Developing regional cooperation among Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan: Importance of regional projects

Abstract

Since the collapse of the former Soviet Union, the leaders of the Caucasian countries and the economists interested in the region have always spoken favorably about the prospects of a regional cooperation among the Caucasian countries. Their rhetoric and joint declarations call attention to their common historical background and the Soviet experience. However, the war in Nagorno-Karabakh between Armenia and Azerbaijan dramatically weakened the viability of such cooperation projects; Turkey’s contribution accelerated regional integration among countries in the mid-1990s, except Armenia. This paper presents the major dynamics of this emerging regional economic cooperation among these three countries by focusing on infrastructural cooperation (such as transportation, telecommunication, and pipeline projects) and factor movements (such as trade in goods and services, labor and capital flows) among these countries.