The Caucasus: A Region in the Shadow of the Tensions of the Middle East
Hasan Selim Ozertem
Thursday, 3 January 2013
The countries of the Caucasus have been critically important in
Turkish foreign policy since 1991.
The basic reasons why the Caucasus has to be followed closely by
Ankara include the frozen conflicts in Nagorno-Karabakh and Abkhazia
and the fact that the north Caucasus is a trouble spot for Russia
while the region itself is a transit point onto the Caspian Basin.
Overall, 2012 was a year in which the existing dynamics of the region
did not change greatly. In the northern Caucasus, relative stability
was achieved as the government of Ramzan Kadyrov worked to bring it
under control but increased the number of attacks on security forces
in Dagestan and Ingushetia, which is a source of anxiety for the
coming year. In particular the attacks undermine Russian policies
aimed at preserving the status quo in the southern Caucasus and
suggest that a different approach will be required in the coming
period.
Bearing in mind that five of the 10 most backward regions in the
Russian Federation are located here, the need for Moscow to strengthen
its regional development and integration-based policies emerges even
more strongly. A close study of Moscow’s policies shows that the
dispute centers on not so much the internal dynamics and problems of
the regions in the country but rather its general political situation.
In Russia, where Vladimir Putin has once more been elected president,
the debate over the nature of the regime has quickened. However,
within this process, affairs in the south Caucasus can be said to head
the list of developments to which Moscow pays close attention. Turkey,
which has recently been attempting to design more pipeline projects in
the region, is thus also closely concerned with events in the
Caucasus.
The Nagorno-Karabakh Dispute in the south Caucasus
Although Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a cease-fire agreement in 1994,
no one would claim that there has yet been a final settlement in the
region. The dispute has the effect of isolating Armenia from many
projects, but for both sides the existing paradigm in the arms race
seems to have changed this year. Azerbaijan plans to spend $1.9
billion on weapons in 2013, while Armenia has increased its defense
budget for 2013 by about 15 percent above that of the previous year to
$450 million.
The real problem is not increasing expenditure, but rather the $1.6
billion agreement which Azerbaijan signed with Israel during 2012. The
sale of unmanned drones and air defense systems agreed on between them
has created unease, not just in Yerevan, but also in Teheran. Iran has
complained vehemently about its suspicions that the Israeli drones,
which have begun flights in the region, could be collecting
intelligence along its borders. Speaking to Foreign Policy magazine an
unnamed American official comments that the rapprochement has opened a
new page in the story of Iranian-Israeli tension and that he has
received news that Israel has been given an air base in Azerbaijan and
that these reports are also mentioned by Israeli sources. No matter
how many Azerbaijani officials have subsequently denied these reports,
the arms race in the region is accelerating because of the lack of a
settlement in Karabakh and one can say that new dynamics have emerged
as far as the parameters of regional security are concerned.
Armenia’s search for a route to Russia via Abkhazia
While Azerbaijan has been trying to change the rules of the game by
involving Israel, Armenia hopes to be able to break the policies of
continuing to isolate it via Abkhazia. After the Georgian presidential
elections, Bidzina Ivanishvili took over the presidency from Mikheil
Saakashvili, an event which returned the question of reopening the
currently idle railway line between Abkhazia and Georgia to the
agenda. Yerevan was also partially cut off economically from Russia
after the Russian-Georgian war of 2008 because the Lars border
crossing ceased to operate fully. The prospect of the reopening of the
Abkhazia-Georgia rail connection is thus causing some excitement in
Armenia. As the line could easily transport products from heavy
industries, it is being closely monitored in Armenia. Yerevan aims to
speed up the logistical time for consigning goods to and from Russia
by using the railway lines in Georgia. It also estimates that its
costs will fall as a result.
Baku is rather uncomfortable about this prospect and has warned
Tbilisi of the possibility that an unwelcome process could emerge
regarding Azerbaijan’s relations with Abkhazia. For the Armenian head
of state, President Serzh Sarksyan, who is expected to run for
re-election in 2013, it signals a very important development. His
party managed to garner more votes in the 2012 general elections than
in 2007, so the possibility of opening a corridor to Russia, which
might make Armenian economically more comfortable, might strengthen
Sarksyan’s position further still.
Add the fact that Azerbaijan is also due to have presidential
elections in October 2013, and the probability increases that
nationalist rhetoric will strengthen in the Caucasus this year and
that there will be a hot summer in Nagorno-Karabakh. President Haydar
Aliyev is due to complete his second term in office and whether he
will run as a candidate for the third time is a key question for
Azerbaijan. To date there has been no very definite pronouncement on
this issue from Aliyev but a major surprise is not expected.
Seen from Turkey’s standpoint, the departure of former President
Saakashvili will make it more important to maintain the current state
of relations with Georgia during 2013. This also being the transit
route for lines coming from Azerbaijan, it is — in the words of the
Caucasian Strategic Researches Centre’s director, Hasan Oktay — our
third doorway to the east, after Iran and Armenia. The fact that it
seem to be quite impossible to overcome the ongoing political crisis
with Armenia limits Turkey’s options in this regard. At the same time,
2013 must also be a year in which work on the Trans Anatolian Natural
Gas Pipeline (TANAP) project accelerates. It is due to begin with the
construction of the Azerbaijan section.
The agreement has been ratified by the Azerbaijani National Assembly
and negotiations are currently under way over the foreign stakes in
the project. Assuming that they become clear and the first
groundbreaking takes place in 2013, TANAP is due to be completed and
start operations in 2018. So, taking all these developments into
account, with two important elections and a mega project coming up,
the Caucasus is set to become one of the main focuses of Turkish
foreign policy.
From: A. Papazian