Opinion: Baku Trials Expose Armenia’s Role in the Karabakh Conflict

The trials of former Armenian separatist leaders in Baku mark a long-overdue moment of accountability for decades of aggression, occupation, and destruction in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. The proceedings in the Baku Military Court are more than a legal exercise – they are a public affirmation of Azerbaijan’s sovereignty over its internationally recognized territory,…

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AzerbaijanAzerbaijan-Türkiye partnership supports Nakhchivan’s energy security

Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (NAR) is a landlocked exclave of the Republic of Azerbaijan. During the early 1990s, Azerbaijan lost a direct land connection with its exclave amid the Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. As a result, the people of Nakhchivan have been living under a blockade for almost 35 years. During Soviet times, all…

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Organization of Turkic States Advances Eurasian Trade Connectivity

Executive Summary: The Organization of Turkic States (OTS), comprising Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Türkiye, Uzbekistan, and observers, is leading efforts to enhance the Middle Corridor. This initiative aims to bolster regional connectivity, mitigate trade disruptions from geopolitical instability, and develop sustainable, competitive transport networks through multilateral treaties and infrastructure investments. Recent OTS summits have reinforced commitments…

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Stalemate Persists in the Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Process

Executive Summary: Armenia and Azerbaijan remain at an impasse in their ongoing peace process, facing the conditions of withdrawing international lawsuits and agreeing on a ban against third-party military forces along their border. Armenia’s constitutional claims over Karabakh and the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group remain sensitive topics. Azerbaijan insists on amending Armenia’s constitution…

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Opinion: The World Must Know More about the Khojaly Genocide

The occupation and ethnic cleansing of Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts in the early 1990s by the armed forces of Armenia involved immeasurable atrocities and extreme violence. Realizing that more than 700,000 people in the region would not easily flee their homes, Armenian leaders resorted to force. The ethnic cleansing carried out by…

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External interference: the main destabilizing factor in the South Caucasus?

The foreign policies of the architects of the ‘rules-based’ world order, primarily the United States and leading EU member states like France, have for decades been associated with the practice of ‘intervention.’ This includes both direct military interventions and the use of soft power. Today, however, countries are increasingly vocal in their unwillingness to allow…

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Azerbaijan’s Contribution to Regional Connectivity

Azerbaijan’s focus on improving transportation infrastructure has been central to its role in enhancing regional connectivity, especially in the broader context of linking Europe and Asia. As part of the effort to revive the historic Silk Road, significant progress has been made in expanding trade and transportation networks—particularly rail and maritime routes that facilitate intercontinental…

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The AIR Center hosted a presentation of the book titled “Armenian nationalist irredentism and the Karabakh wars”

On February 5, 2025, the AIR Center hosted a presentation of the book titled “Armenian nationalist irredentism and the Karabakh wars.” In his opening remarks, Chairman of the Board of the AIR Center Farid Shafiyev emphasized that certain narratives promoted by Armenia and the Armenian diaspora—such as the claim that the events leading to the…

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A Year in Review: Armenia and Azerbaijan Getting Nearer to Peace

One year ago, in a piece titled “Armenian–Azerbaijani rapprochement: Facing a hurdle,” I concluded that Armenia is stuck between myth and reality and has to move from myths related to ‘imagined communities’ defined by kinship and history to new, pragmatic relations with its neighbors, Azerbaijan and Türkiye.[1] Today, despite some sporadic attempts by the Pashinyan…

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