Most leaders tread a careful line to avoid conflict as Moscow tries to uphold its relevance in a vast neighbourhood.

• March 22, 2024

Two countries warn of ‘potentially devastating consequences’ if Israel pushes ahead with ground offensive in Rafah.

• March 22, 2024

The unnamed diplomat is expelled in protest against the opening of six polling stations in the breakaway region.

• March 20, 2024

The Kremlin says EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell’s proposal to use frozen Russian assets to buy weapons for Ukraine would undermine the foundations of international law.

• March 20, 2024

Beset by angry farmer protests, EU to implement ‘safeguards’ to prevent cheap imports flooding market.

• March 20, 2024

Russia says plans by US intelligence to use SpaceX to build spy satellites causes risks for space security.

• March 20, 2024

By Benyamin POGHOSYAN, PhD, Chairman, Center for Political and Economic Strategic Studies

Armenia and Turkey started a new phase of normalization at the end of 2021, appointing special representatives to draw up recommendations. From the beginning, Turkey stated that the process should be carried out without any preconditions. However, in the last two years Ankara has put forward various preconditions and failed to take steps agreed upon during negotiations.
Armenia–Turkey relations have always been a significant factor impacting regional geopolitics in the South Caucasus. In the period between the first and the second Nagorno-Karabakh wars, many viewed the normalization of Armenia–Turkey relations as having the power to help settle the conflict. Another significant factor influencing the process was the West’s perception that Armenia–Turkey normalization might enable Armenia to reduce its dependence on Russia, as “without fear of Turkey, Armenia will need Russia less. READ MORE

• March 20, 2024

By Fuad Shahbazov, Baku-based independent regional security and defence analyst

On January 28, 2024, masked assailants attacked a Roman Catholic church in Istanbul, killing one person. Shortly afterward, the Islamic State, through its official Amaq News Agency, claimed responsibility. Turkish police detained 47 people, most Central Asian nationals. The incident shed light on the growing presence in Turkey of a Central Asian offshoot of the Islamic State group known as ISIS-K for Khorasan, once a large portion of the Persian Empire now divided among Iran, Afghanistan, and Central Asian states. The January 28 assault was the group’s first successful attack in Turkey since January 1, 2017, when jihadists invaded an Istanbul nightclub, killing 39 people and wounding nearly 80.
Since then, Turkish security forces have launched mass counter-operations against ISIS suspects in Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. The operations appear to have deterred deadly terrorist attacks in large urban and border areas and to have depleted the militants’ financial resources. With the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, ISIS-K suspended overseas activities to focus more on Afghanistan and try to undermine the Taliban, which resumed control over the country after the Americans left. READ MORE

• March 20, 2024