Friday, March 3, 2023
Baku Accused Of Ignoring UN Court Order On Karabakh Corridor
Nagorno-Karabakh - Customers visit an almost empty food store in Stepanakert,
January 7, 2023.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Friday urged the international community to
press Azerbaijan to comply with a UN court order to reopen the sole road
connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia.
In a “provisional measure” requested by Yerevan, the International Court of
Justice (ICJ) acknowledged on February 22 that the land link was “disrupted” by
Azerbaijani protesters more than two months ago. It said Baku should “take all
measures at its disposal to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and
cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions.”
The Azerbaijani government afterwards stood by its claims that traffic through
the lifeline road was never blocked.
“Unfortunately, despite the decision made by the International Court of Justice,
Azerbaijan has still not reopened the Lachin corridor,” Pashinian told members
of the German parliament’s foreign relations committee during a visit to Berlin.
“I think that this is a situation that needs to be discussed at the
international level because it is unacceptable to leave the decision of the ICJ
without reaction amid the continuing humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh,”
he said. “An international response is imperative.”
On Thursday, the Vienna-based Permanent Council of the Organization Security and
Cooperation in Europe discussed the matter at a meeting initiated by Armenia.
Armen Papikian, the Armenian ambassador to the OSCE, accused Baku of showing
“contempt” for the ICJ order.
Papikian’s U.S. opposite number, Michael Carpenter, welcomed the order and
reiterated Washington’s calls for the lifting of the Azerbaijani blockade.
“Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken raised this in his engagement with Prime
Minister Pashinian and with President Aliyev in Munich on February 18,”
Carpenter said during the Permanent Council meeting. “The Secretary underscored
the need for free and open commercial and private transit through the Lachin
Corridor, and we reiterate that today.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has also called on Azerbaijan to comply
with the UN court’s decision.
Russian Group To Build Two Power Plants In Armenia
Armenia - Russian-Armenian businessman Samvel Karapetian inaugurates an energy
lab at the National Polytechnic University in Yerevan, 5Jun2017.
A Russian business conglomerate owned by Armenian-born billionaire Samvel
Karapetian announced on Friday plans to invest at least $150 million in the
construction of two thermal power plants in Armenia.
In a statement, Karapetian’s Tashir Group said one of those gas-fired plants
will be built near Noyemberian, a small town close to the Armenian-Georgian
border.
The 126-megawatt facility will generate electricity not only for Armenia but
also Georgia, it said, adding that Tashir will upgrade dozens of kilometers of
high-voltage transmission lines in both countries for that purpose.
“Work on the thermal power plant will start this year and last for about two
years,” said the statement.
It said the other, much smaller plant will be built in the central Armenian town
of Hrazdan by the end of 2024.
Both facilities will be equipped with German turbines that will “reduce
emissions into the atmosphere and minimize the impact on the environment,”
according to Tashir.
Karapetian’s group headquartered in Moscow already owns Armenia’s largest
thermal power plant also located in Hrazdan. The obsolete plant has been
reportedly decommissioned in recent years.
Armenia’s electricity distribution network and second most important
hydroelectric complex are also owned by Tashir. Speaking at a Russian-Armenian
business held in Yerevan in 2021, Karapetian pledged to invest up to $600
million in the Armenian energy sector in the coming years.
Karapetian, 57, was born and raised in Armenia. He moved to Russia in the early
1990s, making a huge fortune there in the next two decades.
His Russian conglomerate comprises over a hundred firms engaged in construction,
manufacturing, retail trade and other services. With total assets estimated by
the Forbes magazine at $3.8 billion, Karapetian is apparently the richest ethnic
Armenian in the world.
Karabakh Lauds Germany’s Scholz
• Karlen Aslanian
• Gayane Saribekian
Nagorno-Karabakh - Thousands rally in Stepanakert to protest Azerbaijan's
blockade of Karabakh's only land link to Armenia, December 25, 2022.
Nagorno-Karabakh’s leadership on Friday praised German Chancellor Olaf Scholz
for advocating an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace deal that would respect the
Karabakh Armenians’ right to self-determination.
Scholz called for a “peaceful settlement based on the territorial integrity of
Armenia and Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh citizens’ right to
self-determination” after holding talks with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on
Thursday.
“These principles are equally applicable,” he told a joint news conference in
Berlin.
“We welcome Olaf Scholz’s statement that the conflict should be settled
peacefully on the basis of equal principles of [territorial] integrity & right
to self-determination of the Nagorno-Karabakh people,” tweeted Arayik
Harutiunian, the Karabakh president. “Settlement is impossible without fully
considering our fundamental/collective rights.”
Peace plans jointly drafted by the United States, Russia and France prior to the
2020 Armenian-Azerbaijani war upheld the Karabakh Armenians’ right to
self-determination, which would be exercised through a referendum.
Successive Armenian governments for decades championed that principle in peace
talks with Azerbaijan. Pashinian effectively stopped doing that a year ago. He
and other senior Armenian officials have since spoken instead of the need to
protect “the rights and security of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh.”
Germany - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian shake hands during a news conference in Berlin, Mar 2, 2023.
Pashinian repeated that phrase and did not comment on Scholz’s remark when he
addressed the German Council on Foreign Relations, a Berlin-based think-tank,
after his talks with the chancellor. He again called for an “international
mechanism” for discussions between Baku and Stepanakert but shed little light on
that negotiating format sought by Yerevan.
At the same time, Pashinian deplored the “growing aggressiveness of Azerbaijan
towards Nagorno-Karabakh.” He accused Baku of seeking to subject Karabakh’s
population to “ethnic cleansing,” citing the Azerbaijani blockade of the Lachin
corridor connecting the region to Armenia.
Karabakh’s leaders and main political groups have repeatedly criticized
Pashinian over the past year. They were mostly recently irked by his January 10
claim that the international community has always regarded Karabakh as an
integral part of Azerbaijan and that the Armenian government must only deal with
Armenia’s problems.
Pashinian’s political opponents in Armenia have been even more critical,
accusing him of planning to recognize Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh. The
Armenian opposition staged daily street protests in Yerevan for several
consecutive weeks after the prime minister signaled in April 2022 his readiness
to “lower the bar” on Karabakh’s future status.
Russian, Armenian FMs Meet In India
India - Foreign Ministers Sergei Lavrov of Russia and Ararat Mirzoyan of Armenia
meet in New Delhi, March 3, 2023.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called for a quicker implementation of
Armenian-Azerbaijani agreements brokered by Moscow during talks with his
Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan held in India on Friday.
The two ministers met in New Delhi on the sidelines of a conference on
international security attended by many foreign leaders.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said they discussed Russian-Armenian relations as
well as “regional issues” and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in particular. It
said Lavrov stressed the importance of “intensifying efforts on all tracks of
the Armenian-Azerbaijani normalization in accordance with the agreements between
the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.”
The Armenian Foreign Ministry likewise reported that Lavrov and Mirzoyan
reviewed progress towards the normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations,
the restoration of transport links between the two South Caucasus states and the
demarcation of their long border. Azerbaijan’s continuing blockade of the sole
road connecting Karabakh to Armenia was also on the agenda, it said in a
statement.
The Russian readout of the talks made no mention of the blockade. Russia has
repeatedly called for its lifting as have the United States and other Western
powers.
Visiting Baku earlier this week, Lavrov also indicated Moscow’s opposition to
Azerbaijan’s desire to set up a checkpoint at the Lachin corridor. He said this
would run counter to the 2020 ceasefire agreement that placed the corridor under
the control of Russian peacekeepers.
Azerbaijan -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Azerbaijani
counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov hold a joint press conference in Baku, February 28,
2023.
Speaking after talks with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, Lavrov
also reaffirmed his readiness to host talks between his Armenian and Azerbaijani
counterparts. He noted that Yerevan “has not yet given its final consent.”
The three ministers were scheduled to meet in Moscow in late December. The
Armenian side cancelled the meeting in protest against the Azerbaijani blockade.
Moscow criticized the move.
Russian-Armenian relations have soured in recent months because of what Yerevan
sees as Russia’s reluctance to support its main regional ally locked in the
protracted conflict with Azerbaijan. Armenian leaders have also accused the
Russians of doing little to unblock the Lachin corridor.
Russian officials have strongly denied that. They have chided Yerevan for asking
the European Union to send monitors to Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has claimed that the EU’s monitoring mission
launched last month is part of the West’s efforts of squeeze Russia out of the
South Caucasus and use the Karabakh conflict in the standoff over Ukraine.
The ministry said that Lavrov’s latest meeting with Mirzoyan took place “in a
friendly and trusting atmosphere.”
While in New Delhi, the Armenian minister also met with the EU’s foreign and
security policy chief, Josep Borrell. His press office said both men praised the
recent deployment of some 100 EU monitors to Armenian border areas.
The EU’s top official, Charles Michel, is now understood to be trying to host a
fresh Armenian-Azerbaijani summit in Brussels.
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2023 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
Author: Emil Lazarian
“I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS
US says Uzbekistan and Armenia used to evade Russian sanctions
Uzbekistan – March 3 2023
AKIPRESS.COM – The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC), and the Department of Justice issued a joint compliance note on the use of third-party intermediaries or transshipment points to evade Russian- and Belarussian-related sanctions and export controls.
The compliance note highlights one of the most common tactics used to evade Russia-related sanctions and export controls: the use of third-party intermediaries or transshipment points to circumvent restrictions.
Routing purchases through certain transshipment points commonly used to illegally redirect restricted items to Russia or Belarus. Such locations may include China (including Hong Kong and Macau ) and jurisdictions close to Russia, including Armenia, Turkey, and Uzbekistan.
https://akipress.com/news:696406:US_says_Uzbekistan_and_Armenia_used_to_evade_Russian_sanctions/
Sports: Armenia star Eduard Spertsyan told he’d fit in at Guardiola’s Manchester City
HITC
March 3 2023
Krasnodar forward Eduard Spertsyan would fit in under Pep Guardiola at Premier League giants Manchester City, CSKA Moscow’s youth coach Mkhitar Davidyan tells MetaRatings.
A quick glance at the Armenian’s numbers highlight a footballer ready for the next step. A footballer outgrowing the relatively small pond that is Russia’s top flight.
Spertsyan, in 16 Russian Premier League games this season, has nine goals (11 in all competitions) and six assists from his attacking midfield role. Form that had some suggesting he could replace Cody Gakpo at PSV Eindhoven.
The 26-year-old has even been linked with Real Madrid.
And, while accepting that La Liga is probably the most feasible destination for a player of his technical talents, Davidyan believes that Spertsyan would not look out of place alongside Kevin de Bruyne, Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez at the Etihad Stadium either.
“I think that PSV is not the last club to pay attention to him. With the help of Krasnodar, Eduard will be able to prove himself and show all his talent,” Davidyan says.
“The top clubs in La Liga are the most suitable (for him). Eduard is a very creative and smart football player. I think the Spanish league is what he needs.
“Even if we take England, then, in my opinion, Spertsyan would not be lost with Guardiola at Manchester City. Because Pep promotes the kind of football that is close to Eduard in terms of his style of play and intellect.”
Spertsyan recently claimed Armenia’s Player of the Year award for 2022; winning the gong ahead of Inter Milan’s former Arsenal, Roma, Borussia Dortmund and Shakhtar Donetsk forward Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
“I repeat, in terms of Spertsyan’s potential and style of play, Spain is the best option for him,” Davidyan adds. “Even just being at such clubs and training with such players, you are progressing.”
https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2023/03/03/armenia-star-eduard-spertsyan-told-hed-fit-in-at-guardiolas-manchester-city/
Government greenlights construction of $190,000,000 ski resort on Mount Aragats
12:32, 2 March 2023
YEREVAN, MARCH 2, ARMENPRESS. A new ski resort and eco-agricultural complex is expected to be built on the slopes of Mount Aragats after the government approved the 190,000,000 USD investment project during the March 2 Cabinet meeting.
The ski resort and eco-agricultural complex covering 4,400 ha of land will feature a new village with 300 mini-farms and guest houses. A new reservoir with a capacity of 3 million cubic meters is also planned to be built in order to ensure water supply for the village. The ski resort will have 5 ropeway lines, a 30km piste and hotels.
Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan said the investment project will be implemented by Rid LLC.
Artsakh president announces Ruben Vardanyan’s replacement as state minister
President Harutyunyan introduces the newly-appointed State Minister of the Artsakh Republic Gurgen Nersisyan
Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan has announced that Prosecutor General Gurgen Nersisyan will replace Ruben Vardanyan as State Minister.
Harutyunyan announced Vardanyan’s removal in a televised address on February 23.
“I am grateful to Mr. Vardanyan for the fact that, in both friendship and professional relations, he always tried to share responsibilities with me to the maximum extent and did not try to put [pressure] on me by citing constitutional norms,” Harutyunyan said.
In the week following Vardanyan’s dismissal, official representatives from Artsakh and Azerbaijan held two meetings. The meetings, held on February 25 and March 1, were the first since the start of Azerbaijan’s blockade of Artsakh.
On March 1, Lusine Avanesyan, spokesperson for the Artsakh president, said that the representatives discussed “humanitarian and infrastructural issues.” Specifically, they addressed the restoration of movement along the Lachin Corridor and electricity and gas supply from Armenia to Artsakh.
The Azerbaijani side said that the representatives discussed the “reintegration of Armenian residents living in the Karabakh region into the Republic of Azerbaijan.” They said that the head of the committee investigating illegal mining in Artsakh attended the meeting. They did not mention the lifting of the blockade of Artsakh.
President Harutyunyan ruled out “any integration process with Azerbaijan” during a cabinet meeting on March 1 announcing Nersisyan’s appointment. “However, this does not mean that we will avoid contacts to solve problems of an infrastructural and humanitarian nature,” he said.
Ruben Vardanyan (Photo: NKR InfoCenter)
Azerbaijani authorities had been critical of Vardanyan’s appointment as State Minister, accusing him of having been exported from Russia to Artsakh to serve Russian interests. On February 18, just days before Vardanyan’s dismissal, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that Azerbaijan would refuse to negotiate with Artsakh officials as long as Vardanyan was in power.
Aliyev said that Azerbaijan was ready to “start practical communications with representatives of the Armenian community in Karabakh.” “But we can do it only when the Russian citizen-criminal oligarch, a person involved in money laundering in Europe, Vardanyan, is out of our territory,” Aliyev told reporters on February 18 on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
Harutyunyan denied that he dismissed Vardanyan to fulfill Aliyev’s request. “No one can feel more pained by this decision than I do,” Harutyunyan said. Harutyunyan did not give a clear reason for dismissing Vardanyan. He said that he and Vardanyan shared strategic differences on internal and external issues.
Vardanyan held the position of State Minister for just three months following his appointment by Harutyunyan in November 2022. The Russian Armenian billionaire renounced his Russian citizenship last September and moved to Artsakh.
The powers of the state minister’s office expanded significantly during Vardanyan’s brief tenure. Vardanyan launched an operational headquarters to manage the state response to the blockade of Artsakh.
Since his dismissal, Vardanyan has said that he will continue to live in Artsakh and pursue humanitarian initiatives.
These leadership changes are taking place amid Azerbaijan’s ongoing blockade of Artsakh, which surpassed 80 days this week. A group of Azerbaijanis claiming to be eco-activists protesting illegal mining in Artsakh has closed the Lachin Corridor, the sole route connecting Artsakh and Armenia, since December 12. Artsakh is facing a humanitarian crisis, as imports of food and medicine from Armenia have come to a halt. Gas and electricity supplies from Armenia to Artsakh have also been periodically disrupted since the start of the blockade, which Artsakh authorities blame on Azerbaijan.
Hospitals in Artsakh have temporarily suspended treatments due to the blockade. At least 750 people are awaiting medical treatment. A number of illnesses have increased in Artsakh since the start of the blockade, including a 58-percent increase in heart disease, a 36-percent increase in strokes, and an 11-percent increase in childbirth complications, according to official data.
On February 22, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Azerbaijan must “take all measures at its disposal to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions.”
“The disruption on the Lachin Corridor has impeded the transfer of persons of Armenian national or ethnic origin hospitalized in Nagorno-Karabakh to medical facilities in Armenia for urgent medical care. The evidence also indicates that there have been hindrances to the importation into Nagorno-Karabakh of essential goods, causing shortages of food, medicine and other life-saving medical supplies,” the United Nations court said.
Under the trilateral ceasefire agreement ending the 2020 Artsakh War, Azerbaijan “guarantees traffic safety along the Lachin Corridor of citizens, vehicles and goods in both directions.”
Azerbaijani authorities denied that the ICJ had ruled that the Lachin Corridor is closed. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said that the ICJ had not determined that the government of Azerbaijan is responsible for the closure of the corridor.
While speaking with reporters in Munich, Aliyev also proposed the establishment of checkpoints along the Lachin Corridor.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov ruled out the creation of checkpoints along the Lachin Corridor while speaking with reporters on February 28. He said that the corridor must operate in compliance with the trilateral ceasefire ending the 2020 Artsakh War, “which means the need to ensure free movement for exclusively civilian and humanitarian cargo and civilians.”
However, Lavrov said it may be “possible to use technical means to remove the existing suspicions that the corridor is really used for its intended purpose.”
In the weeks before closing the Lachin Corridor, Azerbaijani authorities accused Armenia of using the route to illegally transport mines. Last week, the ICJ rejected a request from Azerbaijan for provisional measures ordering Armenia to stop using the Lachin Corridor for this purpose.
Russia hopes Armenia and Azerbaijan will implement initiatives developed jointly
11:34, 1 March 2023
YEREVAN, MARCH 1, ARMENPRESS. Russia hopes that the jointly developed peace initiatives will be implemented during the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict resolution, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.
She described the region as “pivotal” and said that “there’s still hope that the peace initiatives which [Armenia and Azerbaijan] have developed jointly with Russia will be implemented,” TASS news agency quoted Zakharova as saying on Sputnik radio.
The Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman slammed as “indecent” what she described as “the West’s attempts to be involved in the South Caucasus.” Zakharova said the West is engaged in such a policy not for resolving the conflict but “quite the opposite.”
“Unfortunately we’ve been observing such trends there for many years, and now the West is even more active,” Zakharova said.
The spokeswoman said there are no successful examples of conflict resolution with participation of Western partners, while the “number of conflicts is growing because of the collective West.”
Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan receives the US Ambassador
17:46,
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 28, ARMENPRESS. Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Mher Grigoryan receives the newly appointed Ambassador of the United States of America to Armenia Kristina Kvien, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Government of Armenia.
Welcoming Kristina Kvien, the Deputy Prime Minister congratulated her on her appointment as Ambassador and wished her fruitful work in her responsible mission.
The interlocutors discussed the prospects for the development of trade and economic relations between the two countries.
During the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan presented to the Ambassador the situation resulted by the blocking of the Lachin Corridor by Azerbaijan and the importance of a clear international response to it.
The interlocutors also exchanged ideas on regional developments.
Asbarez: Airports Council of Europe to invest 400 Million Euros to Bolster Zvartnots Airport Capacity
The departure area of Zvartnots International Airport in Yerevan
During his visit to Armenia, Airports Council of Europe (ACI Europe) CEO Olivier Jankovets called on the Armenian government to approve a project to expand the capacity of Zvartnots Airport due to the increase in passenger traffic, which significantly exceeded the pre-Covid figure of 2019.
In particular, he pointed to strong fundamental factors supporting further growth in demand for air travel in the coming years, including Armenia’s confirmed inclusion in the EU’s common aviation space.
“A total of €400 million is ready for investment to double the airport’s capacity for both passenger and cargo traffic. Further delay in this project will only hinder the development of the country and its economy,” said Jankovets.
The tourism sector in Armenia has experienced unprecedented development over the past decade, recording an average annual growth of 15 percent. Tourism revenues account for 15.3 percent of Armenia’s GDP, and pre-COVID visitor numbers topped 4 million, the ACI Europe said.
According to the group’s estimations, 27 percent of visitors come to Armenia from EU countries, 26 percent from Russia and other CIS countries, 5 percent from Iran, 6 percent from the United States. The number of hotels has doubled over the past five years, reaching 710.
In addition to the traditional premium airlines, low-cost airlines such as Wizzair, Transavia, Skyup, Bees, Ryanair, Airbaltic, Fly Pegasus, Fly One and others have begun to appear. fly to Armenia, connecting Yerevan and Gyumri with European countries at a price of 40 euros.
At the same time, on the basis of cooperation between ANIF and Air Arabia, a new Armenian national low-cost carrier Arna was created, which will connect Yerevan with Russia.
From Mumbai to Varna via Armenia: The new India-Europe route
The war in Ukraine has disrupted global supply chains, creating significant complications for transit routes crossing the Russia-Europe border. The world economy, still reeling from COVID-19, found itself in another crisis. Yet, even before the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, the primary sea transit routes connecting Southeast Asia with Europe, like the Suez Canal, were congested due to the growing cargo volumes. As one of the rising stars of the global economy, India was looking forward to establishing alternative routes to reach Europe. In 2000, India, Iran and Russia signed an agreement to launch the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) to connect India with Europe via Iran and Russia. Three main routes were identified to connect India with Russia: via Iran and Azerbaijan, via Iran and the Caspian Sea and via Iran-Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan. According to the initial plan, the cargo should enter northern Europe from Russia, creating an India-Europe route that circumvents the Suez Canal.
However, the war in Ukraine and the complete rupture in Russia-West relations brought the realization of this plan into danger. As the new cold war disrupts Russia-West economic and political relations, any large-scale transit of cargo passing the Russia-Europe border looks too risky for the international logistic and insurance companies. At the same time, India’s need for additional trade routes to reach Europe circumventing the Suez Canal remains valid. In parallel to the discussions around INSTC, Iran in 2016 put forward a new international transport corridor project, Persian Gulf-Black Sea, which should connect Iran with Europe via the South Caucasus. The negotiations were paused during the COVID pandemic, but all potential participants of the project – Iran, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria and Greece – expressed their interest in participating.
In recent years, India invested in the Iranian port of Chabahar, viewing it as a focal point to reach Central Asia via Afghanistan circumventing Pakistan. The 2021 takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban made the transit via Afghanistan challenging. However, India continued its efforts to modernize Chabahar Port and received the US sanctions waiver for its investments. Currently, Chabahar does not have access to the Iranian railway network, but Tehran plans to bring the railway to Chabahar. As India looks for additional routes to reach Europe, circumventing the Suez Canal and avoiding the negative impact of Russia-West confrontation, the Persian Gulf-Black Sea corridor fits well into these plans.
The corridor itself may connect Iran with Georgia via either Armenia or Azerbaijan. Armenia and Azerbaijan have railway and highway connections with Georgia, and Azerbaijan has a railroad up to the Azerbaijan-Iran border. There is a missing link of some 165 kilometers inside Iran (the Rasht-Astara line) to connect Azerbaijani and Iranian railways. In January 2023, Russia and Iran agreed to launch the construction with Russian funding. Azerbaijan also has a highway connection with Iran.
Armenia does not have a direct railway connection with Iran. In November 2021, Azerbaijan closed the main Armenia-Iran highway in the Goris-Kapan section, forcing Yerevan to construct an alternative road to reach the Iran border, which cannot serve large-scale transit cargo transportation. There is a functioning railway from Yerevan up to the Armenia-Nakhichevan border in Yeraskh, and Nakhichevan has a railway connection with Iran via Julfa. However, as Armenia-Azerbaijan peace negotiations are at an impasse due to the maximalist position of Azerbaijan, no international transit project may rely on that possibility.
However, if an Iran-Azerbaijan-Georgia route may seem more realistic from a purely logistical point of view, geopolitics tells another story. Iran-Azerbaijan relations are at a historical low, given the Azerbaijan-Israel growing defense and security cooperation and Azerbaijan’s criticism against alleged violation of rights of Azerbaijanis living in Iran. Iran uses Azerbaijan’s territory to reach Russia, and providing additional leverage to Azerbaijan will not serve Iranian interests. India also may have reservations about putting Azerbaijan into the India-Europe route. Azerbaijan is not India’s enemy but cultivates friendly relations with Pakistan and is a strategic ally of Turkey, which under President Erdogan has pursued an anti-Indian stance. At the same time, the emerging Pakistan-Turkey-Azerbaijan alliance does contribute to Azerbaijan-India relations. Thus, for Iran and India, Azerbaijan is not a preferable way to connect Iran with Georgia and Europe.
However, geopolitical considerations are not enough to convince states and multinational logistic and insurance companies to invest billions of dollars on a project which depends on the narrow alternative road connecting Goris with Kapan in the mountainous Syunik region of Armenia. To become a transit country for the India-Europe transit route via Iran and Georgia, Armenia needs new highways connecting it with Iran and Georgia.
The “North–South” project, the 555 kilometer Bavra-Meghri highway, which should connect the Armenia-Georgia and Armenia-Iran borders, started in 2012. Paradoxically, only 35 kilometers of the highway were finished during the past 11 years; construction continues on the Talin-Gyumri section, which connects Yerevan with the Georgian border. However, nothing has been done along the Yerevan-Meghri part besides constructing the 20 kilometer Yerevan-Artashat section. The Artashat-Meghri part is divided into three subsections: Artashat-Sisian, Sisian-Kajaran and the Kajaran-Iranian border. Recently, the government announced a Kajaran-Iranian border section tender, and the winner will be announced this spring. The EU promised to provide up to 700 million euros for the Sisian-Kajaran part, and negotiations are underway regarding the construction modalities.
Meanwhile, the Artashat-Sisian section (around 170 kilometers) remains in the initial projecting phase. If Armenia wants to be part of the India-Europe transit route, it should significantly accelerate its efforts to finish the southern part of the road connecting Artashat with the Iranian border and the northern section connecting Gyumri with the Georgian border. Given the extensive experience of Indian companies in taking part in large-scale infrastructure projects abroad and India’s interest in launching the India-Europe transport corridor route via Iran and Georgia, Armenia should start negotiations with India to discuss the involvement of Indian funding and Indian companies into the North-South project.
Turkish press: Türkiye elections: An international reckoning
People shop at Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, Türkiye, Nov. 4, 2022. (Reuters Photo)
Türkiye’s main agenda today is to tackle the problems faced by the 11 provinces affected by the Kahramanmaraş earthquake; however, there is another central agenda waiting for the country ahead that will come to light soon.
The day before the earthquake, the country’s election was the most heated and discussed topic on all the news channels.
The elections are not only a national competition between the ruling and opposition blocs but also carry international weight, with supporters of both sides around the globe.
The international order established by Western states for 200 years has gotten involved in every political development in the rest of the world. They have found ways of directly occupying one part of the world, keeping some of it semi-colonial, and skillfully ruling another part indirectly.
After World War II, there was a significant break, and the United States replaced the European states. It was the U.S. that took the lead in the Western world to interfere in the internal affairs of other states and influence their politics. Today, hegemonic states are not as strong as they used to be, nor are other countries, such as Türkiye, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, Indonesia, Brazil or South Africa, as weak as before.
While the United States projected its hard power across the globe, it also spread soft power, dazzling the people through exaggerated movies of its intelligence organizations. Therefore, when the West decided on something, they would get results from it, and the third-world countries had no choice but to follow it helplessly. In a way, the Westerners’ operations in Africa, Asia and South America have almost become a destiny that nobody could resist.
Recently, Türkiye started to regain its historical power step by step. The global conjuncture, geopolitical conditions, the change of balances, the effect of geography or the fate of some nations sometimes cause opportunities to arise.
Today, especially under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s leadership for 20 years, Türkiye has resisted dominant Western powers while standing on its own feet, strengthening its economy and improving its defense industry capacity.
Since the main opposition party in Türkiye could not compete with President Erdoğan, it put together a bloc and gathered six parties under one roof, right-wing, left-wing or conservative. It is legitimate for all parties in Türkiye to fight to change the cons, and it is appropriate for the political climate. It is striking, however, that the world’s most influential magazines, newspapers and news agencies emphasize that the election in Türkiye is the most critical one of the year.
Considering that Ukraine and Russia are at war and NATO allies are in conflict with Russia, we can say that the world is on the brink of another world war. On the other hand, the Turkic states established their union in the Caucasus.
Türkiye has been present in Libya and has ensured that the government recognized by the United Nations is stable and permanent.
It stood by Azerbaijan in the Armenian-Azerbaijani war and helped convince Armenia to withdraw from the occupied territories.
The states that rebel against the French in Africa are on the side of Türkiye, regardless of whether Türkiye is involved. Large and small Balkan states see their existence and security as equivalent to the security of Türkiye. Despite the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, both sides applauded Erdoğan at the peace talks in Istanbul. At the same time, the globe avoided the food crisis with the initiatives of the president rather than the United Nations.
Erdoğan’s leadership, with his vast experience in the international arena, has made Türkiye a player and has focused on regaining its historical mission step by step. The states that could not demonstrate success against Türkiye in the struggles abroad have sought another method to eliminate Erdoğan: To stand behind the opposition with all their might in the elections.
However, the Westerners, proclaiming the election in Türkiye as the most critical election of the year and taking position should recall that the Turks went on expeditions at some historical milestones. One of these expeditions was the migrations from Central Asia to the west, which paved the way for dozens of states.
The second expedition was the westward expansion of the Ottoman Empire, in which almost half of today’s European lands were under Ottoman rule. And today, Turks are about to develop extraordinary solidarity and trade with their neighbors to expand the country’s strategy, again per its historical mission.
Of course, the election to be held in Türkiye, as Westerners say, is the most critical one of the year. Not only Westerners are aware of it. The Turkish people are more aware of this situation with their historical identity, mission and consciousness. They will vote for their future in this election.
The winner will be the Turkish nation.