'Baku cannot take Upper Karabakh via diplomacy': Expert
Distracting Turkey's political focus among main motives behind Armenian aggression, according to Murat Yesiltas
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Looking at the Tovuz clashes from an energy perspective
he latest clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the Tovuz region on July 12 rather than drawing attention to the historic hostilities between the two nations underlined the area's geopolitical importance. The strategic location of this region as a crucial energy trade hub constitutes the main reason for such attention.
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In the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union, Armenia occupied the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which officially belongs to Azerbaijan. Like the former Soviet Union, the United Nations also recognizes the region as part of Azerbaijan. Therefore, all steps taken by Armenia violate the main principles of international law and Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. The occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh by Armenia is similar to the Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights: The occupier wants to control a strategically important region to take advantage of its foe.
It is still unclear which superpower – Russia or the U.S. – has better ties with Turkey at the moment, as Ankara is open to working with anyone who respects its national security concerns
The U.S. administration's anti-Turkey actions have led Ankara to simultaneously end its disagreements with EU countries and deepen its strategic partnership with Moscow
Although the recent protests in Armenia may seem to be sparked by the announcement of a 20 percent price hike in public electricity, the main reason behind them is the economic and political dependence on Russia and the crisis in Ukraine.
A diplomatic mistake over Armenia
It was a disappointing moment for Turks to learn that the foreign affairs committee of the US House of Representatives has narrowly voted to approve a resolution describing the massacre of more than a million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during the first world war as genocide. Turkey recalled its newly appointed ambassador to Washington, Namık Tan, for consultation a few minutes after the vote. It is no secret that there is an "Armenian question" in Turkish-American relations, which has resulted in a seasonal oscillation in bilateral relations around this time of year for many years.
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Transforming the US-Turkish Relationship Into a Well-Oiled Machine
President Obama's trip to Turkey April 6-7 is undoubtedly significant. The visit follows Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's trip abroad last month, which included two separate bilateral stops, Israel and Turkey.
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BBC covered the story as a "landmark visit to Armenia." CNN called it "football diplomacy." French President Nicolas Sarkozy applauded the visit as "courageous and historic."
Turkey has been involved, historically and demographically, with many of the regions of “frozen conflict” in post-Soviet space. At this point, one might consider the position of Turkey as being at the epicenter of Euro-Atlantic and Russian extremes concerning the frozen conflicts. Georgia, since 1991, has been considered a valuable “strategic partner” by Turkey for several reasons. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan’s Caucasus Pact idea is a good opportunity to create an inclusive (Russia+Turkey+Georgia+Armenia+Azerbaijan) new foreign policy approach at this stage. This approach should be merged with the representation of all the frozen or unfrozen conflict areas, peoples, ethnic groups and regions included under the roof of such an alliance.
