Al Jazeera: For more than 30 years, Azerbaijan has viewed Israel as its second strategic ally

Published: 2025-10-15 08:56

Israel’s presence in the Caucasus allows it to compete with the Turkish–Azerbaijani alliance, giving Tel Aviv additional leverage in its confrontation with Ankara and reducing Turkey’s influence over decision-making in Baku, the Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera reports. This, the outlet says, gives Azerbaijan greater room for maneuver and reduces its reliance on Turkey.

The article underscores the expansion of Azerbaijani–Israeli cooperation in the gas sector as a key example, aligning Baku more closely with the Israel–Cyprus–Greece axis in the Eastern Mediterranean and partly distancing it from Turkey’s influence.

“Paradoxically, the reasons that brought Azerbaijan closer to Turkey largely overlap with those that led it toward Israel—with the exception, perhaps, of ethnolinguistic kinship. Since the mid-1990s, Baku has regarded Tel Aviv as its second strategic ally, capable of supporting its secular nationalist course at home and strengthening its position in its confrontation with Iran,” Al Jazeera adds.

By Azerbaijani-Israeli Alliance Global News