Platform for Cooperation Between South Caucasus Countries and Regional Actors and Georgia

Abstract

Due to its important geopolitical location and economic interests, the South Caucasus has been the object of interest of various states and empires since ancient times. This rivalry was facilitated by the geopolitical location of the region and the existing significant reserves of energy resources, which became one of the most attractive spaces for regional powers especially in the Post-Cold War period. Over the centuries, the forms of international relations of the South Caucasus region have always changed, however, the aspirations of the Caucasian peoples, as well as the interests of the regional powers, remained almost unchanged.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the restoration of independence, the countries of the South Caucasus, known for their endless ethno-political conflicts, should be actively interested in the stability of the region, which implies the active use of constructive and peace policy tools in their political agenda. Accordingly, their concern for the creation of a peace policy, as well as various cooperation initiatives proposed in order to maintain the regional stability of the Caucasus, remain relevant. Despite the variety of cooperation and peace political initiatives proposed over the years, unfortunately they did not go beyond the format of political statements and the matter never came to their implementation, because none of the existing cooperation initiatives could cover all the members of the region.

The current platform of regional cooperation was put forward by the President of Turkey, Recep Erdogan, who announced this initiative during his visit to Azerbaijan. The so-called 3+3 format platform of regional cooperation aims at the cooperation of three South Caucasus countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia) and three "big neighbors" - Russia, Turkey and Iran. The proposed 3+3 political platform initiative of the Caucasus Stability Pact received a positive response from the authorities of Azerbaijan, Iran and Armenia. According to them, the said platform of cooperation will contribute to the strengthening of cooperation between the countries involved in it in the security, economic and transport fields.

The purpose of the article is to study and determine the new cooperation platform created for the purpose of maintaining regional stability and the future perspectives of its implementation. What will the proposed project bring to Georgia, what type of "benefits" or threats are associated with its alleged membership in the mentioned cooperation platform. It will also be interesting to identify the interests and expectations of regional powers in relation to the mentioned platform. Considering the partial coincidence of the regional ambitions of the regional players Russia, Turkey and Iran in relation to the South Caucasus, the 3+3 regional cooperation format is, on the one hand, a kind of facilitating mechanism for them to strengthen their influence in the South Caucasus region, and on the other hand, through the mentioned cooperation, they want to consolidate the "new reality", which was formed after a significant change in power and balance in the region.