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  • Kornely Kakachia is Professor of Political Science at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Georgia, and Director of Tbilisi based think tank Georgian Institute of Politics. His current research focuses on Georgian domestic and foreign policy, security issues of the wider Black Sea area and comparative party politics. He was a recipient of IREX and OSI fellowships and was a visiting fellow at Harvard University’s Black Sea Security program, (2009–2010) Harriman Institute, Columbia University (2011) and The Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. In his capacity as an expert on Georgian Domestic and Foreign policy, Kakachia has appeared on BBC, Deutsche Welle, Financial Times, Le Monde, Figaro, VOA, as well as on Georgian radio and television stations to comment on Georgia’s foreign policy, regional security and other issues.

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07/01/2013 Kornely Kakachia

Azerbaijani-Georgia Relations

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Author

  • Kornely Kakachia is Professor of Political Science at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Georgia, and Director of Tbilisi based think tank Georgian Institute of Politics. His current research focuses on Georgian domestic and foreign policy, security issues of the wider Black Sea area and comparative party politics. He was a recipient of IREX and OSI fellowships and was a visiting fellow at Harvard University’s Black Sea Security program, (2009–2010) Harriman Institute, Columbia University (2011) and The Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. In his capacity as an expert on Georgian Domestic and Foreign policy, Kakachia has appeared on BBC, Deutsche Welle, Financial Times, Le Monde, Figaro, VOA, as well as on Georgian radio and television stations to comment on Georgia’s foreign policy, regional security and other issues.

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Publish Date:
2013-01-07 17:10:15
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The Baku-based Center of Strategic Studies has published a comprehensive report on the dynamics of bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Georgia. The report’s title is Azerbaijan-Georgian Relations: The Foundations and Challenges of the Strategic Alliance. The GIP was the project’s Georgian partner. The idea of writing a joint paper first appeared in 2011 when there were lively public debates on the endurance of the strategic alliance between Azerbaijan and Georgia. At that time we found that there was no report covering all the important areas of bilateral cooperation, and as a result, we were determined to fill this gap.

Two Scholars, Zaur Shiriyev, from SAM and Kornely Kakachia, from GIP, examined the present and historical identity of the Georgian Azerbaijani community, how the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict affects life for the local Azerbaijani and Armenian communities in Georgia, and finally reviews the problems encountered by Georgian Azerbaijani communities.

The report consists of three parts. The first seeks to identify the level of cooperation across various pillars, including politics, economy, energy, tourism, business, education, media, cultural, military and defense. The second part discusses Georgia’s Azerbaijani community and Azerbaijan’s Georgian community, and how these groups affect political cooperation.

The third part draws conclusions, and provides recommendations for both governments, as well as suggestions for action at the regional and international levels. This report provides an overview of multiple areas of cooperation and historical developments.

In this section, the authors examine the above-mentioned issues in order to assess the terms of a healthy Azerbaijani-Georgian relationship. “Such a relationship will not only help to develop both countries’ interests in the region, but will also be important for any country with traditional or strategic interests in the Caucasus and Central Asia region.

Kornely Kakachia

Kornely Kakachia is Professor of Political Science at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Georgia, and Director of Tbilisi based think tank Georgian Institute of Politics. His current research focuses on Georgian domestic and foreign policy, security issues of the wider Black Sea area and comparative party politics. He was a recipient of IREX and OSI fellowships and was a visiting fellow at Harvard University’s Black Sea Security program, (2009–2010) Harriman Institute, Columbia University (2011) and The Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. In his capacity as an expert on Georgian Domestic and Foreign policy, Kakachia has appeared on BBC, Deutsche Welle, Financial Times, Le Monde, Figaro, VOA, as well as on Georgian radio and television stations to comment on Georgia’s foreign policy, regional security and other issues.