Rising tension in the Caucasus and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
2010 was a year of increasing tension in the Caucasus. An increase in bombing activities in Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia, along with armed skirmishes in Nagorno-Karabakh brought questions of stability to Turkey’s doorstep. It is clear that the region has significant importance as a Turkey main gateway to Russia and the Caspian basin as well as a transit route of energy resources. Therefore, any increase in tension in the region will have significant impact in Turkey. It also has some capacity to generate negative impacts on the political atmosphere and cause problems for ongoing and future projects. Following the Russia-Georgia war in 2008, attempts to reach a resolution in the Nagorno- Karabakh conflict bilaterally and internationally gained impetus. While Armenia and Azerbaijan met six times in 2009, they came together only three times in 2010. The Minsk Group followed more pro-active policies during this period but even after this traffic, Baku and Yerevan are still far from a ...