International Conference on Caucasus takes place in Yerevan
The situation in the North and South Caucasus was discussed on May 17 in Yerevan at an international conference organized by the Caucasus Institute with the support of the Heinrich Boell Foundation and the EU representative office in Armenia. Participants of the conference tried to summarize the events and tendencies of the past year in the Caucasus. The conference has been held annually since 2003. This year it was attended by representatives of Armenia, Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey. Issues of regional security and political influence of external forces were in the center of discussions.
Deputy Director of the Caucasus Institute, Sergey Minasyan described 2010 as a year of unfulfilled hopes and unrealized fears. One of the unrealized fears was a possible war between Russia and Georgia.
Experts noted that 2010 brought hopes for progress in achieving an agreement on the armistice in conflict zones. The presidents of Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia signed agreements on a ceasefire in 2010.
2010 was also a year of unfulfilled expectations related to the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations. Meanwhile, the fears of Armenians regarding a military tension in the area of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict leading to a change in the status quo have proved unjustified. The fears of Azerbaijanis on the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations in the end were also unjustified.
Referring to the problem of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the director of the Caucasus Institute, Alexander Iskandaryan said that the real purpose of the Minsk process at this stage is to maintain the status quo in the conflict zone.
The conference also featured reports on the position of the West and Russia in South Caucasian region. According to a military analyst from Washington, Richard Giragosian, the West shows a very active position in the South Caucasus, which though lacks consistency.
Meanwhile, the chief editor of the journal “Russia in Global Affairs”, a political scientist Fyodor Lukyanov said that the South Caucasus has become a major priority for Russia. However, Russia does not have a consistent policy in the region, due to the fact that Georgia has become Russia's "black hole". Thus, Russia has two different political strategies- one in relation to Armenia, and the other - in relation to Azerbaijan.
Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan. Exclusively for VK
