From June 14-17, 2023, I had the opportunity to participate in a program organized by the “Friends for Leadership” at the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum. Thousands of delegates, primarily from Latin America, Africa and Asia, attended the forum alongside heads of state,
Second round ballot, May 28, 2023 Turkish presidential election (Kadı Kadı via Wikimedia Commons) On May 28, 2023, Recep Tayyip Erdogan won the second presidential run-off against opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu. On his re-election day, President Erdogan congratulated not only the Turkish people
Political relations between Azerbaijan and Iran are deteriorating amid signs of closer security and diplomatic cooperation between Baku and Tel Aviv. Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen’s comments to reporters in Jerusalem on March 29 about his “agreement” with his Azerbaijani counterpart to form
The International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a 7,200 kilometer model of ship network, rail and road project, was initiated in 2000 by Russia, Iran and India to facilitate trade between India, Russia and Europe. Azerbaijan, Armenia and other countries joined the initiative in
As Russia and Western powers seek to compete in the South Caucasus, many analysts neglect the role of Iran in the region. After the 2020 war and the signing of the November 9 trilateral statement, Iran realized that its geo-economic and geopolitical interests
Background of Religious Persecution in Azerbaijan Despite being a Shia Muslim majority country, the ruling regime of Ilham Aliyev regularly and aggressively enforces secularism on the population of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijanis are forbidden to study in foreign Shia seminaries (hawza). Women are discouraged and
A group of Azerbaijanis in civilian clothes shut down the Stepanakert-Goris highway on the morning of December 12 (Photo: NKR InfoCenter) On December 12, under the pretext of environmentalism, dozens of Azerbaijani state-backed “eco-activists” blocked the only land corridor in the Stepanakert-Shushi section
Yeghia Tashjian at the II International Expert Forum “Russia-Middle East” organized by the Primakov Center for International Cooperation at the Pyatigorsk State University, Russia, November 7-10, 2022 Over the past few weeks, I participated in multiple international and regional workshops and conferences in
A survey was recently conducted by the Tehran International Studies and Research Institute (TISRI) to study international security priorities and Iran’s foreign policy. The survey was conducted among 384 academic scholars in different Iranian universities (Tehran, Allameh Tabataba’i, Tabriz, Guilan, Shiraz and Razi of Kermanshah)
On September 13, a new aggravation manifested itself between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The parties, traditionally accusing each other of provocations, reduced the situation to the use of weapons in the border areas. Official Baku accused the Armenian military of shelling the positions of