On July 30, 2026, Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) and Center for Middle Eastern Strategic Studies (ORSAM, Türkiye) held a joint roundtable titled “Russia and Türkiye: Approaches Towards Security and Transport Communication Unlock in the South Caucasus Region”.
The meeting was aimed at reviewing Moscow and Ankara’s strategies on security and transportation matters in the South Caucasus. Leading Russian and Turkish researchers took part in the roundtable. The welcome remarks were delivered by RIAC President Dmitriy Trenin and ORSAM Academic Director Veysel Kurt.
On July 30, 2026, Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) and Center for Middle Eastern Strategic Studies (ORSAM, Türkiye) held a joint roundtable titled “Russia and Türkiye: Approaches Towards Security and Transport Communication Unlock in the South Caucasus Region”.
The meeting was aimed at reviewing Moscow and Ankara’s strategies on security and transportation matters in the South Caucasus. Leading Russian and Turkish researchers took part in the roundtable. The welcome remarks were delivered by RIAC President Dmitriy Trenin and ORSAM Academic Director Veysel Kurt.
From the Russian side, presentations were made by Amur Gadzhiev, Senior Research Fellow at the Center for the Arab and Islamic Studies, Institute of Oriental Studies, RAS, and Evgenia Gorushina, Head of the Caucasus Studies Sector, Institute of China and Contemporary Asia, RAS.
The Turkish side was presented by President of the Center for Iranian Studies (IRAM) Serhan Afacan and Associate Professor at the Department of International Relations, Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University Kenan Aslanlı.
In discussion from the RIAC side also participated Akhmet Yarlykapov, Leading Research Fellow at the Institute for International Research, MGIMO University; Stanislav Pritchin, Head of the Central Asia Sector, Center for post-Soviet Studies, IMEMO RAS, and Nubara Kuliyeva, Junior Research Fellow at the Centre for Comprehensive European and International Studies, HSE University.
From the ORSAM side discussion was attended by Muhammet Kocak, Associate Professor at the Department of Security Related Studies, National Intelligence Academy (Türkiye); Oktay Tanrısever, Professor at the Department of International Relations, Middle East Technical University, and Elnur Ismayıl, Associate Professor at the Department of International Relations of Istanbul Medeniyet University.
The roundtable was moderated by RIAC Program Manager Milan Lazovich. In the meeting also participated RIAC Program Manager Ivan Bocharov and RIAC Program Referent Anna Efimova.
