Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty presents old photo of Turkish drone as a recent image of Israeli UAV

Published: 2025-06-21 08:55

“As Israel’s unprecedented strike on Iran’s nuclear and missile facilities threatens to destabilize the regime in Tehran—and Iran’s retaliatory missile attacks raise the risk of a broader war in the Middle East—the image of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev smiling before state television cameras next to a newly acquired Israeli strike drone serves as a modest yet telling reflection of Azerbaijan’s quiet, long-standing, and significant relationship with Israel,” writes the Dari-language service (Afghan dialect of Persian) of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

However, the image shared by the outlet was, in fact, taken in February 2024 during the inauguration of a new hangar for Turkish "Akıncı" drones in Azerbaijan. It features President Ilham Aliyev, his son Heydar Aliyev, and Selçuk Bayraktar, the chief technology officer of the Turkish company Baykar.

The most recent verified appearance of Ilham Aliyev alongside an Israeli drone dates back to October 4, 2021. This makes both the article’s narrative and the accompanying photo misleading, as they distort the current reality. Notably, the framing of the publication closely aligns with disinformation previously promoted by the IRGC and several Armenian news outlets.

By Azerbaijani-Israeli Alliance Global News