The Turkey-Georgia-Azerbaijan tripartite format meeting held in Istanbul on June 7 proved once again that Ankara is the strategic center of the alliance. Against the background of current global shifts and the decline of Russia’s regional influence, Turkey continues to successfully capitalize on its geopolitical weight, turning traditional energy and transport megaprojects into tools for strengthening its own hegemony, making room for new projects. The Istanbul meeting showed that Ankara no longer acts as a partner, but as the main architect dictating the geo-economic and security rules of the South Caucasus, which connects the East and the West through the “Middle Corridor”.

168.amin a conversation with Russian Turkologist Viktor Nadein-Raevsky said that from the official announcements of the meeting it is once again clear that Turkey is strengthening itself in the South Caucasus as a regional leader.

He reminded the Turkish diplomatic statement that high-level tripartite cooperation not only contributes to the welfare of these countries, but is also the main guarantor of stability and peace in the South Caucasus. “Azerbaijan also responds synchronously to these statements.

The trilateral platform discussions show that Baku and Tbilisi accept Ankara’s leadership, and Turkey is successfully using this platform to give legitimacy and regional legitimacy to its own geopolitical ambitions.

The importance of this meeting for the South Caucasus should be considered in the context of the unprecedented expansion of Turkish influence. The Istanbul discourse shows that Ankara is successfully implementing the strategy of turning the region into its sphere of influence, effectively pushing out other external players. Georgia’s full involvement in Turkish initiatives proves that Tbilisi, despite its own complications with the European Union, completely ties its economic and logistical future to the projects controlled by Ankara. As a result, Turkey is significantly strengthened in the South Caucasus,” said Victor Nadein-Raevsky.

He noted that such an emphasis on the role of Turkey for the Republic of Armenia implies serious challenges.

“Using the tripartite format, Ankara is trying to draw Armenia into this configuration through Azerbaijan and Georgia, making the Turkish-Azerbaijani influence in the region irreversible. A situation is created for RA, when the Turkish factor becomes even more decisive in the Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement process. Therefore, the meeting in Istanbul was a clear signal to Yerevan that the Turkish supremacy is becoming irreversible, so it is expected that all processes towards the establishment of peace should be accelerated. Although the fate of TRIPP also depends on the situation in the Middle East,” said the analyst.

Summarizing, he mentioned that the Ankara-Tbilisi-Baku axis works as a geopolitical mechanism for deepening Turkish influence.

“This, among other Turkish mechanisms, serves Turkish purposes,” said Victor Nadein-Raevsky.

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