Ankara

Last updated: June 10, 2026

Ankara serves as the seat of Turkish state power and the command center for Turkey’s expansive regional ambitions in the South Caucasus. Turkish foreign policy under Recep Tayyip Erdogan has consistently backed Ilham Aliyev and Azerbaijan’s military and territorial objectives, most visibly during the 44-Day War in 2020 and again through Turkey’s refusal to recognize Armenia’s sovereignty over Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) or acknowledge the rights of Armenians displaced from the region. Turkey’s pan-Turanic ideology—the vision of linking Turkish and Azerbaijani power across the region—drives Ankara’s insistence on what it calls the “Zangezur Corridor” through Armenian Syunik province. In contrast, the United States frames the same transit route as TRIPP (Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity), a project designed to connect Asia to Europe while bypassing Russia and Iran and serving American strategic interests in critical minerals and limiting Chinese and Russian influence. This terminological and strategic divide reflects a deeper contest over who will dominate the corridor infrastructure and the region’s geopolitical alignment.

Ankara’s position has hardened as Iran war dynamics have reshaped the region. In episode 525, Eldar Mamedov examined how Turkey’s ambiguous posture toward the widening US-Israeli conflict against Iran leaves room for Azerbaijan to move closer to Israel while Turkey itself maintains plausible deniability. Turkey has also consolidated control over northern Syria through its backed forces, expanding its footprint in the Middle East in ways that complicate its relationship with both Iran and Russia. These moves have implications for Armenia: as Varuzhan Geghamyan outlined in episode 524, Turkey’s continued support for the “Zangezur Corridor” agenda reflects Ankara’s view of Armenia as an obstacle to pan-Turanic regional integration, a framing that persists regardless of whether the corridor is ever operationalized.

The tension between Ankara’s regional dominance and European and American alternative visions for the South Caucasus creates structural instability. Europe , dependent on Azerbaijani gas to replace lost Russian supplies, has found itself unable to push back against Turkish-Azerbaijani territorial and demographic claims with any force. Meanwhile, the United States under Donald Trump has pursued transactional partnerships with both Turkey and Azerbaijan, treating them as tools for containing Iran and China rather than as actors whose interests might conflict with Armenian sovereignty or TRIPP’s stated aims. Ankara’s willingness to coordinate with Baku on ethnic cleansing from Artsakh, coupled with its historical Armenian Genocide denial, means that Turkish policy has consistently worked to erase Armenian presence from territories Turkey and Azerbaijan control. This erasure is not incidental to Turkish regional strategy; it is central to it.

Groong episodes that include this tag

Below are all Groong episodes tagged with Ankara.

Artsakh War: Security situation | Diplomatic activity | Humanitarian impact (Ep. 21) [EP21]

Posted on Tuesday, Oct 13, 2020 | Category: Armenia, Turkey, Russia, Human Rights, Genocide, Syria

Guest(s):

ANN/Groong Week in Review - October 12, 2020

Topics Covered:

Security situation on the ground;
Diplomatic activity, short & long term goals;
Humanitarian impact in Artsakh & Armenia;
Effect of social media on the war.

Your Hosts:

Asbed Bedrossian
Asbed Kotchikian

Resident Panelists:

Lara Aharonian: Co-founder & co-director of the Women’s Resource Center NGO in Yerevan
Robert Avetisyan: Representative of Nagorno Karabakh Republic in the US

Episode 21 Recorded: Oct 12, 2020 Full details: https://groong.org/podcasts/WiR-20201012.html Playlist: WiR (Week in Review)

Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict in Regional Context - Libaridian / De Waal (Ep. 19) [EP19]

Posted on Saturday, Oct 3, 2020 | Category: Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Iran, Middle East, Genocide, Artsakh, China, Geopolitics, Georgia, Human Rights, India, Lebanon, Syria, Nagorno Karabakh, NATO | Series: cog

Guest(s):

Conversations on Groong - October 3, 2020

It has now been 7 days since Azerbaijan initiated a wide-scale attack against Armenia and Artsakh. The tragic news of deaths and destruction continue to stream in every hour.

In todayâs conversation on Groong, we talk to Jirair Libaridian and Thomas DeWaal about the regional geopolitics that helped create a ripe environment for renewed fighting and various potential scenarios that may develop as a result of it.

Questions explored:

What was the path leading to the latest escalation?
Why has Turkey taken an

Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict in Regional Context - Libaridian / De Waal (Ep. 19) [EP19]

Guest(s):

Conversations on Groong - October 3, 2020

It has now been 7 days since Azerbaijan initiated a wide-scale attack against Armenia and Artsakh. The tragic news of deaths and destruction continue to stream in every hour.

Questions explored:

What was the path leading to the latest escalation?
Why has Turkey taken an

Telecommunications Security in Armenia (Ep #15) - 09/15/2020 [EP15]

Posted on Tuesday, Sep 15, 2020 | Category: Armenia, Technology, Georgia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Russia, Iran, Economy, Middle East | Series: cog

Armenian News Network/Groong: Telecommunications Security in Armenia - Sep 15, 2020)

Conversations on Groong

Background and formulation of the telecoms market in Armenia

Telecommunications market in Armenia started with the monopoly of the incumbent operator ArmenTel owned jointly by Greek state owned company OTE (90%) and Armenian government (10%). The sale-purchase agreement granted ArmenTel (recently rebranded to VEON) exclusive rights to provide basic telecommunications services including international Internet connectivity, mobile and fixed telephony. ArmenTelâs monopoly remained till