On 14 December, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev visited the NATO Headquarter in the course of his visit to Brussels to attend the summit of the Eastern Partnership countries and EU leaders.

As Azerbaijan’s victory in the 44-day war over Armenia has led to significant changes in the region, EU-Azerbaijan relations also need to be reconsidered in the current reality. It should be emphasized that the victory has laid a solid foundation for stability, cooperation and sustainable security in the region.

Strategic partnerships and informal alliances play a vital role in determining the geopolitical realities of the Caspian Sea basin. The region has demonstrated several successful cases of tripartite configurations that could untie complex knots which bureaucratic and biased techniques of multilateral approaches failed to resolve.

Many Russian analysts are dismissive of Turkey’s talk about the formation of a transnational cultural community called “Greater Turan.” They do not believe such a notion will really attract Azerbaijanis let alone Central Asians, not to speak of the Turkic peoples living in the Russian Federation.

The Brussels meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders was an important development.  The outcomes of this meeting and, in general, the results of the past year give ground to hope that the next year will bring more peace and cooperation to the Armenia – Azerbaijan relations.

The article accused Israel falsely of “being an accomplice to war crimes,” demonizing both Israel and Azerbaijan. No one can compare Azerbaijan to Hezbollah or Hamas.

In mid-November, fighting broke out along the Armenia/Azerbaijan border, leaving dozens dead. Turkey immediately declared its full support for Azerbaijan; however, the rest of the world only mustered half-hearted declarations of sympathy with one side or another.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will not end overnight—it will take time to resolve this crisis—but the EU’s involvement could be an important step in the negotiation process.