Georgia claims leadership in the region
The Deputy Foreign Ministers of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, Lasha Darsalia, Elnur Mammadov and Vahan Kostanyan, met in Tbilisi to discuss the prospects for the development of the South Caucasus. Recently, the Georgian authorities have begun to make more efforts to establish peace in the region. They have several reasons for this, which are only partially related to the well-being of their neighbors.
“The purpose of the meeting is to exchange common interests, which will further contribute to the development of mutually beneficial practical trilateral cooperation between the countries, which will ultimately be aimed at the prosperity, stability and sustainable development of the region,” the Georgian Foreign Ministry said. It is noteworthy that before that, the foreign Ministers of the three countries, Ararat Mirzoyan, Jeyhun Bayramov and Maka Bochorishvili, met at the Antalya Diplomatic Forum in Turkey.
There, representatives of Baku and Yerevan argued about whose Constitution poses a great danger, and also expressed doubts about the sincere interest of the interlocutor in signing a peace treaty. Nevertheless, Bochorishvili recalled that Tbilisi traditionally has good relations with both neighbors and intends to continue promoting the peace agenda in the region.
“We have sincere intentions to promote peace and stability in our region. That is why we always say, and I want to repeat this now, that Armenia and Azerbaijan can rely on Georgia, and we will provide all possible means to facilitate dialogue and cooperation in our region. The South Caucasus has great potential,” the Minister stressed.
In addition, Georgian President Mikhail Kavelashvili visited Azerbaijan yesterday. It was his first foreign visit as head of state. During the meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev, he welcomed the agreement on the text of the peace treaty between Baku and Yerevan.
“We hope that a historic treaty will be signed in the near future, which will become an important impetus for ensuring long-term and sustainable peace in the region. I want to assure you that Georgia has always advocated dialogue, diplomacy and peaceful coexistence in the South Caucasus, and this course will continue in the future,” Kavelashvili said.
He will make his second foreign visit to Armenia on April 28-29. There, Kavelashvili will meet with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Speaker of Parliament Alain Simonyan, and Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II.
In turn, the Armenian authorities respond positively to Georgia’s peacekeeping initiatives. Among other things, at the IV Tbilisi International Silk Road Forum, Pashinyan spoke for the first time about his “Crossroads of the World” project aimed at eliminating customs barriers between the countries of the South Caucasus and their neighbors.
Anyway, Mirzoyan told Turkish journalists that a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan can be concluded on their border. At the same time, he hopes that Ankara can play a significant role in the reconciliation of the parties. In particular, from his point of view, it is possible to “fully regulate” relations between Armenia and Turkey first.
The head of the Azerbaijani Atlas Center for Political Studies, Elkhan Shahinoglu, believes that after the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group and the exclusion from the Armenian Constitution of the reference to the Declaration of Independence, which contains a territorial claim to Azerbaijan, Baku and Yerevan can sign a peace treaty even on the border, even in Tbilisi.
“Recently, the number of visits by Georgian officials to Baku and Yerevan has increased. Georgia is a strategic partner of both Azerbaijan and Armenia. Most of the oil and gas that Azerbaijan transports to world markets passes through Georgia, both countries are part of the Middle Corridor. The green energy that Azerbaijan and Central Asian countries will transport to Europe via the Caspian Sea will also pass through Georgia. The closed borders with the two neighbors force Yerevan to hold on tightly to Tbilisi. For this reason, Georgia has managed to maintain strategic relations with both Azerbaijan and Armenia. She is interested in peace in the South Caucasus and in cooperation between the three States. Georgia has put forward proposals to expand the dialogue between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Official Baku is not against this,” Shahinoglu told NG.
David Kartvelishvili, a political analyst and member of the Georgian People’s Power party, told NG that Tbilisi is preparing for the emergence of a new world order. “The world is changing rapidly. The future requires from the South Caucasus not only an energy and transport corridor, but a full-fledged intersection connecting Mumbai with Arkhangelsk and Tokyo with Lisbon. Without peace in our region, nothing like this will happen. To build this crossroads, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan must join forces and rise above their ambitions and resentments. The trilateral meeting held in Tbilisi is one of the steps in this direction,” Kartvelishvili stressed.
Hrant Mikaelian, a researcher at the Caucasus Institute, believes that Georgia has two reasons why it may be interested in mediating between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Firstly, in this way, she is trying to break through the diplomatic isolation organized by Western countries. Secondly, Tbilisi hopes to seriously strengthen its position if peace is established in the South Caucasus.
“Georgia remembers well that Tbilisi was the capital of the Caucasus during the time of the Russian Empire, and we would like to return those days. In addition, if the region really becomes peaceful, the republic can benefit the most from this. It will become the region’s transport window to the West,” Mikaelyan told NG.
However, he does not believe that Tbilisi can play any serious role in the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. Georgia lacks the credibility to put pressure on Yerevan and Baku, besides, it itself depends on Turkey and Azerbaijan.