Walla: Israeli PM canceled visit to Azerbaijan after Turkey denied overflight permission

Published: 2025-05-05 08:44

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was forced to cancel his planned visit to Azerbaijan due to Turkey's refusal to allow his plane to fly through its airspace on its way to Baku. The Prime Minister's Office justified the cancelation of the visit with security concerns related to events in the Gaza Strip and Syria, but according to sources close to the Prime Minister, the main reason for the cancellation was that Turkey did not allow the Prime Minister's plane to fly over its territory," reports Walla, one of Israel's leading news outlets.

"The Prime Minister's Office considered flying on alternative routes, but the only route that did not pass through Turkish airspace would have almost doubled the flight time, and the decision was made to cancel the flight. The Prime Minister's Office denied this information," Walla adds.

Meanwhile, Avi Scharf, a journalist for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, wrote on X: "There is an alternative route, which bypasses Turkey over Greece, just like when Negabi and Goffman flew to Baku and had no choice but to bypass Turkey (extending the flight by only an hour). It is hard to believe that this is the real reason for the cancellation."

By Azerbaijani-Israeli Alliance Global News