstrikes allegedly targeting the Islamic State (IS), has inflamed tensions between Moscow and Ankara. The main controversy
The Logic of Lavrov’s Baku Visit
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s visit to Baku, on September 1, followed just a few days later by Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan’s official visit to Moscow, have fueled ongoing speculation
Emergence of a Russian ‘Fifth Column’ and Propaganda Machine Inside Azerbaijan
The recent intensification of high-level exchanges between the governments of Azerbaijan and Russia—most recently exemplified by the visits of the Azerbaijani foreign and defense ministers to Moscow (TASS, July 17;
Threats to Georgian Pipeline Security: What is Moscow’s Game?
Russia’s latest incursions from the breakaway Georgian territory of South Ossetia into adjacent territory heretofore controlled by Georgia have given rise to renewed security concerns for Georgia’s strategic East-West Highway
Fallout From Greece’s Financial Crisis May Negatively Impact Azerbaijan’s European Energy Strategy
The Greek government’s wide-ranging efforts to prevent the country’s financial collapse finally culminated in an agreement with the European Union, on July 13 (see EDM, July 14). The bailout deal
The Protests and Energy Interdependence in Armenia: View From Baku
The protests in Yerevan against rising electricity prices have sparked a debate over the motives, expectations, and impact of this public outcry (see EDM, June 27). Energy shortfalls and crises
The Turkish Election and Responses in the South Caucasus
The general election in Turkey on June 7 has radically changed the country’s political landscape. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has lost its absolute majority, winning only 258
Taking Stock: Implications of the Riga Summit for the South Caucasus
Prior to its start, the European Union’s May 21–22 Eastern Partnership (EaP) summit in Riga was widely anticipated, given that the previous summit in Vilnius had been overshadowed by the
Reaching out to the Balkans: Expansion of Azerbaijan’s Defense Cooperation?
The March 10–14 visit by Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov to Croatia and Slovenia attracted little attention in the local media. However, various background developments in the wake of these
Turkmenistan, Turkey and Azerbaijan: A Trilateral Energy Strategy?
Following the recent (March 4) visit to Ankara by his counterpart from Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a trilateral mechanism on energy issues between Turkey, Turkmenistan
Flash Skirmishes in Nagorno-Karabakh: Triggers and Prospects
Between July 30 and August 4, flash skirmishes erupted along the Armenia-Azerbaijan contact line. While small-scale ceasefire violations have been relatively common, the recent events caused the highest casualty rates
Russian Aggression Prevention Act of 2014: Ramifications for the South Caucasus
With the implementation of new Western sanctions against Russia as a result of the continued instability in eastern Ukraine, the other post-Soviet countries are closely monitoring foreign policy developments inside
US-Iran Rapprochement and the Immediate Consequences for Azerbaijan
The interim agreement, concluded on November 24 with Iran and six world powers led by the United States, will see Tehran cap its nuclear program at a reduced capacity in
The Puzzle of Regional Tensions: Media Perceptions of Turkish-Azerbaijani Joint Military Exercises
The militaries of Turkey and Azerbaijan carried out joint exercises between July 12 and 28, in the latter country’s capital of Baku and its autonomous exclave of Nakhchivan (Hurriyet Daily