Iron Silk Road Trans-Caspian East-West-Middle Corridor Initiative and Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway Line

The East-West Middle Corridor (Middle Corridor) with the Caspian Transit, which starts from Turkey with the Baku Tbilisi Kars Railway line, reaches the Caucasus region. From here it travels over the Caspian Sea through Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan to Central Asia and China and is one of the most important components of historical silk road resuscitation project. With this study, the contribution of Baku Tbilisi Kars railway line and Kars Logistics Center, which is the European and Turkish gateway of the middle corridor, to the silk railway in terms of international leasing is explored.

Współpraca wojskowa NATO z państwami Kaukazu od 1991 roku

NATO declares open door policy towards aspiring countries since 90s. States from South Caucasus region took the effort to adjust its defense and security systems to NAO standards. To become a fully-fledged NATO members the main obstacle remains the lack of political will to extend NATO commitment to collective defense. Additionally self-imposed limitations of some NATO members stemming form 1997 NATO-Russia Founding Act plays a vital role. It’s hard to assume that new Strategic Concept will grant an automatic membership to any of NATO partner countries. Georgia, Armenia nor Azerbaijan have been seriously considered as NATO member states. The door are barely open.

The Regional Role of Russia after Military Aid to Syria

One of the most important goals of Russian foreign policy during Vladimir Putins presidency is to strengthen Russian influence in the Caucasus region and Central Asia, as well as to develop relations with such countries as Iran, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. The Russian government has always expressed concern about the so-called color revolutions that took place in Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan, as well as the fact that many of them were supported by Western forces. Russia believes that the events of the Arab Spring are in some way similar to the aforementioned revolutions, and that with the support of the West they could bring Islamists to power, which is a dangerous model not only for the countries of the region and the countries neighboring Russia, but also for Russia itself. For these reasons, in the Syrian conflict, Moscow sought to preserve the Assad regime, because believes that the Western model in solving regional problems can lead to the general chaos, like it was, for example, in the Iraqi and Libyan models. Despite the difficulties faced by government officials in Syria since the beginning of the civil war, and thanks to Russian military assistance and reforms, Syria preserved the legitimate regime and did not allow destroying all state institutions. Participation in the Syrian conflict brought Russia a significant role in the region and allowed it to become a successful mediator in most regional issues, as well as to strengthen its economic and political relations with the most important players in the region, as Turkey, Iran, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

REPRODUCTIVE ATTITUDES OF THE MODERN NEWLYWEDS: REGIONAL ASPECT (ON THE EXAMPLE OF VLADIKAVKAZ)

В статье рассматриваются репродуктивные установки молодоженов в контексте изменения демографической ситуации в стране. Новизна исследования заключается в анализе репродуктивных установок молодоженов г. Владикавказа как региональной модели репродуктивного поведения, необходимой для понимания проблемы неоднородности развития российского социального пространства в целом. Эмпирическую базу исследования составили молодожены как социальная группа, заключившая брак и репродуктивное поведение которой способно обеспечить стабильное положение детей, повысить эффективность их социализации. В процессе исследования применен метод системного анализа, позволивший рассмотреть репродуктивные установки через социально-демографические, экономические и ценностные факторы. Обозначены этапы формирования репродуктивных установок молодоженов г. Владикавказа как части Северокавказского региона в целом. Представлены результаты исследования, проведенного в январе-сентябре 2021 г. среди 180 мужчин и женщин — 90 пар, зарегистрировавших брак в ЗАГСе г. Владикавказа. Дана социально-экономическая характеристика исследуемой группы. Репродуктивные установки рассмотрены как социально-психическое состояние личности, одним из маркеров которого является потребность в детях − идеальном, желаемом и ожидаемом числе детей. В результате анализа эмпирической базы исследования выявлено следующее: вне зависимости от возраста 100% опрошенных молодоженов г. Владикавказа нацелены на рождение совместных детей в барке, это, безусловно, обусловлено традиционными нормами наличия 2-3 детей в семье. Мотивация у современных молодоженов в XXI в. часто связана с обеспечением стабильного экономического положения. The article discusses the reproductive attitudes of the newlyweds in the context of changing demographic situation in the country. The novelty of the research lies in the analysis of the reproductive attitudes of the newlyweds of Vladikavkaz as a regional model of reproductive behavior necessary for understanding the problem of heterogeneity of the development of the Russian social space as a whole. The empirical basis of the study was made up of newlyweds - as a social group that has entered into marriage and whose reproductive behavior is able to ensure a stable position for children, to increase the effectiveness of their socialization. In the course of the study, the method of system analysis was applied, which allowed us to consider reproductive attitudes through socio-demographic, economic and value factors. The stages of the formation of reproductive attitudes of the newlyweds of Vladikavkaz, as part of the North Caucasus region as a whole, are outlined. The results of the study conducted in January – September 2021 among 180 men and women — 90 couples, who registered marriage in the Vladikavkaz registry office, are presented. The socio-economic characteristics of the studied group are given. Reproductive attitudes are considered as a socio-mental state of the individual, one of the markers of which is the need for children - the ideal, desired and expected number of children. Based on the analysis of the empirical base of the study, it was revealed that, regardless of age, 100% of the surveyed newlyweds in Vladikavkaz are focused on the birth of children, which is due to the regional context of traditional norms of childhood. It is concluded that the need for children among newlyweds is overwhelmingly associated with ensuring stable economic conditions.

Application of Spectral Index-Based Logistic Regression to Detect Inland Water in the South Caucasus

The Caucasus is a diverse region with many climate zones that range from subtropical lowlands to mountainous alpine areas. The region is marked by irrigated croplands fed by irrigation canals, heavily vegetated wetlands, lakes, and reservoirs. In this study, we demonstrate the development of an improved surface water map based on a global water dataset to get a better understanding of the spatial distribution of small water bodies. First, we used the global water product from the European Commission Joint Research Center (JRC) to generate training data points by stratified random sampling. Next, we applied the optimal probability cut-off logistic regression model to develop surface water datasets for the entire Caucasus region, covering 19 Landsat tiles from May to October 2019. Finally, we used 6745 manually classified points (3261 non-water, 3484 water) to validate both the newly developed water dataset and the JRC global surface water dataset using an estimated proportion of area error matrix to evaluate accuracy. Our approach produced surface water extent maps with higher accuracy (89.2%) and detected 392 km2 more water than the global product (86.7% accuracy). We demonstrate that the newly developed method enables surface water detection of small ponds and lakes, flooded agricultural fields, and narrow irrigation channels, which are particularly important for mosquito-borne diseases.

The Role of Turkish Drones in Azerbaijan’s Increasing Military Effectiveness: An Assessment of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War

This study focuses on Turkey as a rising drone power in the international arena in recent years. In this context, the article will scrutinize the case of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, which broke out on September 27, 2020. The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, one of the frozen problems in the Caucasus region, was ended in favor of Azerbaijan less than two months later. Turkey took on a game-changing role in the region by supplying its ally Azerbaijan with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for use in the conflict, and significantly contributed to Azerbaijan’s victory. Turkey’s political, diplomatic, and military contributions to Azerbaijan will likely be discussed on the global agenda for years to come; this study will contribute to the literature on the role and impact of Turkey’s military support, especially its drones, on Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh victory.

It takes two to tango – Phylogeography, taxonomy and hybridization in grass snakes and dice snakes (Serpentes: Natricidae: Natrix natrix, N. tessellata)

Using two mitochondrial DNA fragments and 13 microsatellite loci, we examined the phylogeographic structure and taxonomy of two codistributed snake species (Natrix natrix, N. tessellata) in their eastern distribution area, with a focus on Turkey. We found evidence for frequent interspecific hybridization, previously thought to be extremely rare, and for backcrosses. This underscores that closely related sympatric species should be studied together because otherwise the signal of hybridization will be missed. Furthermore, the phylogeographic patterns of the two species show many parallels, suggestive of a shared biogeographic history. In general, the phylogeographies follow the paradigm of southern richness to northern purity, but the dice snake has some additional lineages in the south and east in regions where grass snakes do not occur. For both species, the Balkan Peninsula and the Caucasus region served as glacial refugia, with several mitochondrial lineages occurring in close proximity. Our results show that the mitochondrial divergences in both species match nuclear genomic differentiation. Yet, in the former glacial refugia of grass snakes there are fewer nuclear clusters than mitochondrial lineages, suggesting that Holocene range expansions transformed the glacial hotspots in melting pots where only the mitochondrial lineages persisted, bearing witness of former diversity. On the other hand, the deep mitochondrial divergences in N. tessellata across its entire range indicate that more than one species could be involved, even though lacking microsatellite data outside of Turkey prevent firm conclusions. On the contrary, our microsatellite and mitochondrial data corroborate that N. megalocephala is invalid and not differentiated from sympatric populations of N. natrix. For Cypriot grass snakes, our analyses yielded conflicting results. A critical assessment of the available evidence suggests that N. natrix is a genetically impoverished recent invader on Cyprus and taxonomically not distinct from a subspecies also occurring in western Anatolia and the southern Balkans. Based on combined mitochondrial and nuclear genomic evidence we propose that for grass snakes the following subspecies should be recognized in our study region: (1) Natrix natrix vulgaris Laurenti, 1768, southeastern Central Europe and northern Balkans; (2) Natrix natrix moreoticus (Bedriaga, 1882), southern Balkans, western Anatolia, and Cyprus; and (3) Natrix natrix scutata (Pallas, 1771), eastern Anatolia, Caucasus region, Iran, northeastern distribution range (from eastern Poland and Finland to Kazakhstan and the Lake Baikal region). Thus, Natrix natrix cypriaca (Hecht, 1930) becomes a junior synonym of N. n. moreoticus and Natrix natrix persa (Pallas, 1814) becomes a junior synonym of N. n. scutata. Due to insufficient material, we could not resolve the status of Natrix natrix syriaca (Hecht, 1930) from the Gulf of İskenderun, southeastern Turkey.

Using the results of the deep geodynamic model of the Black Sea-Caucasus region for the search for new oil and gas area

Для устойчивого развития нефтегазовой промышленности Кавказского реги- она необходимо использовать все имеющиеся геолого-геофизические данные, в том числе и данные глубинных геодинамических исследований. На основе данных о конвективном выносе тепла из мантийного клина к 2D аномалии теплового потока, наблюдаемой на территории Кавказа, произведена оценка угла наклона мантийного клина и скорости субдукции Черно- морской литосферной микроплиты под литосферу Кавказского региона). Восходящие кон- вективные движения в мантии могут выносить мантийные известково-щелочные магмы (с содержащимися в них углеводородами) в приповерхностные слои осадочного чехла, и, следо- вательно, месторождения нефти и газа, должны быть приурочены к зонам, расположенным над конвективными вихрями. For the sustainable development of the oil and gas industry in the Caucasus region, it is necessary to use all available geological and geophysical data, including data from deep geodynamic studies. On the basis of data of convective carrying out of heat from a mantle wedge to 2D anomaly of a heat fl ux observed in the back of the territory of the Caucasus assessment of the angle of mantle wedge and speed of the subduction of the Black Sea the lithospheric micro plate under the lithosphere of the Caucasian region) is made. The ascending convective movements in the mantle can take out mantle calc-alkali magmas (with the metals which are contained in them) to a day surface, and, therefore, ore deposits probably have to be dated for zones of the raised heat fl ux, located over convective fl ows.

Prevention of Terrorist Crimes: Trends and Recommendations

The authors of the article analyze the features of countering international terrorism in the context of complex trends in the spread of extremist ideas and the deformation of the role of Islam in the lives of ordinary Muslims. The study is of a practical nature and is aimed at offering practical recommendations for the prevention of terrorism. Special attention is paid to possible measures to combat this phenomenon in the North Caucasus region.