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Armenia: Regional Developments at the Center of Attention of Youth

On November 25,  the first training within the project "The Voice of Youth 4. New Season" was launched, organized by NGO "European Integration" supported by the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs of Armenia. The first day was dedicated to the South Caucasus, particularly Georgia and Azerbaijan's foreign policy. Invited speakers, the head of "Insight" Analytical Center for Applied Policy and Research Narek Minasyan, and the head of the Department of Regional Studies of the Administartion of the RA President, Manvel Gumashyan introduced current developments in Georgia and Azerbaijan, their relations with neighbors, trends of development of bilateral relations.

In the section devoted to Georgia, Narek Minasyan noted that recent regional policy in this country have been influenced by events such as the Rose Revolution in 2004, the August war in 2008 and the power upheaval in 2012. In the context of the regional policy of Georgia  the volatility of political priorities and the complementarity of the vacuums at the expense of other vectors had been introduced.

The speaker drew attention to the fact that the Georgian government's foreign policy, in contrast to the policy of Saakashvili's regime, has some specific features. We are talking about "melting relations" between Georgia and Russia as well as overcoming the little problems thanks to the humanitarian and economic dialogue. The speaker also highlighted the new approach adopted by the Georgian authorities, Abkhaz and South Ossetian conflicts associated with both an underlying softening in rhetorics and a constructive initiative as well. Reference was made to the strengthening of Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey axis, which is different from the regular meetings of senior officials, which, of course, has certain threats for Armenia.

As for Armenia-Georgia relations, the expert said that there has been significant warming in the bilateral relations over the past year. The frequent high-level visits and the existence of political will to strengthen cooperation between the parties were stressed in particular. During the discussion some means of strengthening the Armenian-Georgian relations have been distinguished:

-           Javakheti region's full integration into Georgia's public and political life, while also preserving the national identity,

-         Organizing bilateral events towards raising the mutual recognition of the Armenian and Georgian communities in cultural, spiritual, educational and other fields,

-          Using the created opportunities from integration processes between Georgia and Armenia for providing economic cooperation with the best conditions possible.

As for Azerbaijan's regional policy, the speaker Manvel Ghumashyan underlined that Baku is trying to put at the basis of its policy the principle of its relative independence from the different power vectors. According to him, Azerbaijan's regional policy is based on two main provisions, 1.regional energy projects to ensure sustainable financial flows,  2. to maintain and strengthen the policy of blockade against Armenia. At the same time it was noted that Azerbaijan, concerned by the possible increase of Iranian impact, is trying to support Turkey's struggle to maintain its position in the region.

The speaker stressed the idea that any country's foreign policy is a continuation of domestic policy. Azerbaijan's policy towards Armenia and Artsakh was presented in this context. In particular, it was noted that Azerbaijan's destructive position on Karabakh conflict settlement process and the frequent use of military rhetoric are on one hand diverting the population's attention from socio-economic problems, and on the other hand, are maintaining the Aliyev clan powers. In the context of Azerbaijan's non-constructive approach, the participants also touched upon the Azerbaijani persecution of civil society activists of peacebuilding projects and human rights violations cases.

Summing up the topic, the speaker and training participants came to the conclusion that it is too early to talk about the potential positive prospects of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, because it is first of all necessary to build mutual trust.


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