NEWTIMES

Russia's and Turkey's leaders have a lot in common as politicians. Both harbor grudges against their Western counterparts and are busy fostering their respective country's defiant stance in international relations. Both Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have gotten rid of all political competition and developed their own brands of conservatism. Putin and Erdoğan would make great allies, but the two happen to be adversaries on too many fronts. Russia and Turkey are actively engaged on opposite sides of the civil wars in Syria and Libya. The South Caucasus may now become a new zone of Russian-Turkish rivalry as border tensions between Armenian and Azerbaijani started to escalate in mid-July.

The COVID-19 pandemic came at a time of diminishing role of the U.S. from the international scene, re-emergence of China as a global power, strengthening Asia-Pacific region, heightened protectionism, weakening international cooperation, rising discontent from hyper-globalization and over-financialization of our digitalized global economy. Actors of international community have never been engaged and interdependent in this level throughout the history.

In recent years the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea have emerged as an important alternative source of energy. Therefore, many regional and non-regional states are interested in energy exploration, extraction and transportation to the global energy markets. In July 2020, the US energy company "Chevron" announced the agreement to buy "Noble Energy" for $5 billion. It is worth noting that the deal between "Chevron" and "Noble Energy" is very important because "Noble Energy" discovered Israel's rich Tamar and Leviathan gas fields in the Mediterranean Sea and extracted natural gas from these fields. In the future potential natural gas from these fields will be exported to Europe. In January of the current year Greece, Cyprus and Israel signed an agreement to build the Eastern Mediterranean pipeline (EastMed), which will be able to transport 10 bcm/a of natural gas from the Eastern Mediterranean to the European energy market.

The politics of Azerbaijan were unusually dynamic in 2019, compared to recent years, shifting dramatically between January and December. President Ilham Aliyev notably continued the transformative reforms he began several years earlier. And almost every month, the Azerbaijani leader caught domestic and international observers by surprise by announcing a variety of reforms and new appointments. His actions throughout 2019 have nearly completed the transition of government management to the younger generation. Along with reforms, the economy of Azerbaijan improved according to several international organizations' metrics.

After a four-year decline in the early 1990s, Azerbaijan entered a period of dynamic development. The formation of the Institute of the President with a high level of trust and stable socio-political stability in the country limited the negative impact of unstable factors on economic development. As of 2005, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) already exceeded the level of the 1990s by 11 per cent. Although transformational decline was deeper in Azerbaijan compared to other transitional countries, the recovery was faster.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was among those who addressed the 74thSession of the UN General Assembly. His speech was of an extremely poor standard and had little value. But Pashinyan used the UN tribune to try to deceive the international community. An analysis of his speech reveals that the fact that Pashinyan repeatedly makes similar statements reflect his moral, political and psychological abnormalities. The Armenian Prime Minister is not tired of repeating the same things to people – the things that be believes to be true, but in fact are ridiculous. Pashinyan`s speech at the UN General Assembly was completely illogical.

Experts have recently been noting the deepening of the political crisis in Armenia. The number of Armenian officials who are discontent with Nikol Pashinyan`s policy is growing and they are leaving the ruling party. The party, which just a year ago seemed to be a strong force and was even described by some as democratic, in fact, was torn apart by contradictions. The situation has worsened to the extent that experts are warning of the collapse of the government. Against this background, the resignation of several senior officials is of particular interest. The "revolutionary" government seems to be unable to find a way out of the situation. Pashinyan`s approval ratings are now going down at a rapid pace. People continue staging protests against Amulsar gold mine. Senior police chief Valeri Osipyan, who opposed the government`s crackdown on the demonstrators, resigned from his post. Pashinyan`s statements contradict sharply with his political identity. Such a scenario may cause chaos in the country.

For several years, experts have been point out growing negative tendencies within the European Union. Some even hint at the possible collapse of the organization. Brexit is frequently recalled in this context, with experts believing that it will encourage other countries to leave the organization. Against this background, the preparation of an optimistic strategic agenda on the future of the EU is of special interest. The agenda encompasses the organization`s development priorities until 2024. Those who drafted the agenda believe that the organization will develop in specific areas. But whether this will happen or not remains a question. What adds interest to the agenda is that apart from EU member states it also highlights some points relating to non-member states that cooperate with the organization.

A couple of days ago Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan addressed an event in Khankendi, which was called "All-Armenian games". But, in fact, the essence of the event was quite uncertain.Experts say he was nervous and unsure, describing his remarks as potentially dangerous for the region. Even the Armenian opposition called the prime minister`s views "absurd". The matter is that Pashinyan once again highlighted Armenia`s territorial claims to Azerbaijan and attempted to present them as Yerevan`s legal right. But the lack of logic behind his arguments is obvious. On the one hand, this "street politician" says "Artsakh is independent" and Yerevan does not interfere with its affairs, while on the other, he calls the unrecognized regime in Khankendi "illegal". Of course, this regime is illegal in a true sense of the word, but it isn`t what the Armenian prime minister means. The real reason why Pashinyan called the Khankendi regime illegal is that he wants to put his own man at its head. It is yet another evidence of Armenia`s policy to establish a separatist regime in the neugbouring state`s lands, patronize it and maintain the occupation of territories.

As the world is globalizing, even countries that are far away from each other are striving to ensure visa-free movement of their citizens. There is the Schengen Area in Europe. CIS countries also introduced a visa-free regime. Many states around the globe apply visa-free travel on a mutual basis. And the process is expanding. A couple of days ago the Azerbaijani leadership made a historic decision to grant Turkish citizens the right to stay in the country for a month without getting a visa. The news was welcomed positively by all normal people. But the Armenian media and experts interpreted the event in a biased and silly manner. A deeper look at the situation reveals real reasons behind Armenians` ridiculous and uncivil attitude. This article will analyze the Armenian media`s position visa-free regime between Azerbaijan and Turkey.