Iran, the Caucasus and Europe

Abstract

The paper is an updated version of the Keynote speech delivered at the opening ceremony of the International Conference on the “Autochtonous Peoples of the Caucasian-Caspian Region” (Yerevan State University, 5 October 2012), and emphasises the role of the Caucasus cultures as a whole since pre-Achaemenid times to modern times, conceived as a bridge between the Iranian world and Europe.