Azerbaijan’s cooperation with the West, launched two decades ago, has helped it become a relatively strong and ambitious actor on the international stage. It has become a key country in the region from the Western (USA and the EU) and Turkish points of view, as well as an important partner …
Read More »featured
Azerbaijan’s economic model and its development since independence
Obtaining independence on November 18, 1991, the Republic of Azerbaijan entered a long lasting1 transition period with different stages, which lasted till 2010. During this period, the economic development of the country experienced several cycles: firstly, the recession (19921995) recovery (1996- 1997), boom (1998-2008) and final slump (starting 2009).
Read More »Azerbaijan and Turkey: the light and shade of ‘Turkish’ brotherhood
Theses 1. Turkey and Azerbaijan have very close relations for cultural and economic reasons. The only thing that could worsen Turkish-Azerbaijani relations in the future is an improvement of relations between Turkey and Armenia, which is very unlikely. 2. Turkish-Azerbaijani relations have become increasingly pragmatic since the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline was built. Turkey’s energy security and its …
Read More »Azerbaijani national identity: From ethnicity to statehood
The study of national identity as a phenomenon of collective consciousness is crucial in understanding the development of any society. National identity is a compound term which, depending on the country, may involve one or more distinctive factors of collective mentality, such as ethnicity, language, culture, or religion (Smith 1993). …
Read More »The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the Minsk Group: Towards a more productive engagement?
Almost from the start of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, outside or third parties have sought to mediate the conflict, but the conflict remains unresolved. And that, in turn, has sparked a debate, sometimes intense and sometimes less so, as to whether such media contributes to conflict resolution or in fact keeps …
Read More »Oil Rocks – wonder of Industrial World
On 24 July 1949, 60 years ago to the day that this is written, an intrepid group of oil workers began to drill into the bed of the Caspian Sea. They were some 42 kilometres south-east of the Absheron Peninsula – that “beak” of Azerbaijan which juts into the world´s …
Read More »Neft Dashlary
The discovery of the unique Oil Rocks (Neft Dashlary) offshore field in 1949 became an important event in the development of the oil sector in Azerbaijan: major offshore facilities equipped with high-quality (at the time) domestic equipment were created in the open sea at a distance of up to 100 …
Read More »