Today's news brief for #OnlySky involved wading through a lot of contested military intel, especially for Armenia and Azerbaijan, but also for Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. I came in thinking I knew the half of it. I did not!
But that's why it's always important to check initial assumptions at the door. My key takeaways? Civilians will always suffer most. And yet, the global response is also telling: something is shifting in power arrangements here. A region to be watched.
https://onlysky.media/mclark/armenia-azerbaijan-kyrgyzstan-and-tajikistan-the-other-eurasian-wars/
@MLClark Agreed on keeping tabs there.
I know nothing about the region other than MSM.
Its why im here , to find out without the spin
@AkomoCombine I linked at the very end to a related issue, which is that Europe is trying to strengthen its energy-import relationship with Azerbaijan, to deflect from over-reliance on Russia. This... is another hugely complicating factor. The only reason I didn't put it higher in the news brief, or go into greater detail about it, is that I didn't want the issue to become "these regions are brutally attacking each other... and that might hurt gas prices!" But yes - there's a LOT to unpack here.
"But Azerbaijan is not part of CSTO, and even though it retains strong ties to Russia, they weren’t enough to keep the last negotiated ceasefire (which saw 2,000 Russian troops installed to keep the peace) from breaking down. Azerbaijan’s ally is Turkey, a NATO country that strained the Western alliance with its actions in the region."
This is where it gets complicated.
And we cant take our eyes off Turkey here.
@AkomoCombine I think you've just reminded me what I need to do for myself next! 😊 ☕
@MLClark Well at least my coffee tastes good- its always the little things