South Caucasus

Results are coming in from local elections held in Georgia on Saturday, 2 October and it appears that the country is split in half between those supporting the ruling Georgian Dream party and others supporting opposition parties. Elections will have to go to a second round because none of the contestants secured the necessary 50% in the Mayoral elections five self-governing major cities: Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Batumi, Poti and Rustavi.

Georgians are voting on Saturday (2 October) in local elections to elect 64 mayors and city councils, including the capital, Tbilisi. There are 3,513,884 voters. The vote is being seen as an expression of confidence or otherwise in the ruling Georgian Dream (GD)government that has been in power in Georgia since 2012.

A regional seminar with the theme “Regional Co-operation as a step towards peace in the South Caucasus” was held in Kachreti in Eastern Georgia on Friday 1 October 2021. Experts and officials from Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan attended the event which was hosted by LINKS Europe and the Levan Mikeladze Diplomatic Training and Research Institute of the Georgian Foreign Ministry.

The meeting identified several practical ideas for possible confidence-building measures, and agreed to work to further elaborate them. For this purpose three working groups and three contact groups were created.

commonspace.eu political editor said in a comment that the Georgian initiative, although for the moment short on detail, is very timely. There is in the South Caucasus a sense that a window of opportunity now exists to try to bring to a solution some of the many outstanding issues that have caused tensions and conflicts since the collapse of the Soviet Union. There are already a number of ideas floating around about possible formations for taking forward the process for regional peace, including a Turkish one which proposes a 3+3 format. The Georgian initiative appears to be very different, but leaves many questions yet unanswered. But the very fact that Georgia has committed to such a process is a positive development.

Armenia is celebrating the 30th anniversary of its independence but whilst it has all the attributes of a modern state a lot of its institutions are hollow. There is much that can be done, and if it acts reasonably, Armenia can celebrate its 50th anniversary of independence in twenty years’ time in a much more positive atmosphere, writes Benyamin Poghosyan in this anniversary op-ed. 

At a government meeting in Yerevan on Wednesday, 8 September, Armenian  Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan touched upon the issue of normalising relations with Turkey. He referred to comments made recently by Turkish president Recip Tayip Erdogan and said that his government was ready for discussions with the Turkish side.

"It is likely that Armenia and Turkey are close to making an official announcement about the launch of a new normalisation process. It may result in establishing diplomatic relations, and in Turkey deciding to open its border with Armenia", says Benyamin Poghosyan in this op-ed.

Georgia intends to submit an application for membership of the European Union in 2024. Whilst most Georgians assert the country’s European identity, alternative views are emerging. In this op-ed, GIPA doctoral student Archil Sikharulidze challenges the concept of Georgian “Europeaness”, and those who promote it.