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Latest Articles about South Caucasus
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Armenia’s Role in Helping Russia Circumvent Sanctions
On April 12, the United States Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) placed more than 100 people and entities across over 20 countries on its sanctions list due to violations of US export controls in helping Russia with its war effort (Treasury.gov, April... MORE
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Georgia Rapidly Cozying Up to Russia and Moving Away From the West
On May 19, the first flight of a Russian airline landed in Tbilisi officially marking the resumption of air traffic between Georgia and Russia. Yet, this development has produced mixed reactions in Georgia, with Georgian society voicing their displeasure through protests (YouTube, May 19) and... MORE
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Dynamics Intensify in Armenian-Azerbaijani Peace Talks
On May 14, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met in Brussels for the fifth meeting on peace negotiations as mediated by European Council President Charles Michel (Consilium.europa.eu, May 14). This summit came on the heels of the United States–mediated meeting... MORE
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A ‘People’s Constitution’ for a ‘New Uzbekistan’?
On April 30, the citizens of Uzbekistan, in a referendum, voted in favor of modifying the country’s constitution. The reported voter turnout was quite high at 84.5 percent and resulted in an overwhelming majority (90.2 percent) in approving the proposed amendments. However, according to the... MORE
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Turkmenistan Considers Sending Natural Gas Supplies to Europe
In recent months, traditionally isolationist Turkmenistan has begun to make efforts to open up more to the outside world. As a result, intense competition has ensued among key actors, including Russia, China and the United States, for access to Turkmenistan’s transportation routes and energy resources... MORE
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Azerbaijan Establishes Border Checkpoint Along Lachin Road
On April 23, Azerbaijan’s installation of a checkpoint along the Lachin road—the so-called “Miatsum road” (“unification road”)—can be considered the most significant tactical achievement for Baku since the end of the Second Karabakh War in 2020. Overall, the purpose of this checkpoint is to grant... MORE
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Russians Keep Nearly $1 Billion in Georgian Banks
Since the end of December 2022, all clients of Georgian banks, both Georgians themselves and foreigners, have received messages with a formidable warning that, if their deposits and accounts are used to violate Western financial sanctions against Russia, these accounts will be blocked without any... MORE
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The Geopolitics of Turkey’s Upcoming Elections
On May 11, Turkish opposition candidate Muharren Ince announced that he was dropping out of the upcoming presidential elections, allegedly due to, in his words, a “smear campaign” that is “the work of the Gülenist Terror Group” (Daily Sabah, May 11). As one of four... MORE
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As Kremlin Boosts Soft Power, Will Georgia ‘Fly’ to Moscow or Brussels?
According to the decree on May 10, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that, from May 15 on, the visa regime for citizens of Georgia visiting Russia (which was introduced back in 2001 under the rule of President Eduard Shevardnadze) has been canceled (BBC News Russian,... MORE
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The Israel Factor as a ‘Third Party’ in Growing Tensions Between Iran and Azerbaijan
Israel is usually mentioned as a “third party” in the political literature of Iranian leaders and officials, especially when talking about Tel Aviv’s influence on relations between Tehran and Baku. Even so, Azerbaijan remains adamant that Israel is not using its territory for military and... MORE