Past Event

Please join us Friday April 10, 2015 for our upcoming spring conference: “Geopolitics of Energy in the Caspian Region“. This conference will bring together leading academics, practitioners and diplomats to discuss the evolving situation in this dynamic region. This event is co-hosted by EURUS and the Embassies of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey in Ottawa. For more information including the agenda and registration please see below. Speaker biographies available here.

About the Conference:
Since the conclusion of the “Contract of the Century” in 1994 which initiated the exploitation of hydrocarbon resources in the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan has emerged as an important energy producer. This conference examines the development of the energy sector in Azerbaijan, oil and gas contracts signed with multinational corporations, and the trilateral cooperation with Georgia and Turkey on major oil and gas projects which made these regional developments possible. It also discusses the impact of the recent sharp decline in oil prices on energy production in the Caspian region. The conference is being held to mark the occasion of the inauguration of Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) on 17^th March 2015, which will bring Azerbaijani gas through Georgia and Turkey to Europe.

Conference Agenda:

9.30 – 9.40                Welcoming Remarks
Dr. Achim Hurrelmann, EURUS Director

9.40 – 10.40              First panel: Azerbaijan as an Energy Power: From the “Contract of the Century” to TANAP

Chair: Dr. Jeff Sahadeo, Associate Professor, EURUS

• Dr. Robert Cutler, Adjunct Professor, EURUS, Carleton University
• Dr. Afgan Niftiyev, Strategy and Policy Coordinator, Caspian Strategy Institute, Istanbul, Turkey
• Mr. Alex Vatanka, Middle East Institute, Washington DC

10.40 – 11.10             Q & A Session: Discussant: Dr. Jeff Sahadeo, Carleton University.

11.10 – 11.30             Coffee Break

11.30 – 12.30             Second Panel: Regional Cooperation in the Caspian Region: Energy Trident and Beyond

Chair: Dr. Achim Hurrelmann, EURUS Director

• HE Mr. Selcuk Unal, Ambassador of Turkey to Canada
• Dr. Reha Aykul Muratoğlu, Head of Transit Petroleum Pipelines Department at the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of the Republic of Turkey
• HE Mr. Alexander Latsabidze, Ambassador of Georgia to Canada
• Ramil Huseynli, Charge d’Affaires of Azerbaijan to Canada

12.30-12.55                Q & A session: Discussant: Dr. Christoph Zuercher, University of Ottawa.

12.55 – 13.00             Closing Remarks

13.00                          Lunch

Registration encouraged but not required.