Azerbaijan President Skips Turkey Summit Amidst Growing Tensions

Tensions are escalating between Turkey and Azerbaijan, strategic partners, following President Ilham Aliyev's absence from a regional summit held in Turkey. While Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov represented the country and official reasons cited prior commitments, analysts suggest Aliyev's no-show signals a significant cooling of relations between Baku and Ankara, once close allies with deep cultural ties.

Recent strains have emerged due to Turkey's criticism of Azerbaijan's legal ban on wearing hijabs in schools, and Azerbaijan's traditionally warm relations with Israel. In an apparent effort to ease the friction, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan personally invited Aliyev to the summit and reportedly dismissed an aide perceived as anti-Azerbaijani within his office. Despite these gestures, Aliyev did not attend.

Azerbaijani media reports a recent campaign against Azerbaijan in Turkish media, which analyst Farman Aydın described as particularly painful coming from a close ally. Aydın stated that Aliyev's decision not to attend the summit should be understood as a diplomatic signal that even the closest partnerships require mutual respect.

Following Azerbaijan's hijab ban in schools, small protests occurred outside Azerbaijani diplomatic missions in Turkey, leading Azerbaijan to ban 30 Turkish citizens from entering the country. At the summit, President Erdoğan emphasized the importance of unity among Turkic-speaking nations, stating, "There is no room for division, dispute or conflict in the 'family picture' of the Turkic world. We are all one, we are together. With God's help, we are brothers, forever and ever."