Aliyev between Jeddah and Jerusalem

The Gaza issue is also on the agenda, having been discussed at the Arab League summit earlier this week. The adopted statement rejected the plan to displace the Gaza population and transfer control of the Palestinian enclave to the United States, which was made public by White House President Donald Trump on February 4 after a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Turkey has also called Trump's plan "absolutely unacceptable." In his speech at the "Iftar for Ambassadors" event, Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated that there is only one way to peace in the Middle East: to build an independent Palestinian state with geographical integrity within the 1967 borders.

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov is also participating in the Jeddah conference of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Azerbaijan recognizes the independence of Palestine and has official diplomatic relations with it. Earlier, Baku also participated in OIC conferences, but Azerbaijan, as the Israeli "Haaretz" noted, "is the only Muslim country in the world where people visited the Israeli embassy on October 7, 2023 and honored the memory of the victims of the Hamas attack."

The foreign ministers of the OIC member states gathered in Jeddah for a conference in a situation where the Israeli government has created a special department within the armed forces to “organize the voluntary departure” of the Gaza population. Details are not known. Israeli media reported that Egypt has rejected the option of organizing a “voluntary exit” of Palestinians through its border crossing, and the Netanyahu government is currently considering the option of “implementing the exodus” through its territory.

There is no doubt that the foreign ministers of the OIC countries will discuss the situation in Gaza. No matter how much pressure the United States exerts on individual countries or how attractive the proposals are, the atmosphere of solidarity with the Palestinians will prevail at the Jeddah conference. Most likely, Turkish Foreign Minister Fidan will give an influential tone to these discussions.

The point is that Turkey has been engaged in heated discussions with the European Union in recent days, and European countries are largely opposed to the Israeli-American plan to clear Gaza of Palestinian Arabs. Ankara will use this circumstance to emphasize its role as an “impartial defender” of the interests of the Islamic world in Europe.

What position will Azerbaijan take in this situation? In an interview with local television stations on January 7, Ilham Aliyev also appeared as a “pioneer in the fight against Islamophobia” and emphasized the importance of Islamic solidarity. Baku’s practical position on the Gaza issue will be a “litmus test.”

If any document is adopted in Jeddah, and that is highly likely, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Bayramov will certainly not object or make reservations. But formally joining the declaration does not mean that Baku is ready to complicate relations with Israel even slightly for the sake of Palestine. In this regard, of course, Aliyev is not the only “opportunist” in the Islamic world. But his position at this particular stage does not correspond to Turkey’s regional interests. Aliyev’s choice between Jeddah and Jerusalem is clear: he will continue the strategic partnership with Israel. What impact will this have on Turkish-Azerbaijani and Turkish-Israeli relations? More simply, does the Israeli-Azerbaijani partnership serve the prospect of a Turkish-Israeli agreement?