Expert: How Azerbaijan’s expansion at the expense of Armenia, Iran and Georgia is imagined

The real political ambitions of Azerbaijan and Turkey concerning the South Caucasus region are sometimes more vividly illustrated by maps that are widely shared both by decision-makers and ordinary people, Turkologist Varuzhan Geghamyan said.

“Here is one of the most famous maps, which shows how they imagine the expansion of Azerbaijan at the expense of Armenia, Iran and Georgia,” he wrote on Facebook on Thursday, sharing a copy of the map.

“One of the first political rationales for this was given by one of the founders of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mammad Amin Rasulzadeh, back on April 8, 1920.

“Turkey has set itself the task of creating Southwest Azerbaijan, which would include some parts of Erivan (Iravan) and Tiflis (the Akhaltsikhe and Akhalkalaki districts) provinces as well as the Republic of Azerbaijan after incorporating Southwest Azerbaijan, Adjara, Muslim-populated Terek, Dagestan, Karabakh, Persian Karadag, Tavriz and Marat into it. Thus, a great Azerbaijan should be created under the protectorate of Turkey.”

“We are now witnessing not only how it is becoming a reality, but also how it is being facilitated by the de facto pro-Turkish authorities of Armenia,” the expert said.