Where Does NATO’s Turkey Go?
This October it’s the 60th anniversary of joining Turkey to NATO. In the heat of the “cold war” it was extremely important part of strategic planning of the North Atlantic Alliance. Those times its task was about counteracting to the extension of geopolitical influence of the Soviet Union. Except for that, together with Greece simultaneously joining the Alliance it was a natural barrier on the way of direct approach of the USSR to an oil-wealthy Near East. READ MORE
Armenia Is Scaring NATO?
Armenia has launched military exercises "Interaction-2012". Collective Rapid Reaction Forces will respond the conventional enemy aggression. For this, all the CSTO states have gathered military units near Armenia. At the landfill "Baghramyan", located 50 km from Yerevan, there are deployed around 2 thousand troops. The purpose of the exercise is to strengthen military cooperation and achieve mutual understanding within the CSTO. As well as to show NATO military capabilities. READ MORE
Will Iran become part of Azerbaijan?
Unification of South and North Azerbaijan is an irreversible process that should not be forced. Residents on both sides of the border (the Azerbaijan Republic and the northern province of Iran) understand and want it, but none of them wants this process was accompanied by war, which would inevitably lead to a large death toll. This is the opinion of the Azerbaijani political scientist Fikret Sadikhov, who has commented information about the possible accession of South Azerbaijan into the Republic of Azerbaijan. And this issue arose on the background of broad discussion of a possible military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities. READ MORE
Morningstar mission in the Caucasus
In early September, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev accepted the credentials of the new US ambassador Richard Morningstar. Thus, the period of instability in the work of the US embassy in Baku was finished. After the mission of Ann Dercy came to an end in July 2009, the position of the American ambassador was free for more than a year. Later the president of the US Barack Obama appointed to the position an experienced diplomat, the former co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group Mathew Brayza by-passing the Senate. However, due to an active resistance of the Armenian lobby in the Senate Brayza’s career ended sooner than it should: he managed to work only for a year, after which his functions were not prolonged. READ MORE
Tensions simmer after axe murderer’s pardon
Hungary’s recent extradition of a convicted axe murderer to Azerbaijan has caused a scandal. At home, the killer was pardoned and celebrated. It’s rumored that Hungary and Azerbaijan brokered a deal for the extradition. READ MORE
Competitive Caucasus Elections
A curious election took place recently in the Caucasus. It attracted very little notice but deserved more. In the tiny, unrecognized territory of Nagorny Karabakh—entirely Armenian but still regarded by the world as de jure part of Azerbaijan—an opposition candidate for president did extremely well. READ MORE
Azerbaijan a reliable and important player on global energy scene - Polish foreign minister
Poland plans to discuss with Azerbaijan bilateral political, trade and energy issues, Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski said in a an interview with Trend on the eve of his visit to Baku. READ MORE
EC President Van Rompuy: The relations between Azerbaijan and the EU are deepening
rend interviews President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, on the eve of his visit to Azerbaijan READ MORE
Turkmenistan intends to resolve dispute with Azerbaijan on the Caspian Sea through International Court of Justice
The acting Minister of Oil and Gas and Mineral Resources of Turkmenistan, Kakageldi Abdyllaev, commented on the situation around Turkmenistan’s activities at Serdar field. READ MORE
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry: EU needs political courage to condemn Armenian aggression
The European Union (EU) must evaluate the facts and the fact that we have - it's aggression, and it should be judged just as aggression, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev told reporters on Saturday, commenting on statements by EU Special Representative for South Caucasus Philippe Lefort in Yerevan. READ MORE
