Author: Arpi Talalian

On March 6, the results of the survey published by the American International Republican Institute, IRI, were published.

The survey participants answered the question “If the parliamentary elections were scheduled for next Sunday, who would you vote for?”

According to this survey conducted on February 3-13 among 1,500 citizens of Armenia, the rating of the “City Agreement” compared to the summer of 2025 was 24% in the Republic, 15% in the city of Yerevan.

The opposition is suspicious of the International Republican Institute published three months before the National Assembly elections of inquiry to the results.

Of course, we do not intend to analyze the results of the survey, especially since this requires professional training, nor to cast doubt on them, but one remarkable circumstance nevertheless attracted our attention.

Nikol Pashinyan had a meeting with Daniel Twining, president of the International Republican Institute (IRI), in Washington, about two months before the poll was conducted, and exactly one month after the date of its publication.

   

According to the meeting posted on the government website messageDuring the meeting, the course of cooperation between the RA government and the Institute, the programs implemented in Armenia, as well as further joint steps aimed at deepening democratic reforms were discussed. Pashinyan highly appreciated the support of the International Republican Institute and emphasized the importance of developing the capacity of public communication, considering it as the basis of open and transparent governance.

Such a coincidence.

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On February 28, the US and Israel launched a large-scale operation against Iran, which has not reached its end. In such cases, it is sometimes worth looking back at some episodes, in this case, what events preceded the attack on Iran, which is related to Azerbaijan, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, etc.

And so.

Նախ՝ On October 22, 2025 Special Forces of the Azerbaijani Army and Special Operations Command of the Presidential Guard of the United Arab Emirates in Baku “Unwavering Partnership-2025” were military exercises spent Moreover, they were in an environment consistent with real combat conditions, during which armored vehicles, army aviation, and unmanned aerial vehicles were used. Moreover, the units performed various combat tasks: fire preparation, landing, sniper shooting, destruction of the enemy’s object, “clearing” the settlement from the enemy.

By the way, considering the closing ceremony of the military exercise the staff it can be assumed that the unit of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Azerbaijan (“Yarasa”) also took part in this military exercise.

It should be noted that there are reports in Azerbaijani sources that during the 44-day military operations, the personnel of “Yarasa” acted in the rear of the Armenian army and took part in the capture of settlements, particularly in the Kubatli (Orotan) area, so they participated for the first time in the Azerbaijani military parade on December 10, 2020.

Already On February 3, 2026 Azerbaijan President Aliyev and UAE President Sheikh Muhammad bin Zayed Al Nahya in Abu Dhabi were followed “Peace Shield-2026” joint operational-tactical exercises of the armed forces of the two countries.

And during the military exercises, which, by the way, were held in residential conditions or areas, in mountainous terrain and in the marine environment, the units performed the following tasks: detection and neutralization of illegal armed groups, restoration of control over the captured ship, neutralization of terrorist elements and release of hostages, evacuation of the wounded, prevention of disturbances and sabotage threatening public safety in the populated area, as well as implementation of anti-incendiary measures.

It was stated that the purpose of this military measure is to contribute to the establishment of stable peace.

And before that, Aliyev and Nahya discussed issues related to cooperation in the economic and defense spheres. In other words, Baku tried military-technical with the UAE cooperation to give a new quality, especially when the UAE is perceived as a sufficiently developed technological sector in the field of defense and military industry, Azerbaijan is also trying to develop its own military industrial potential.

At the same time, with the participation of the presidents of Azerbaijan and UAE was signed a document related to the sale of a certain part of the non-controlling stake in the “Southern Gas Corridor” by the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan to XRG, the investment division of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. This is related to Azerbaijan. By the way, earlier reported that days before the US-Israeli attack against Iran, instructions were given to the air defense forces of Azerbaijan. What about Turkey?

On February 3 President Erdoğan went to Saudi Arabia, in which a number of arrangements had been made.

In particular, the Turkish side emphasized the leading role of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in strengthening the reliability and stability of the global oil markets. The parties then agreed to strengthen cooperation in the supply of oil, petroleum products and petrochemicals. In addition to this, the parties also reached agreements of strategic significance in the energy sector.

And? on February 14 Turkish media had reported that Turkish President Erdogan February 17-18 will visit the UAE and Ethiopia.

later on February 16th, info It was reported that Erdoğan’s visit to the UAE was canceled due to the health problems of the President of the UAE, Sheikh Muhammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and instead, the communication took place over the phone.

On February 19 CBS News, citing its sources, had reported, that the USA intends to strike Iran on February 21, Israel was also preparing for this date.  Axioseven wrote that the military operation will be large-scale. But the attack against Iran started a few days after the specified date, which was not only determined by negotiations, but also by updated intelligence.

By the way, back in February, Turkey and Qatar were trying to prevent The attacks on Iran considered possible at that time, which did not succeed.

And today, when the Iran-US-Israel military conflict is at a fever pitch, the leadership of Turkey, particularly the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hakan Fidan, declares that the attacks on Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain endanger the lives of innocent citizens and increase the probability of the spread of war.

In other words, according to him, Iran’s attacks against a third country are very wrong, because such actions to some extent also contribute to Israel’s expansionism, which is currently unfolding in this region. And it’s no wonder that Iran regularly reports that US bases and Israeli military facilities are their targets. Of course there are “diversions”, but the main goal is to target the US and Israel and those who help them. So, Turkey should be able to “hold the hand” of the USA, which considers Israel’s interests as a priority, which conflicts with Turkish interests.

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