Azerbaijan and Türkiye should hold talks, political analyst says

“I do not believe that the key security issues underpinning the strategic alliance between Azerbaijan and Türkiye have been undermined. Nevertheless, the alliance is entering a period of renewal against the backdrop of several developments in the region.”

Political analyst Aqshin Karimov said this in comments to “Operative Information Center-OMM”.

The analyst assessed the developments in the context of three main regional factors:

“We can assess this, first, in light of the regional impact of the war between the United States and Iran; second, the differences of opinion that Azerbaijan-Israel relations have created in ties with Türkiye; and third, changes in the priorities of Türkiye’s foreign policy. The team formed in Türkiye after the new presidential election in 2023 had to adjust its foreign policy priorities somewhat. These shifts became clearly apparent amid new conflicts in the region and their geopolitical impact.”

Karimov stressed that despite existing differences, the security foundations remain firm, while areas of ideological divergence should be discussed:

“I do not believe that the security issues serving as the key foundation of the Azerbaijan-Türkiye strategic alliance will be undermined in the future. The alliance will become even stronger in terms of military security in the coming months or years. Nevertheless, there are several issues within this alliance, and recent developments show that discussions should now begin to bring the two sides’ positions into greater ideological alignment. Such discussions will likely take place in the future.”