Political analyst: Region trusts Azerbaijan, not Armenia

Russian political scientist Stanislav Tarasov hailed Azerbaijan's clear policy in the region during his interview with Armenian media.

"The Azerbaijani leader presented clear Azerbaijani positions on all issues, without any caveats, something that is welcome in politics and something we can't say of Armenia, who, even after the severe blow of the war, hasn't started to pursue a clear foreign policy," he said, per Caliber.Az.

"The Azerbaijani side feels confident both in the region and beyond. Azerbaijan had tense relations with Iran, there were disagreements. This has been resolved and a route with Iran is being established. I think this is the reason for Ilham Aliyev's self-confident rejection of the West as a mediator and his hope for regional platforms and regional partners if direct negotiations fail. Yerevan, however, has a different position here as well. It relies on the West, even though Azerbaijan, Russia, Iran and Türkiye agree on regional and non-regional issues.

The Armenian side also did not want Iranian mediation, although Iran has a history of good relations with Armenia. Not surprisingly, Iran has begun to resent Yerevan and its desire to forge closer ties with the West.

There is no need to talk about Russia, with which relations are very bad, although Russia is trying to save them, and there are no relations with Türkiye. This, of course, increases the already high level of trust in Azerbaijan, which was established after the war. And Azerbaijan continues to move forward with the same strategy," the political analyst says.