
Latest Articles about Azerbaijan

Is Russia Cultivating ‘Symmetric Separatism’ in Karabakh?
Moscow’s mistrust of the Armenian government headed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan dates all the way back to his rise to power last year in the so-called “Velvet Revolution.” And that mistrust has persisted despite Pashinyan’s various foreign policy gambits designed to win Russia’s confidence... MORE

Azerbaijan and China Sign $800 Million Economic Package: The Geo-Economic Implications
Azerbaijan’s participation in the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, which took place in Beijing, on April 25–28, proved successful for Baku, having resulted in a number of important new, non-oil-sector investment projects in the South Caucasus country. Specifically, during the Forum, Azerbaijani... MORE

Russia’s Caspian Flotilla Gains an Air Arm
Until the Russian Federation launched a barrage of cruise missiles against Syria from ships in the Caspian Sea in October 2015 (see EDM, October 26, 2015), few people in the West devoted much attention to Russia’s Caspian Flotilla, viewing it, if at all, as a... MORE

EU, Azerbaijan Struggling to Convert Partnership Priorities Into Agreement
A long-awaited European Union–Azerbaijani strategic partnership agreement was not signed on May 13–14, at the Eastern Partnership’s (EaP) tenth anniversary summit, despite all the optimism and expectations that had been voiced earlier. The two sides signed a document listing four priority areas for partnership on... MORE

Russia Eyes Joining BTK Railway Across South Caucasus
Representatives of Turkish, Azerbaijani and Russian railways inked a cooperation memorandum on May 6, 2019, in Ankara, to leverage the potential of the Baku–Tbilisi–Kars (BTK) railway and increase the volume of freight carried along the route (Azertag.az, May 6). “The tripartite cooperation will boost the... MORE

Azerbaijan and NATO Mark 25 Years of Partnership
On May 4, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a press release to mark the 25th anniversary of the country’s partnership with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), calling it “one of the important directions” of the Azerbaijan’s “foreign and security policy” (Mfa.gov.az, May... MORE

Ancient Christian Site Straddling Azerbaijani-Georgian Border Highlights Problems Linked to Incomplete Delimitation of Shared Frontier
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the administrative borders between the 15 constituent Soviet Socialist Republics became internationally recognized state borders. Yet, even during Soviet times, some of those administrative borders were, in places, fuzzy and uncertain—a problem inherited by many of the newly... MORE

Rationalizing the Tonoyan Doctrine: Armenia’s Active Deterrence Strategy
Even as Armenia and Azerbaijan have intensified their diplomatic contacts over the future status of the latter’s breakaway Karabakh region (see EDM, February 13, March 4, April 1), both rivals concurrently continue to consolidate their military capabilities, considering an escalation in tensions almost inevitable. Both... MORE

Azerbaijan Eyes More Cooperation With China Within Belt and Road Initiative
On April 24, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in China to attend the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (Report.az, April 24). This was Aliyev’s second official visit to the world’s most populous country, since 2015. In light of growing Chinese involvement in... MORE

Azerbaijan and the EU Prepare to Finalize a New Partnership Agreement
On April 4, during a meeting, in Brussels, of the European Union–Azerbaijan Cooperation Council, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov emphasized that the two sides “are very close” to reaching a new partnership agreement, with over 90 percent of the issues in question already decided. The... MORE