Airplane Crash Exposes Flaws in Baku-Moscow Relations

Executive Summary: On December 25, 2024, Azerbaijan Airlines Flight J2-8243, planned to fly from Baku to Grozny, Chechnya, crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, after a Russian surface-to-air missile exploded near the aircraft mid-flight. The incident has strained Azerbaijan-Russian relations. Azerbaijani officials criticized Moscow’s denial, lack of transparency, and open airspace amid tensions, leading President Ilham Aliyev…

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JF-17: a new page in Baku-Islamabad military cooperation

The official website of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan announced that the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) JF-17C Block-III was “integrated into the arsenal of Azerbaijan’s Air Force,” On 25 September 2024. Azerbaijan is currently the third foreign country to purchase this aircraft after Myanmar and Nigeria; some others, including Iraq, are now considering to do the same…

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Opinion: What Aliyev’s reaction to the airplane crash tells us about Azerbaijan’s relations with the West

On December 30, Germany’s Der Spiegel, a publication often perceived as critical and biased against Azerbaijan – similar to many other German media outlets – reported on Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s reaction to Russia’s handling of a recent aeroplane crash crisis between the two countries. The publication noted, “Aliyev’s reaction is a testament to the increased…

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Ter-Petrosyan’s leaked speech and the change of the entire narrative behind Armenian-Azerbaijani communal conflict

A recently leaked video of former Armenian President Levon Ter-Petrosyan has reignited debates over Armenian-Azerbaijani deportations. This footage challenges the widely accepted narrative of “mutual” ethnic cleansing, shifting focus to Armenia’s policies during the late 1980s and early 1990s. The mainstream narrative on Armenian-Azerbaijani “mutual” deportations In the late 1980s, weakening Soviet control fueled violence…

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Strategic Partnership Agreement Between Armenia And The USA: An Azerbaijani Perspective – OpEd

The signing of a strategic partnership document in Washington between Armenia’s Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken can be considered an unsurprising and anticipated development. Over the past four years, the Biden administration’s Armenia-focused regional policies, the deepening of bilateral cooperation in various spheres, and the June 2024 decision by…

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Opinion: Ter-Petrosyan’s 1993 Speech and Its Impact on the Future of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Process

The Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process began the new year with a bombshell revelation: a video recording from the first congress of the “Yerkrapah” Volunteer Union in July 1993. The footage features Armenia’s first president, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, delivering a speech on the “success” of Armenia’s “national liberation movement.” The speech, along with the reaction of Vazgen Sargsyan…

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Japan’s renewed interest in the Middle Corridor: Has it faded?

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and rising geopolitical tensions across the globe highlight the need for alternative trade routes less reliant on transit through Russia. The Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor (TITR), also known as the Middle Corridor, which connects China with the EU, passing through Central Asia and the South Caucasus, has gained renewed focus as…

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Narratives of Recent Years: How History Changes?

The formation of history is also its transformation. Strong individuals become symbols of strong societies, and these societies, in turn, create exemplary models for governance. In this way, history changes, forms, and renews, creating new realities that lay the base for the future, turning the history of today into solid foundations. In this context, the…

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