Some Aspects of Strategic Features in Southeastern Europe (Comparison with South Caucasus)
Mehdi Ismayilov

Abstract
During the last two centuries, the region earned the reputation as the most flammable and problematic part of the Europe. Precisely, the past century witnessed the local or internal conflicts and coalition confrontations, revolts, revolutions, military coups, genocides, mass expelling of certain ethnicities, terrorism and various forms of violence which made the regional peace mostly unrest. Particularly, the Western Balkans was noticed as an unstable region since the sensitiveness of relations among major powers and revenge sourced from the deep historical roots.This area was an important part of Europe and had an important potential for peace and security in the world. The Western Balkans and the South Caucasus are two regions, which experienced similar grave events after the Cold War while facing similar threats and challenges. The root causes of tensions and conflicts, which led to instances of mass atrocities, including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, go back far in the past. The disintegration of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union brought deep rooted tensions oppressed by the dictators for more than half a century back to the surface of political, economic and private relationships. Energy resources, namely oil and gas, which bear strategic importance, take a significant part in relations between Azerbaijan and the Balkan states. At the present stage the Balkans is a priority gas market for Azerbaijan. The Balkan countries - Turkey, Greece, Albania, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Romania are participants and stakeholders in the Southern Gas Corridor project.

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