Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the Region: New Frontline & New GREAT Game!?

Jeffrey Sachs’s unexpected appearance on a little-known Armenian talk show is not a coincidence but a symptom of deeper processes at work. Why would a world‑class economist suddenly speak about the South Caucasus? The answer, likely, lies in the shifting geopolitical landscape, where Armenia and Azerbaijan are becoming pawns in a game of great powers.

Armenia’s real battle is at home.

Regional currents amplify the danger. Talk of a Turkish-led Organization of Turkic States expanding its influence across the South Caucasus and Central Asia, supposedly with Western backing, is spreading. Parallel claims surround the Syunik corridor, rebranded the “Trump Route” and reportedly set for 99-year operation by an American firm.

Is Washington quietly shaping the South Caucasus through Turkic ties?

The Organization of Turkic States remains a loose cultural and economic grouping, not a military-political bloc, and claims of Western orchestration probably overstate the case. It promotes a shared identity among Turkic-speaking peoples, though large communities in Russia are excluded, and the presence of Hungary and Northern Cyprus complicates the matter both in theory and in practice.

Yet pan-Turkist ideas—linking Anatolia to the Caucasus and across the Caspian — have circulated for more than a century. The collapse of the Ottoman and Romanov empires once offered an opening that never fully materialised. That long history raises a sharper question: why devote so much attention and resources to a region often portrayed as more strategic than it is? With the United States and Israel moving toward real and open war with Iran, we may soon have our answer.

Corridor Politics, Not Turkic Bloc

After the second Karabakh war, that corridor was initially expected to fall under Russian oversight. Its shift toward American and Western involvement reflects a calculated preference in Baku and Yerevan for Washington over Moscow. Russia and Iran have voiced security and strategic concerns about an infrastructure project that could acquire geopolitical weight.

Many operational details remain hidden behind closed doors; even discussions on implementation, including how the corridor will interact with other border openings........

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