BEIRUT, LEBANON (9:20 A.M.) – The Walla News Agency reported that “the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, wants to mediate between his allies, Israel and Turkey, in order to restore relations between them to their previous state, and he even started practical steps to achieve this.”
Israeli officials indicated to the website that the Azerbaijani President had a telephone conversation recently with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and discussed Turkish-Israeli relations with him.
Aliyev’s advisors told their Israeli counterparts that Erdogan responded positively and did not definitively reject improving relations with Israel.
They revealed that “the President of Azerbaijan and his senior advisors conveyed the message that they want their great friends, Israel and Turkey, to return to resume their relations, and they are ready to help achieve this.”
The Israeli website indicated that the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Azerbaijani President’s advisor for foreign affairs, Hikmat Hajiyev, refused to comment on the matter.
Aliyev reportedly pointed out that both Turkey and Israel played an important role in Azerbaijan’s success against the Armenian forces during the Karabakh conflict, as each country contributed drones and other combat means, which helped Baku achieve success.
The website pointed out that President Erdogan has a long history of attacking Israel, and that the advisors of the Azerbaijani President made it clear to Israeli officials that the Turkish President is not hostile to Israel, but he does not want relations to return to their previous status with Israel, at least in the current stage.
The site stated that the date of the deterioration of Turkish-Israeli relations dates back to the year 2008, when the Israeli army attacked the Gaza Strip in December, resulting in the collapse of relations.
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