Regardless of who wins these elections, democracy will be the biggest loser and democratic reforms will be curtailed.
![Leader of the Armenia Alliance and the country's former President Robert Kocharyan greets supporters during a campaign rally ahead of the upcoming snap parliamentary election in Yerevan, Armenia June 9, 2021. [Vahram Baghdasaryan/Photolure via Reuters]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/RTXD3X5B.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)

Associate professor of political science and international relations at the American University of Armenia
Regardless of who wins these elections, democracy will be the biggest loser and democratic reforms will be curtailed.
![Leader of the Armenia Alliance and the country's former President Robert Kocharyan greets supporters during a campaign rally ahead of the upcoming snap parliamentary election in Yerevan, Armenia June 9, 2021. [Vahram Baghdasaryan/Photolure via Reuters]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/RTXD3X5B.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
Developments in the South Caucasus indicate the West is no longer a relevant player in Russia and Turkey’s back yard.
![Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russia's President Vladimir Putin shake hands at the end of a joint news conference following a meeting at the Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia on March 5, 2020 [Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20914942.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)