Konuşmanın Türkçesini okumak için:
Prof. Dr. Özcan Yeniçeri – Güney Kafkasya’da Güvenlik Konferansı Konuşması
The South Caucasus, which constitutes the subject of our conference, is historically a geography where empires, cultures, and trade routes intersect.
Possessing geopolitical importance, frozen conflicts and non-traditional threats are likely to generate security problems in the South Caucasus.
The complex security architecture of the South Caucasus contains potential problems that could disrupt regional stability.
The South Caucasus has become an क्षेत्र of competition for global powers in the post–Cold War period. In this context, with its energy routes, transit corridors, geopolitical importance, and strategic depth, the region attracts the attention of the international system.
Security problems in the South Caucasus arise not from isolated incidents or the attitudes of certain actors, but from the structural geopolitical characteristics of the region and the intensification of global power competition.
The countries of the region have unique opportunities as well as deep-rooted vulnerabilities inherited from history. Any instability in this region is likely to create a domino effect across a wide area such as global energy markets and trade routes.
The countries of the region must resolve their security problems and disputes through their own will and relations. The way to achieve this is through a method that proceeds from near to far, from neighbor to neighbor, and from simple to complex. The relevant countries should not overlook that the Caucasus is a matter for the Caucasians. It is essential that the countries of the region recognize imperialist ambitions that seek to pit them against each other by exploiting their historical and geographical disputes, weakening them at the same time and making them dependent.
When speaking of security in the South Caucasus, it is necessary to mention several problems that occupy the countries concerned with the region.
It is known that the United States and Western countries evaluate the South Caucasus not through Russia and Iran, but through its connection to China and India. In this conjuncture, the importance of the Middle Corridor and TANAP is steadily increasing. However, for the United States, which places the goal of containing China’s rise at the top of its security documents, ensuring control over this corridor is of great importance.
Azerbaijan and Türkiye aim to provide transportation through Zangezur as a supplementary route in a shorter time and at lower cost. However, India and Iran, the main supporters of the north–south corridor, seem to consider this project as a threat to themselves.
The Trump International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) project, which came to the agenda during the Donald Trump period, stands out as an initiative by the United States to establish a permanent military and economic presence in the Caucasus.
Georgia’s loss of territory due to the de facto integration of South Ossetia and Abkhazia into the Russian Federation is an important issue.
While the Armenian administration aims to establish lasting peace with Azerbaijan and normalize relations with Türkiye, it is simultaneously trying to implement democratic reforms and a long-term EU membership perspective.
The balance of power in the South Caucasus is also affected by the new geopolitical equation emerging in the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean.
For all these developments and details, I leave the floor to the experts of the subject.
