Levan Nikolaishvili: Dialogue between Baku and Yerevan creates new opportunities for South Caucasus

The continuation of political dialogue between Azerbaijan and Armenia could create new opportunities for the South Caucasus, Georgian analyst, professor and regional secretary of the United Neutral Georgia Party Levan Nikolaishvili told Report's Georgian bureau.

Commenting on the recent meeting between Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan on the sidelines of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, Nikolaishvili noted that the sides discussed the importance of peace, the opening of economic and transport infrastructure, as well as the development of trade and transit links, and agreed to continue direct dialogue:

"Developing such mechanisms of dialogue and cooperation could create new opportunities to turn the South Caucasus into a more stable and economically interconnected region. The continuation of political dialogue between Azerbaijan and Armenia is of great importance."

Nikolaishvili noted that the end of the Karabakh war was an important development in terms of shaping a new geopolitical reality in the South Caucasus:

"The end of the war and the establishment of peace are important not only for Azerbaijan and Armenia, but also for the entire South Caucasus. It is very important for Georgia that its two neighboring states remain stable. Normalization between Azerbaijan and Armenia is an important step. This opens up new prospects for the development of Azerbaijani-Armenian relations, particularly economic ties. This is indeed an important step forward."

The analyst also noted that strengthening ties between Türkiye and Armenia is important for the region from both security and economic development perspectives:

"The emergence of new opportunities for cooperation in the South Caucasus could also affect the nature of regional competition. A competitive environment is, in a sense, taking shape across the Caucasus. However, for Georgia, this is not only a matter of the market. Georgia has its own strategic geographic position, while Azerbaijan and Armenia have their own positions," he stressed.

Nikolaishvili also said that building equal, friendly and partnership-based relations among Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia is important for regional economic development:

"Expanding cooperation among the three South Caucasus countries in the future could create conditions for the region to become a model of peace and economic cooperation. The Caucasus model could serve as an example for the world. It could also demonstrate to other regions how important peace, stability and economic cooperation are."