Turkey Cuts Ties with Israel: How Will Azerbaijan React?

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that Turkey has severed trade relations with Israel.

"Despite some odd remarks from political parties in our country, we have completely severed ties with Israel and, in the end, did not allow the Israeli President to use our airspace to travel to the COP29 summit in Azerbaijan. There are alternative routes to Baku, and we suggested using them. Whether he managed to fly or not, I do not know," Erdoğan told journalists.

It should be noted that on November 19, Israeli President Isaac Herzog was scheduled to arrive in Baku to participate in COP29. However, his planned trip to the climate conference in Baku was canceled. While an official statement from the Israeli President’s office cited "security concerns" as the reason for the cancellation, Azerbaijan stated that the real cause was Turkey's refusal to allow the "Wing of Zion" aircraft to pass through its airspace. Despite intense diplomatic efforts, Turkey denied the flight corridor for this trip.

"Unfortunately, several days of intensive negotiations through diplomatic channels yielded no results. Azerbaijan had created the necessary conditions for all parties to participate in the climate conference, but the situation surrounding the Israeli President’s visit arose for reasons beyond our country’s control," an Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry representative told the media.

The program “Complex Question” featured political analyst Ahmed Alili, who commented on Turkish-Israeli, Azerbaijani-Turkish, and Azerbaijani-Israeli relations.

According to Alili, Ankara’s decision to sever ties with Israel is largely driven by domestic political considerations. The government cannot ignore public opinion, and the majority of Turkish citizens (especially religious groups) are outraged by Israel’s actions in Gaza. Nonetheless, on certain realpolitik issues, Ankara and Tel Aviv continue to maintain backchannel communications.

The expert also highlighted that Azerbaijan’s position on Israel has always differed from Turkey’s. "Azerbaijan’s stance on several issues, including Kosovo, has been distinct from Turkey’s position," he noted, adding that there are areas where the two countries pursue entirely independent policies.

Regarding differences in approaches between Ankara and Baku on resolving Azerbaijan-Armenia relations, Alili said he does not see a crisis of disagreement between the strategic allies. In his view, the differences are purely methodological.