RUSSIAN-TURKISH FACTOR IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH BASED ON MATERIALS IN RUSSIAN MEDIA

Abstract

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which erupted in the late 1980s and passed into the military stage in 1991, had been frozen for many years. The sudden hostilities unleashed in Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2020 led to the regional destabilization in the South Caucasus. Unlike previously, this time the conflict saw the active role of Turkey that primarily affected Russia’s national interests and the issues of its geopolitical power in the post-Soviet space. Unlike the West, which failed to solve the Nagorno-Karabakh problem in 30 years, regional actors represented by Russia and Turkey achieved a significant shift in solving the problem in a short period of time. Based on the materials in the Russian media, the article analyzes the key positions of two actors - Russia and Turkey on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The article reveals the interests of the two parties in the conflict settlement, explains Turkey’s support to Azerbaijan in the conflict against Armenia and reflects Russia’s subsequent interests (all according to the materials in Russian media). Special emphasis is laid on factors and related interests which make Russian-Turkish cooperation possible.