Turkey-Azerbaijan alliance strained by opposing stances on Israel

Turkey-Azerbaijan alliance strained by opposing stances on Israel

From International report by RFI English

March 28, 2026 · 7 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the strained alliance between Turkey and Azerbaijan due to Azerbaijan's ties with Israel amidst rising tensions with Iran following drone attacks.

As Azerbaijan is hit by drone attacks and its security forces claim to have arrested Iranian agents planning attacks against Israeli interests, fears of contagion in the Iranian war are rising. For Turkey, which has a defence alliance with Azerbaijan, its relationship with Baku is complicated by the latter's close ties with Israel. On 5 March, drones attacked the airport of Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan exclave, which borders Iran . Baku blamed Iran, a charge Tehran denies. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev condemned the attack as “terrorism” and warned Tehran of a severe response if the attacks continued. The drone strikes are viewed by Baku as a warning over its close ties with Israel. “There are some verbal attacks from [social media] accounts associated with the [Iranian] Revolutionary Guards that Azerbaijan should expel Israeli agents and things like that. We responded that we are not part of this conflict,” explained Farid Shafijev, chairman of the Baku-based government-affiliated think tank, the Center for Analysis of International Relations . “We are watching closely, and the Azerbaijani military is on high alert in case of any new provocations." Following the drone attack…

Topics covered

  • Turkey
  • Azerbaijan
  • Israel
  • Iran
  • drone attacks
  • defense alliance

Keywords

  • security forces
  • Iranian agents
  • terrorism
  • military alert

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Turkey, Israel, Azerbaijan, Baku, Nakhchivan, Iran, Tehran, Tbilisi, Ceyhan, Armenia

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